Full Playthrough:
Over my winter break, I wanted to practice making a linear triple-A style action-adventure level. I was inspired by this excellent video by level designer Steve Lee.
I made this level in the Hammer++ editor over the course of three months of part time work. Roughly 80 total hours.
Zone Spotlights:
Headcrab/Hostage (Zones 2, 2a, and 2b)
- Player has first enemy encounter (headcrab)
- Player makes a mental note of the boarded entrance to the motel and hostage
- Hopefully, the player gets annoyed by the headcrab
- Later, the player can take revenge on the measly headcrab that once tormented them
- I wanted to give the player the experience of progression and reclaiming a space they were once helpless in
Then the player can rescue the hostage NPC, which (in the context of a larger campaign) might give them a story or reward
Crowbar (Zone 3)
I designed this section this way because I wanted to:
- Teach the player that the crowbar can break wooden beams
- Surprise them with a zombie encounter that teaches them combat
But it wasn't always designed this way:
In the old framework, the zombie encounter was unceremonious and lame
The new framework intentionally blocks sight lines to surprise the player with a scrappy zombie encounter
It also builds a mechanical vocabulary that will be used later (crowbar breaks wooden gates)
Hopefully, the player thinks to themselves to free the hostage later using the crowbar
Box Puzzle (Zone 4) and NPC Rescue (Zones 4a and 4b)
The box puzzle is here for three reasons:
- To reinforce the feeling that the player is infiltrating the motel
- Include a form of interaction in the level that isn't combat to vary pacing
- To reinforce the idea of optional paths and rewards
- I designed the optional area off the critical path intentionally to draw the players attention
- There are light sources, enemies, props, and health: the player knows that they can access it
- The solution encourages the player to think nonlinearly. They have to return to an old area to grab a box to solve the puzzle
If the player misses the puzzle the first time they encounter it, it's reinforced again later
- The player can see the hostage through a window behind a locked door on the critical path
- The player can retrace their steps back to Zone 4 and tackle the puzzle again to gain access to the NPC Rebel
Arena Combat (Zones 6, 9, 11)
First Combat (Zone 6)
- Player is still weak: they fight from a disadvantageous position (below)
- The placement of obvious cover signals to the player that there's more (probably more difficult) combat to come
- The player can also see caged zombies here (foreshadowing their release later)
Second Combat (Zone 9)
- I wanted the player to be caught off guard here, so they're ambushed by combine
- The goal of the combat has changed: No longer do you just have to infiltrate, you have to protect Alyx and NPC Rebel
Final Combat (Zone 11)
- Before, the player simply fought against more numerous and powerful Combine enemies
- I received feedback that I agreed with: this beat was too similar to the second combat
- So I edited it to include both zombies AND Combine
Early Iterations:
Early iterations were rough. The spartan, blocky architecture meant it was hard to discern that the space was a motel. The player's objective was unclear.
The gating mechanics were based on Combine force fields that could only be disabled once the player rescued Alyx, who used her EMP to turn them off.
Player's didn't understand what Alyx's wonky EMP animation was supposed to be. The Combine force fields were hard to see and confusing.
The core path wasn't clear, I had to simplify.
Continued Iteration:
I removed the gates and removed Alyx's EMP. I replaced them with red and blue keycards and terminals that the player interacted with.
In the previous iteration, if the player turned away while Alyx deployed her EMP, they could miss the animation, leading to further confusion. Having the player initiate the unlocking made things much clearer.
I also added architectural touch points that clearly signaled the space was a motel: a large neon sign and an office.
The players objective became instantly more clear with the addition of a scripted sequence where Alyx is marched to her prison cell by a Combine soldier, out of reach of the player.
At one point, the player was going to start up high.
Image Gallery:
