BioShock – Level design project – Planning

Hi everyone,

In this post I’ll be going through my research, planning and timeline creation.

Level Design Research

I began by replaying BioShock, BioShock 2 and Minerva’s den to get a general feel for how the levels are designed. As I played, I noted down the general layout of the levels, environmental storytelling aspects, story events, gameplay beats, splicer attacks and pickups.

I particular noted the first level in each game as I want to create a level which would be the first in a fictional DLC named Mad God.

I noted that there were particular themes and aspects that the designers behind these initial levels wanted to convey. A first level generally acts as an invisible tutorial which introduces players to the core mechanics of the game from jumping, crouching, combat etc.

• Introduce player to crouching and jumping
• Introduced player to melee combat
• Keep the pacing relatively quick to get the player into he main part of the game
• Create awe and mystery to hook the player

Player experience

First off I wanted to identify what experience I was trying to create for the player. Steve Lee has an excellent video detailing how he creates a paper overview of a level before any editor work begins. He notes that its critical to establish what type of experience you’re trying to create for the player.

Goals

• Create a BioShock level – the first level a player would play
• Portfolio piece
• Show level design – 3D layout, level scripting, environmental storytelling, puzzles, lighting and gameplay ideas
• 3-5 minutes in length
• Theme – mystery & intrigue – why is the player here?

Elements

• Introduce player to crouching and jumping
• Introduced player to melee combat / plasmids
• Introduce a main character
• Keep the pacing relatively quick to get the player into the main part of the game (next level)
• Create mystery & intrigue to hook the player

Gameplay beats

• Player gets a melee weapon
• Player gets a plasmid (fire)
• “Show the puzzle first” sequence – can be solved with plasmid

Timeline

From here I defined specific gameplay beats for the level and drew up a timeline (fig.1) which allowed to set the pace and flow along with intensity:

1. Arrive at the lighthouse
2. Bathysphere Gas trap
3. Collect Radio/Meet the stranger
4. Jumping and crouching (TUTORIAL)
5. Collect the wrench
6. Melee Combat (TUTORIAL)
7. Plasmid puzzle
8. Exit level

Writing / sketching out ideas

I then moved on to sketching out some ideas so I had somewhere to start before I began working in Unreal.

Well I think that wraps this post up. I’m always trying to get better to any feedback is always appreciated.

See you next time.