THE LAST STOPOVER
Genre
Stealth
Engine
Unreal 5
Team Size
3
Role
Level Design
Technical Game Design
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Last Stopover is a prototype of a stealth game level that uses the AGLS plugin (Adventure Game Locomotion System).
This game uses a lighting feature that allows the player to hide from enemies when they are in the dark.
INTRODUCTION
In my fifth year of studies, we were asked to create a prototype of an action-adventure level, using the AGLS plugin. We had the choice between four types of gameplay; I pitched a level that occurs on a ship, as I was interested in building a level inside narrow corridors and a very restricted space: in the sea, you can’t escape the threats. In a team of 3, we worked on the pitch for a few weeks to emphasize its core aspects. The player embodies a spy who needs to hide in the dark spots to reach a server room and make the ship explode.
The images that inspired the boat pitch (respectively Hitman and Uncharted)
PROTOTYPING
To test our ideas, we quickly tried a few mechanics and layouts to try different gameplays and test the limits of the AGLS plugin.
One thing that stood out was the few stealth situations where we did not use the takedown feature. This situations forced the players to perform unique actions and try original approaches. As we knew this project would be quite short, we kept this as a core feature of the game: stealth without takedowns.
We also realized something by testing these short situations: it’s hard to notice you’re in a boat once you’re inside it, and as this project was a prototype, we would only use greybox and a few visual assets. This issue made us rethink about the layout we wanted. We designed different areas inside the boat that would make players think they’re inside a boat no matter what.
Test of enemies patrols
Test of takedowns
Screenshot of the areas pitch from the Miro documentation
DESIGNING AREAS
We tried to create different areas inside the boat that emphasize the feeling of exploring a boat.
Among these areas, we tried to force the player to regularly see the exterior of the ship. This resulted in the design of the following areas:
– Well Deck: The first area inside the boat. This one is unique as it’s a flooded deck, with a recognizable architecture that few other places have other than a ship.
– Ice Floe: To introduce the ship, we made the decision to put the start far away, so that players could actually see the ship before going inside it. This area acts as a sub-mission where player need to find a way to sneak in a mercenary boat.
– Catwalks: An area in the middle of the journey, where the player travels through the catwalks of the deck, before entering again inside the ship. There, they would be able to observe what’s next and breath a bit before going again inside the ship. Sadly, we were not able to finalize this one, as our mate who was working on it got sick.
MISSION DESIGN
To emphasize the links between areas and create a meaningful journey throughout the ship, we wanted to give different objectives to the player.
The main one is to destroy the ship by putting the bomb inside the server room, but we added different sub-objectives such as following mercenaries, escaping the ship, or hiding inside a crate!
POST MORTEM
This project is not a finished game, but it was a great opportunity for me to challenge my level design and technical skills. I also got the chance to work on another Unreal project with already existing 3Cs and a few game mechanics, allowing me to design and implement mechanics with a solid technical basis.
What I learned from this project:
– Trying different situations prototypes is useful to quickly find what’s appealing
– Creating a coherent quest flow requires multiples iterations and clear guidelines
– Keeping greybox during the production makes you think a lot about the level structure
Walkthrough
(as there is an issue preventing us from recording the whole video,
I recorded my areas as separate videos)