Full Playthrough:
In my level design class at USC, we worked in groups to make one interconnected level. My group decided to make a brutalist museum. The section I was assigned was the gallery floor. Made in approximately 20 hours.
I also modeled all the sculpture assets (face, torso, statues) in Maya.
Project Goals and Constraints:
- Limited game mechanics: Player can only walk, jump, and look around
- Roughly one minute experience on the critical path
- Had to connect to two other designers levels
- Heavy focus on composition and art
Research and Inspirations:
I was inspired by brutalist architecture in the Soviet Union and Italy, as well as films like The Conformist.
I wanted the vibe to feel oppressive and sublime.
The circular shape of the level was particularly inspired by the Communist Party headquarters in Bulgaria (left). The giant faces featured in the level are inspired by Palazzo Braschi in fascist Italy (right).
Final Orthographic Map:
Top Down Sketch:
I wanted a level that:
- Meaningfully diverged from the grid
- Built around a large focal point (the torso)
Connections to Other Levels:
Highlights and Key Learnings:
Light Fixture Frames:
- Hanging light fixtures are a striking visual
- Also preform an important gameplay function of framing key details
- They are also the primary motivated light source in the scene
- They are unlit, creating flat, graphic shapes
Playtest Driven Design: Behind the Torso:
- In early iterations, there was nothing behind the torso
- Some players explored back there during playtests, disappointed not to find anything
- Decided to lean in, adding the entrails and beating heart
- Still, a large number of players didn't notice it was an option
- I tried to signal to players that there was content back there, but many didn't notice
- Tried to include pools of blood and lights, but they were too low contrast for players to notice
The Solution:
- Adding more lighting, emissive geometry that created high visual contrast, and framing the entrance way with fallen beams
Maybe slightly overkill.
Final Objective:
Player feedback:
- The circular nature of the room meant that player's weren't sure where their objective was
Here's how I tried to address this problem:
- Adding a distance blue face instantly established the player goal, but was only visible halfway through the level
- The large centerpiece of the level (the giant torso) blocked line of sight
- Making it smaller would have come at the cost of the level's grand tone
- In future iterations, would move off center to preserve grandeur while communicating the objective clearly
Image Gallery:
