THE SUNKEN TEMPLE
PROCESS
Paper Prototyping
Old Blockout
Issues:
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Lacked a clear player path because of too many entrances to the temple and the cave.
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The players starting point would lead them to the back of the temple giving a less impactful first impression.
New Blockout
Solution:
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I removed the additional entrances except for the main entrance to make the player path clearer.
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I simplified the cave system and created the maze like illusion by using dead ends.
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I kept the dead end paths short to prevent from too much back tracking.
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I moved the player starting point so that the first view of the temple would be of its main entrance.
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I connected the starting point and the ending point to have it feel like the level comes full circle.
The Island
Starting/Ending area
At the player's starting area on the island the player can access their boat to leave the island, they can walk towards the temple, or, if they explore this particular location some more, they can find a hint to an area that's not accessible now, but might be in the future. I intentionally tried to make the terrain look like it was just the end of the island, to make this area look less suspicious.
First impression & Exploring shrubbery
At the top of the island, the player gets their first introduction to the temple and a framed and clear view of their next objective, the golden door. There is also some shrubbery placed around the area to both hide the back of the temple but also to encourage some exploration. If the player ventures into the greenery, there are areas fit for hidden loot and other secrets to discover.
The Temple
Emphasizing point to progression
Once the player has entered the temple, they're met with the first entrance hall and then the second entrance hall with a pool in the center of the room. I'm using the pillars to continue to frame the objective, but since the players won't be able to go through this door, I'm using directional light to guide the players attention to the pool. The player has to jump into the pool to access a cave system, so I'm using the pipe with running water mesh, to indicate a dive, with movement.
Uncertainty in a safe space
This is the player's first introduction to caves, so I am keeping it brief and easy to navigate by only having one path, but I'm creating a bit of uncertainty by leaving dents in the walls and having the path be curved.
Puzzles in the temple
Coming out of the cave, the player will find themself in the throne room. If they move towards the gold door they can complete a puzzle to open it, creating a shortcut through the temple, and if they move towards the throne, they will discover that the floor has been damaged from the throne being moved. If the player pushes the throne, a door behind the platform opens and the player can access the treasury.
The Caves
Finding the reward
Once they enter the treasury, they can collect their reward and then continue to explore for a new way out.
Guiding in a maze
To make it out of the big cave system the player has to follow yellow markings on the wall. This is onboarded at a fork in the road where the marking is on one of the walls on the correct path. If the player ignores the marking and goes left, they will shortly be met with a dead end, enforcing the rule that the player needs to follow the markings to progress. The markings are placed so that the player can immediately see where to go next, but they're also subtle, to encourage the player to pay attention to their surroundings.
Landmarks in a monotone environment
The second dead end brings the player into a circle. Its intention is to create an extra challenge for the player by slightly disorienting them. To prevent this from being a frustrating experience, this dead end has a landmark that the player can use to get back on the right path.
The intention behind the third dead end is to signal to the player that they're nearing the exit.
Tying back to the start
Once the player escapes the cave they will find that they have ended up where they started, essentially making a full circle by exiting through the back of the temple. If the player explored the starting area, they would have seen the path leading out from the cave, but they would have been unable to walk it.
REFLECTION
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to learn how to make caves for this project, so I decided to create canyons with the terrain tool instead and roof it by using the temple's platform. This did create a restriction for the cave system as I could not have it run anywhere but under the platform, but the limitation created a fun challenge and it might even have helped me with the scope.
I did have some issues with the collision suddenly disappearing on my terrain, causing my Unreal player mesh to fall through the ground, and since I didn't have time to create a new one, I just exported the terrain into a mesh and then placed the mesh under the terrain, acting as a custom collision. I hid it in the game and kept the terrain visible so that I could paint it if I had time, but I ended up not painting it at all.
Overall I had a great learning experience and I am very happy with how the level came out.