Setting & Lore

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A Night at the Museum is a greybox level I designed for a stealth game. I was looking to create a level which could be completed through many different paths to evoke a feeling of freedom for the player. I was alone working on this project.

 

It is a level in which the player takes control of a secret agent in a heist mission. The item which needs to be stolen, is a very special hi-tech mask. It allows the wearer to disguise into other individuals as long as a sample of their blood is inserted in the mask. Later on in the game, it would have allowed the player to disguise as different individuals from whom he's stolen a sample of blood, this mission goal being to acquire it for that very reason.

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Level Design intentions and goals

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In this level, I was looking to practice my skills at designing areas with free navigation and multiple paths inspired by games such as Dishonored and Hitman. I also wanted to script patrol AI`s guarding the area. Since I wanted to create a level taking place in the evening I practiced my lighting skills a lot and got to learn to use the Aura asset in order to create volumetric lighting in my level. 

 

When I first started modeling the museum I thought of a basement, a second floor and smaller distinct areas for the player to complete side objectives or just to take a break from the guarded areas. Outside the museum, I opted to have the player start from a vantage point above the museum for a clear view of the level in the first few seconds of playing which would be then followed by a maze to introduce well the sneak mechanic around the guards of the maze. 

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After that I introduced four different possible paths (front entrance, air ducts, through the storage room or climb to the roof and make it through a window!) to make your entrance into the museum. To my satisfaction, I saw players during the playtest choose different ways to reach their objective. I took care to give each a room a distinct identity in order to make them unique and memorable.

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Challenges encountered & iteration process​

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Even with my efforts to make the naviguation memorable with each piece being unique, when I made my first playtest for my level, I realized some players had a harder time getting around the museum and figuring out the different objectives, so I added some UX. I had the guards of the museum trigger phrases when the player is close-by to help find the location of the objectives, such as a key required to steal the mask. Finally, I inserted a short cutscene right after you steal the mask, to show the players the exit they now need to reach, as the main objective is completed. I also added some cover around the musem and changed the number and path of the guards while watching how the players naviguated in the museum and where they chose to go. It was a great feeling to see different players choose different paths to finish the level.

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Themes

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Constantly throughout the level, I aim to keep the elements of freedom, stealth and tension to be predominant, in order to make the player feel as immersed as possible. 

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My inspirations for this project were games such as Deus Ex, Dishonored and Hitman. 

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I used the software Maya for the modeling of the level and Unity as the game engine with C# scripting. The AI's are driven by FSM (finite state machines) for the civilians and behaviour trees for the guards. 

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Awards

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My final graduation demo reel focused on this project and was awarded exemplary portfolio for level design from a jury of 6 professionals of the gaming industry. You can also visit my blog for the development of this project from it's inception (dbellemare.blogspot.com).

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Thanks for your interest and do not hesitate to contact me for any feedback or questions at dbellemareperso@gmail.com.

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