The Unseen

The main goal was to create an environment that felt empty and with a magnifying feeling of being alone. With verticality without jumping, high ceilings, and wide-open spaces, but at the same time crooks and crannies the player could hide in and places for puzzles to be solved. Another aspect of the map was not too much backtracking, but still reusing some areas for a hub-like area in the middle of the map. ​This was achieved thanks to feedback, prototyping, and iteration of the state of the game as I progressed.

We started off by creating an overview of what the level layout could be and decided to have a sort of hub area in the middle of the map where the player would return multiple times. This would also have the functionality of being a safe area. Having a hub-like area would also make it easier for the player to navigate throughout the level.
level
I sketched out a paper map to visualize the layout and where to place puzzles and enemy encounters before starting in the editor. I also added secret passages that are only accessible from the area where the main goal is.

After the level had a basic blockout, I started with the set dressing to give life and a bit of character to the level. I wanted a feeling that nobody had been down there for years and that it wasn’t safe. I wanted to keep a clear line of sight to the first obstacle and puzzle the player is introduced to. For this, I added catwalks in the ceiling to add guiding lines forward, “framing” the two focused objects.

​I also added some fallen catwalks to make the facility seem older and abandoned and to reinforce the feeling that no one has been down here for a long time.

For the second half of the starting area, I wanted it to feel like you as a player enters deeper into the ground/facility, so I decided to add some stairs to add a bit of verticality. ​

In the first blockout, the stairs were just a straight line down, but when I started to set dressing, I changed it into a more "facility" like staircase.  I also made one of the staircases broken to lead the player on the right path.
‍
Another thing here that got moved in later iterations is a puzzle component, due to players interacting with it before they were introduced to the mechanic behind it and didn’t know what to do.

In the main hall, or hub area as we called it, I wanted to add an extra feeling of the facility being enormous, so I added a view window in the form of a shaft going down under the focal object in the room. This resulted in adding depth and volume to the area. I also, as in the other rooms, added a bunch of catwalks and stairs in the ceiling to add an extra layer that you, the player, are only on one of many floors.

This area was initially intended to only be a window the player could look through to get a feeling of the vast size of the facility, but ended up as the “ending room” of the game/demo. This meant it needed a massive facelift. I kept the size of the room but added more height to make it feel even bigger. I also changed out the water tanks for sort of a river or channel in the middle, surrounded by pillars, machines, and doors.

With directions from the art department, I created the main menu. They wanted the text/button to indent on hover, which was something I'd never done before, but I accepted the challenge with open arms.​

The way I made it work was to create an invisible box in front of the text, which I changed the size of, which in turn moved the text to the desired location. I then implemented this in all the different menus in the game.

I created an animation for the credit scene, then looped it, but before each loop starts, the text in each field changes to the next one in line. When the last one is displayed, it starts over from the beginning.