Category: LevelDesign

HFFWS Thesis: Hand Built Ramp Puzzles to Learn From

digm520admin / / HFFWS, LevelDesign, Puzzle, Thesis
April 2, 2020

Hand Building Puzzles

Thesis Project

Intro

I have started crafting some small puzzle scenarios by hand to get a better idea of what types of concepts and parameters to take into consideration when creating a system to generate these types of scenarios. Researching them has only done so much, so I am helping to understand the relationships between objects within a scenario better by actively thinking through how to put them together.

Tracking Manual Puzzle Building

As I create each puzzle scenario, I have a list of data to keep track of that will hopefully help me better understand how to systematically put these scenarios together. These core ideas are: description, objects, position relations, parameter relations, skills, and concepts.

  • Description: General idea of what the puzzle scenario is and the main objective throughout
  • Objects: a list of all the objects used to make the puzzle scenario
  • Position Relations: information on how the different objects in the scenario must be placed relative to each other in order for the scenario to funciton properly (i.e. something must be placed higher than something else)
  • Parameter Relations: Similar to position relations, but with the parameters of each object; what data within each object must be within certain value ranges in order for the scenario to work (i.e. mass restrictions on certain objects)
  • Skills: what basic Human: Fall Flat gameplay skills are necessary from the player’s perspective to complete the scenario
  • Concepts: what knowledge the player must possess to understand how to complete this puzzle scenario

Current Hand Made Ramp Puzzles

I started with making ramp puzzles since they should be the simplest and help setup the general approach to this entire process. So far I have created 5 puzzle scenarios (the first of which is more of a ramp testing area). The main ideas behind them in order are: testing ramps, basic ramp, build a ramp, cross a gap with a ramp, and destroy a wall with a ramp.

Puzzle 1: Testing

This is not particularly a puzzle scenario. It is mostly just an area to test different sizes and scales of basic ramp objects to get an idea of what is manageable, scalable, and usable. This helps determine some of the dimensional restraints for the ramp objects in all cases to make sure the ramps generated are usable at all.

Testing Puzzle Area


Puzzle 2: Basic Ramp

This is more of the scenario extension of the testing area. It simply shows the most basic scenario where a ramp is provided, it just needs moved in place to allow the player to move to a higher elevation.

Basic Ramp Puzzle Scenario


Puzzle 3: Build a Ramp

This scenario provides the player with several physics objects which can be used together in such a way that they can build their own ramp to reach a higher elevation. At its core, this just requires some relatively long objects, a sturdy object to use as a central fulcrum to elevate the long object, and usually a weighted object to counter balance the torque generated by the player as they move up the long ramp object.

Build a Ramp Puzzle Scenario


Puzzle 4: Cross Gap with Ramp

This scenario type utilizes the fact that a ramp can also fulfill some properties of a bridge to span gaps, while still using the fact that the ramp helps move objects across elevations as well. Positioning ramps with this idea in mind is tricky since a lot of cases can lead to the ramp sinking into the gap if the player cannot get it cleanly across immediately.

Cross Gap with Ramp Puzzle Scenario


Puzzle 5: Destroy Wall with Ramp

Ramps help facilitate the movement of rolling objects in a way the player cannot accomplish by simply pushing them along the ground. Gravity helps move a rolling object down a ramp, accelerating it to allow it to reach speeds the player could not generally achieve on their own. This significant speed allows the rolling objects to apply a lot of force near the bottom of the ramp, which can greatly exceed that of the player in the right circumstances. This force can be used to destroy some of the destructible walls or environments in Human: Fall Flat to allow for progression.

Destructible Wall Ramp Puzzle Scenario


Summary

I will continue exploring these various puzzle scenarios since they both give me a better understanding of the relationships for proper puzzle generation as well as help give me ideas to expand the eventual puzzle generators capabilities. The basic testing area has helped give me some base parameters to work with, such as usable ramp slopes and general movable object masses, and the more advanced scenarios are helping uncover the multitude of relationships I need to keep together when building out these systems.

Halo Multiplayer Map Analysis

digm520admin / / LevelDesign
February 19, 2019

Halo Maps

Multiplayer Map Study and Design

We are designing a Halo map for our Architecture Inspired Level Design class, so I did some analysis of certain parts of several of my favorite maps from the franchise as possible portions to take inspiration from to develop the map.

Map Sketch Thoughts

  • Construct
    • Top level
      • Good foundation for the top level of our map
      • Plenty of large hallways which can either have barriers or not to provide/remove sight lines through center
      • Lots of opportunities to add stairs around
        • Can have them protected/not protected
      • Aesthetically
        • Poking out portions could provide sight of large architectural landmarks
        • Can easily be put around/near large landmarks
  • Guardian
    • Look at this map for interesting transitions from upper to lower floor
      • Each outer section of this map has a different way of moving between floors
        • North
          • Natural and manmade ramps
          • Gap between natural part and center
        • West
          • Up and down lift or holes on sides
          • Connects to both top and bottom floor of section next to it
        • East
          • Spiraling ramp/stairs with above vantage point
        • South
          • Enclosed upper and lower floor but with multiple access points
          • Also very concealed stairs between them on outside edge of map
  • High Ground
    • Good example of asymmetry while still being vaguely symmetrical
      • Weird, organic shape; 180 degree rotational symmetry
      • Has mostly upward sloping terrain that really makes it feel asymmetrical
    • Gate
      • Could be good area to draw area from
      • Would fit lore of our map
        • Separation between main land and ship dock
      • Has a lot of vertical options to it
        • Both sides connect to structure with upper/lower floors
        • Gate itself allows for passage on lower floor, with room on upper floor to overlook gate
  • The Pit
    • Floor layout good to pull from for flatter terrain foundation for our map
      • Can use strategy of large flat areas with large, wide ramps to at least give some verticality with minimal terrain work
    • Everything is manmade, so also good to use for civilization aspect
      • Flooring wise, we most likely want more “housey” structures
    • Turret
      • Serves as very simple, but effective small, vertical architectural points
      • Basic elements
        • Protected stairs to go up/down on far edge of map
        • More vulnerable elevation change on bridge to top of turret
        • Very open lower room with 3 entrance points
      • Open Space – Sides
        • These open spaces could be something we look at for our large, flatter transition areas
        • Again, floor of a factory-type building, so mostly flat, with organized, wide ramps
        • Tall, enclosed floor variation structures on sides make it possible to traverse this area without constantly being sighted
          • Still relatively open and easier to be seen here than most places though
  • Complex
    • Another good asymmetrical layout to take inspiration from
    • Has a nice flatter overall layout, with structures to provide the more interesting second floor options
    • This could be a good one to look into for our ground floor layout, then overlap something else over it as our second level

Plan Sketches

I did a few rough plan sketches of some of the areas I was interested in taking inspiration from for our map design. These just helped to give me a feel for how different parts of a Halo multiplayer map work, and also get a gauge for the scaling of different locations.



Finally, I attempted a couple sketches that involved trying to piece some of these elements together in a way that might make an interesting Halo multiplayer map.


Grayboxing Levels in Unreal

digm520admin / / LevelDesign, Unreal
February 5, 2019

Grayboxing in Unreal Engine

Basics of BSP

Wiki Unreal Engine – Basic Level Design BSP

I’ve started to learn the basics of the Unreal Engine (UE4), primarily with respect to it’s BSP (Binary Space Partitioning) and grayboxing levels. It’s the engine of choice for our Architectural Approaches to Level Design class specifically for this purpose.

Brushes

Unreal provides a base of shapes to work with that are perfect for setting up the overall shape and scale of a level or world in 3D. There are boxes, cones, stairs (linear, curved, and spiral), cylinders, and spheres. These shapes however also have various parameters associated with them that really help you mold out your world. The objects can have their sizes changed without strange scaling effects that need to be accounted for. The stairs have parameters for stair size and shape.

One particularly useful feature is that these shape brushes can be either additive or subtractive. Additive does what you would expect, creates the shape in the world. Subtractive however removes the colliding volume from any existing additive shape it intersects with. This can quickly and easily create some interesting shapes, or help build out rooms and doorways. Speaking of rooms, another helpful feature for this is that you can make some of these shape brushes hollow. This leaves a thin shell of the shape with a completely empty volume.

Geometry Mode

Finally, if you really want to stretch the creativity of your shapes, you can further edit them in Geometry Mode. This tool reminds me of Maya; it lets you do things like extrude faces or move around/remove vertices. This mode lets you craft the shapes almost anyway imaginable and is very easy to use.

level-design.org and a GDC Talk on Level Designers

digm520admin / / GameDesign, LevelDesign
January 15, 2019

Level Design – Resources

Talks and Online Source

Youtube – GDC 2015 – Level Design in a Day: Level Design Histories and Futures
level-design.org site

These have been helpful level design resources for games that were brought up in our class today for Architectural Approach to Level Design. While not particularly useful now, they could be good resources to go back to.