Unit 1 Assignment: Introduction to Media Processes and Technical Skills

Full render

First Building

Second Building

Third Building

For one of my major projects this term, I have been tasked with creating a rooftop environment in 3ds Max, in order to get accustomed with the software. It will also help with several aspects of level design, including structures, architecture, lighting, paths, alternate routes and possible enemy placements. The project focuses largely on designing the assets of a level rather than making the level too large and confusing – quality over quantity.

The genre of the game that the level takes place in is a stealth/action game, one in which being seen by an enemy results in a game over. A game such as this is characterized by the abundance of hiding spots for the player to take refuge. It is also worth noting that in a stealth game, line of sight is an important factor to consider when deciding on difficulty; levels should avoid having too many wide open spaces.

To begin with, I had to begin researching different rooftop environments from different urban areas. Some of the different types of rooftops that inspired my final designs were attached suburban houses, rooftop gardens and rooftops for larger buildings such as banks or cathedrals. As part of the research, a mood board of different images of such buildings had to be created so I had some references to work with and give me inspiration. Most of these images were sourced from Pintrest, which is a large archive of images.

The first building players encounter in the level is a set of attached suburban houses, as characterized by the long line of chimneys. As well as serving as decent line-of-sight cover, these chimneys also help with the immersion of the setting. One potential downside of this is the spacing of the chimneys along the roof is hard to get right, because the closer the chimneys are, the smaller the houses are implied to be. Thus, the number of chimneys could be changed later if it looks wrong in the final product.

Secondly, the next building has a rooftop garden on it, which works for my level, as the bushes on the rooftop provide cover and hiding places: essential for a stealth/action game. If the player turns left when reaching this building, they access an alternate route, at the end of which is a bonus pickup, which encourages players to risk taking this route. The main problem with this roof is the grass texture is difficult to make in detail, but this could be solved with bump mapping.

A zip wire transports the player to the final rooftop of the level, which is inspired by large old-fashioned banks. The rooftop has a long staircase to traverse, with doors placed periodically up it. The intended use for the doors is as hiding places, because the enemy patrolling this area is in a helicopter that circles the building, equipped with a spotlight. The player must hide in one of the doors to avoid the spotlight. When the player reaches the top and enters the topmost door, the level ends. I feel that the end of the level is appropriately designed, because most players would expect the final building to stand out from the others in terms of size, especially if it were crucial to the plot.

The task requires that the level have some form of narrative to it. This level’s narrative is that the player is an explosives expert with no means of direct combat, and part of a bank heist operation. They must navigate to the end of the level; if they are spotted, the game is lost. Once the player reaches the top, a cutscene involving them planting the bomb would play before the level ends. The level could take place at either day time or night time, but night time might be better to help emphasize the lighting.

Placed throughout the level are money pickups; these could be used to purchase upgrades or weapons for the player, however in this level, they cannot be used without being detected. These money pickups are placed both in areas where the player would need to risk getting caught (as in the aforementioned example) or in places intended to guide them to the end of the level. In addition, the pickups emit their own light, which might make them easier to see if the level takes place at night.

The textures in the level are either pre-made or drawn in Photoshop. The pre-made ones come with 3ds Max and are much easier to set up for specific objects. For example, the metal doors in the level are easier to texture with the pre-made textures, as the software comes with much better settings specific to the texture type. But other objects need to be textured manually, such as the bushes, which require opacity maps. These allow the player to see their character in the bush instead of the bush being a set of filled-in squares.