Embedded Files
-First Weeks:
For the first two weeks, I was tasked with familiarizing myself with the project; the lore, the mechanics, the puzzles, etc. During this time, my role was mostly as a QA Tester, giving them feedback on the demo and its mechanics, and testing the puzzles for the game.
These first weeks were very helpful, because I got very familiarized with the team, their methods, and the people around me, and, of course, learnt greatly about the game, and the philosophy behind it!
-Level Design Work:
After getting more comfortable with the team, I was told what I would be working on: Designing the three areas that progress the game.
The game's timeline features three distinct story beats where the player ventures out to explore new areas of the world, themed around the puzzles they had been solving previously, inside the Tower. → → →
Firstly, I was tasked with designing the Animals 2 Area. Every area is unlocked after completing the puzzles in the Tower, so I approached these levels as final tests, while also presenting new mechanics, and carefully studying the players sensations.
All three areas were to have, at least, one or more wow-moments, so I took special care with the spatial design and pacing.
Due to the game not being publicly released yet, I am not allowed to openly share screenshots or any kind of gameplay of the blockings I developed during my stay at Acariño Games. However, I have been given permission to privately share it among any studios interested on my work.
-Animals 2:
When starting work in this level, the only requirement was that it had to feature a riding section, introducing this new mechanic into the game. I was told to take my time, so I designed 3 different sequences, and I had a meeting to discuss them.
At the meeting, my leads took their favorite ideas from the different levels, and told me to write a definitive LDD, mixturing and combining all these concepts and gameplay beats, into one.
This LDD featured a full layout of the level split in different sections, a written sequence for completation, a high-level description of the areas, possible cutscenes, a color-coded intensity graph with descriptions and intented emotions, and a list of possible technical difficulties.
Once finished, I submitted the LDD to my team, and, as soon as it got approved, I dove right into the editor (Unreal Engine 5.3).
Here's the final LDD for Animals 2, in Spanish (Scrollable) → →
LDD_Animales2_Xerme.docxMy working process for this level was mainly based on BSPs, which, although deprecated, are very useful for boolean work, such as caves and other holes. I also used the (at the time) new modelling tools, such as the CubeGridTool, and, lastly, the landscape tools. I also scripted some events with the use of the level blueprint, such as boulders collapsing, or rivers overflowing.
After every milestone (finishing my assignment), we would have another call, where I'd share what I worked on, and where my leads would, once again, give me their feedback on it.
-Animals 2 Sequence - Design Breakdown:
-Player starts in a big and tall space, with lots of rocks, debris, and obstructed view, a bit more open than the area they came through.
-Walks towards end, where blackwater and big walls block progress.
-Bait & Switch → Players turns around and enters newly revealed cave.
-Contrast → Cave is small, dark, and only goes down.
-After a big drop, space, composition and lighting is arranged to offer clear view of objective, a Ridable Animal, up in a small platform, with a column blocking the view of the level beyond, and a godray hitting the Ridable directly.
-Player needs the Ridable to progress, so he must figure out how to activate it.
-Player uses Ridable to progress through the cave, towards the light at the end.
-Contrast and Wow-moment → Players jumps big gap, originally seen from start of the level, and keeps riding towards...
-Contrast and Wow-moment → Player jumps into a huge plain, with several giant animals, only seen once before.
-Puzzle in plain section to end the level.
After several iterations, when everyone was happy with the result, the level got green lit, and my work on Animals 2 came to an end.
← Here are some screenshots, taken from the finished blocking level, featuring a short explanation for each one of them.
[NDA]
-Plants 2:
After wrapping up work in Animals 2, I started brainstorming ideas for the next level, for which I had previously been briefed on. The level was to be featured earlier in the game, so I had less mechanics to play with, and most notably, I had to dial it down a little bit with the intensity and difficulty.
The process behind designing this section was very much the same as to what I had done for Animals 2; brainstorming different ideas, taking feedback, combining cool sections and making it all fit into a neat LDD. This time though, I took some time to quickly sketch an overview of the three diferent proposals. ↓ ↓
Several slides featuring a minigame for energy recollecting, unlocking progress.
Big slide down into a giant forest, full of vines for traversal between trees.
A buried giant, with a level inside of him.
The blocking process was also fairly similar, but due to the setting of this level, being much more open, most of the geometry and traversals were built with the landscape tool, adding extra details via BSPs.
Plants 2 featured a lighter load in scripted events, so I kept that in mind for Machines 2, which was to be the last, chronologically.
Some screenshots of the blockings featured in this level. → →
[NDA]
-Machines 2:
Nearing the end of my internship, I finished working on Plants 2, and began brainstorming ideas for the last level, Machines 2, which would take place just outside the central Tower, nearing the end game.
As I had planned before, the rise in intensity between Plants 2 and Animals 2 was to be translated into Machines 2. This level had to be challenging, but to not require hard inputs; at the end of the day this is still a puzzle game.
With this in mind, I aimed for it to be very visual and cinematic. It had to shock the player, and have him/her at the edge of the seat, but the difficulty had to be managable, and rather perceived than felt. I landed on an approach very Uncharted-like; the puzzle aspect would not be hard, but it would feature lots of platforming, and intense scripted events, such as cave-ins, floodings, collapsing walls, etc.
As I didn't have time to build anything in-engine, I wrote two different sequences before the last meeting, and lastly, I made a quick doodle to sum-up the idea, after the feedback received:
Although exagerated in the concept overview, the platforming aspect ought to be managable, as the player should be familiar with the character's movement at this point of the game.
-Final Thoughts:
Working on Acariño Games was one of the best things that could have happened to me during my college years. Getting some real world experience in the videogame industry is key nowadays, and Xerme is a great project, that can surely be a strong name on my portfolio.
The first few weeks, I was a bit concerned, because I wasn't so sure if I would be a good fit for the team, and my first tasks weren't so much what I was hoping for, but once I got assigned to purely level design work, and especially, once I got into the editor, everything clicked.
Knowing that I had chosen the correct career path, made me very happy.
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