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Ben Nichols Game/Level Designer

Mountain Escape 

Goal:

Create a 1km track that is: Immersive, Engaging and Aesthetically pleasing. In 1 week 

Project Breakdown

  • 20hrs 

  • Unreal Engine 5

  • Proof Of Concept

  • UE Vehicle Project package

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Overview

Overview map with refs.png

Level Focuses

Traversal

  • I sculpted my level around a  heightmap  which results in the track having a natural feel to it. 

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  • By descending the mountain you're giving the player a constant sense of progression. 

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Mountain road.png

Immersion

VFX :

  • Multiple dynamic events will occur as the player descends the mountain creating an intensity/pace to the environment. 

SFX:

  • Continuous eruptions will give the illusion of the avalanche chasing the player down the mountain. 

Level Development

Space

 

  • ​Iterative testing allowed for me to get a feel for the speed the player would be traversing the environment and enable me to perfect the width and length  of each corner. 

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  • Using visual stimuli (i.e. Signs and barriers) I was able to indicate to the player what speeds they should be taking  corners. 

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Signs and barriers.png
Ref 2.png

References

  • The main reference I used for this level was Need For Speed - The Run specifically the mission Ice Mountain . 

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  • For my road layout, I referenced a lot of rally events , mostly observing  the layout of mountainous tracks.

Summary 

Thoughts:

This level creates an engaging narrative, with a good sense of pace and flow but is also heavily UX focused resulting in a smooth/polished feel. Overall adapting the level nicely to the UE vehicle package.  

Improvements:

  • Adding more challenging corners e.g. tight chicanes would allow for a more challenging experience. 

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