Dungeon of Omens 2 | Paul Harper Level De

Dungeon of Omens 2 is a third person hack and slash dungeon crawler taking inspiration from my previous work along with games such as Dark souls and Breath of the wild.

The overall goal of this project was to make clear improvements with Unreal Engine 5 from my previous work along with focusing my masters project on design elements used within level design and how this effected gameplay.

Tutorial Level

Introduction to project

Dungeon of Omens 2 puts the player in the role of a monster slaying knight in this third person dungeon crawler, within this project two main levels have been created.

With the first level serving as a tutorial to allow players to come to grip with the game mechanics along with serving as a means to gain quick information in a short time from play testers.

The second level within this project acts as a main level where the major portion of work on the project was done focusing on design elements and level design techniques and putting them to the test with focused playtest groups and making improvements from these results.

Project Breakdown

The project was developed and tested within Unreal Engine 5 in order to help myself gain more experience within the engine along with allowing me to try a wider range of design techniques with Unreal Engines new lighting system.

With a 12 week deadline I focused on what would be needed within the project within the first serval weeks, to gain information from play testers along with needing to create a set of mechanics that I would base my level design around I first focused on getting the players combat and movement mechanics created as this would be used within gameplay along with playing a big role in the games levels.

Overall Project Goal

The overall aims and goals of this project was to build a set gameplay mechanics that would allow the player to experience a hack and slash dungeon crawler style of gameplay while using level design techniques and other design patterns to establish gameplay rules to the player without having to hold the players hand during the level.

The main focused of the project was the level design element itself as the games two levels acted as a way to test if the design pattens implemented worked in conveying information to the player.

Research and Results

Listed below are some of the documentation work I had created during this project within these documents my research into design pattern recognition will be found and show how I planed and designed my project.

Playtesting results are shown within these documents showing how I received feedback based on my research question for the project of how patten recognition effects gameplay within level design.

MA_FYP_Report

The main reason for creating a main level along with a much smaller level as the games tutorial was to split playtest group into two different groups the group that would play the tutorial would learn from the small environment and quickly establish an understanding of the games mechanics this also allowed me to change design patterns based on quick feedback.

The other group of play testers would consist of people of who would only play the games main level and experience the gameplay through experience and the levels overall design patterns as this level not only had to teach players base game mechanics but also had to guide the player naturally.

Main Level

The Chapel - Introduction

The chapel Level acts as the games tutorial and was made for play testing purposes originally, with this in mind the level had been built with only one goal to achieve to show off the games base mechanics and teach the player what was needed of them in order to complete tasks and finish a level.

Each section of the chapel shows a different gameplay element from gates that require a switch to open to bakeable objects and enemies, each teaching the player the base fundamentals of the game.

The player will spawn within the chapel at the entrance where they will have a clear view to enter the halls and be greeted with a large room filled with environmental story telling and mechanics to play around with to test what the player is capable of doing.

Creating this level and the games base mechanics so early in the production process served to benefit the project massively with feedback from play testers coming a lot sooner giving me time to adjust and make necessary changes to both gameplay mechanics as well as design patterns.

Level Breakdown - Chapel

When developing this level the key element to remember was that the goal of this level was to be short and quickly show off the games mechanics to the player allowing me to gain feedback as early as possible in the production of the project.

As seen from the top down image most the games mechanics can be tested within the main hall as once the player enters this room it is made clear to the player they must open the gate within the center of the room and reach the large golden chest.

Gameplay elements such as combat are also tested on this level with a small crypt being found under the chapel allowing players to test the games combat system I had created.

Overall this level allowed myself and others to find bugs and issues during the project as this level was made along side the games mechanics allowing time for myself to make any changes needed to the project.

Level Breakdown - Main Level - Village

The games main level starts having the player heading down a dirt road at night where the player will see lights off in the distance attracting them towards a destroyed village burning in the night.

As seen within the top down image the village has a large cave entrance from where monsters have emerged and destroyed the village and killed its inhabitants.

the village is able to be explored with secret loot and story telling to be found within the level for players who take the extra time to explore.

Main Level - Village - Introduction

The main level has the player entering the destroyed village after following the dirt path, once the player enters the village a hoard of skeletons will charge the player giving the player their first instance of combat, once defeated the player is free to explore and loot the village.

I decided to base this level at night to make the most of the lighting system within Unreal Engine 5 doing this helped me attract the players attention much easier with the lighting being a clear sign to head towards from spawn.

In order to stick with the theme of a hack and slash dungeon crawler I themed the level around a town that had fell to an attack after uncovering a dark cursed dungeon that has unleashed an evil that the player must face.

the gameplay of the level is rather simple as players are encouraged to explore and slay monsters while keeping an eye out for the games collectibles while they progress through the dungeons depths and dark hallways.

Level Breakdown - Main Level - Dungeon

Within this stage of the main level the gameplay elements have been made clear to the player by visuals within the level such as players recognising check points by a sword placed within a bonfire this design element can be seen in games such as the Dark Souls series.

The player will often find themself looking for paths to take that might lead to a possibility of more loot or the location of the switch needed to open the gate to progress.

At this stage in the level each of the gameplay elements that are key to the game have been taught to the player allowing them to make their own decisions on how to approach the rest of the level with alternate paths and secrets hidden around the level.

Playtesting showed that my intention of having gameplay clear to the player by this point was shown to be successful from feedback received, this ensured me that my design patterns that I had implemented into the project where having effect on players during gameplay.

Gameplay Breakdown

The player will naturally explore the level and slay monsters during gameplay although this was not enough as players did need a sense of achievement when progressing through the level this was solved by adding in the gates and switches system into the level.

The implementation of the gates and switches let me section off areas of the dungeon making the player find the switch that would open the gate, to make this effect feel satisfying to player a short cut scene will show the gate being opened to the player.

The main goal was to see if the player would also notice information given to them when looking around the level this was simple as I had planed to make alternate pathways that allowed the player to find secrets for this I created a wall that was noticeably damaged to attract the player and encourage them to attack the wall to test what would happen.

The player also was encouraged to find all the runes within the level this was one way I measured how far players had gotten through my level and if they had found it difficult as all five runes where needed to complete the level.

Main Level - Dungeon - Introduction

Level Breakdown - Main Level - Cave

Within this stage of the main level the gameplay elements and game mechanics are clear to the player, they need to progress through out the dungeon solving out how to open each section along with collecting treasure and slaying enemies that get in the players path.

During this section the player will be presented with multiple paths that the player can choose to take a different path through the dungeon as one of the paths is a direct pathway to where player needs to go.

The other path takes the player through a cave system leading them to a higher point within the throne room allowing the players who decided to take this path are given the bonus of not having to deal with the throne rooms spiked traps.

The option of choice was something I was wanting to test within my project with players seeing if players would take the more direct approach or push on further and explore more of the secret paths within the level, in order to do this I first had to present both paths in the same way and not influence the player to much within this section.

The first path clearly shows an entrance to the throne room that is clear and lacks much challenge to cross although taken this quick and easy path will have players come face to face with the dungeons spike traps that can to extremely high amounts of damage to a careless player.

The players that find themself pushing on through out the cave will find themself at a jumping section that will take them further into the caves depths clearly given the player the chance to change their minds on what path to take, this was done as I wanted players to experience the level in the way they intended and receive feedback based on different play styles from as many players as possible.

Player Feedback - Play Testing

At this stage of the game I expected my players to have had time to grasp the gameplayer design and have worked out their goal within the game as the make progress further into the dungeon so playtesting was highly important at this stage within the level to see if what I had designed and thought my players would do worked in practice.

The first batch of playtesting done within this section proved players where much more drawn towards the cave system pathway by a large amount this in itself was not a major problem although feedback given to me during production led me to recreate the intended path entirely as my original design had players tell me they felt that with this pathway being dark it looked enterally like an optional pathway and not the intended path.

With this section having work redone on it to make both pathways as equally as appealing to the players I changed the layout to have the entrace to the throne room a lot closer and without any gate the player was required to open along with this I changed the lighting around this section to a green light to stand out amongst the dark cave setting.

Within the end this section proved to be successful as players did seem to be split on what path was taken after the necessary changes where made to this section along with this feedback on the pathways where given and proved that different types of players had chosen the direct approach based on it looking safer where as other players had found the fighting there way through the caves to be quite entertaining and rewarding for the players efforts.

Main Level - Cave - Introduction

Within this section the player find themself along an old stone bridge leading them deaper into the dungeons depths this is where they will find themself making their own way to the end of the dungeon and have now see all game mechanics to expect within the level.

This section was made for both variety within the level along with making it clear that two paths can be taken depending on how the player wishes to approch the level with one section offering a longer way to the throne room although having tempting treasure and loot or the player can take the direct approach although if doing so will have to be mindful of traps and environmental hazards such as falls and spike traps.

Level Breakdown - Main Level - Demonic Shrine

Within the levels final section the player will be fighting their towards the demonic shrine at the end of the dungeons depths this section will only be able to be accessed if the player has gathered all runes within the level allowing them to open the door to this section of the level.

The end goal of this section is to reach the final golden chest that will allow the player to beat the level showing their stats during the games session this section proved to work well within playtesting as this part of the level served to prove that the players could now full recognise the design patterns implemented into the games level.

Level Breakdown - Main Level - Goblin Caves

In addition to a large dungeon with a equally large cave system I also had crated small secret caves the player could stubble across with some extra exploring these caves contained small pockets of goblin camps within these hidden cave systems.

The reason I had did this was a reference back to a previous project Dungeon of Omens as this was the second instalment of this title I felt it appropriate to create a small reference within my work for others to find and experience the different enemies and environments.

Main Level - Demonic Shrine - Introduction

Within this final section of the level the player must have gathered all five runes that can be found through out the dungeons other sections to be able to enter the dungeons final stage, the demonic shrine this is where the player will reach their end goal and retrieve the golden chest that will complete the level.

This section has the player work their way across old broken pillars that tower over a river of lava whilst dealing with phantoms that lurk within the dungeons depths, this section will have the player fight their way across whilst working out how to gain access across the broken pathway and hordes of undead.