Robot Centipede Takedown

Summary

On their quest to rid the world of a mechanical centipede the player finds themselves on the back of a motorcycle with a bazooka. Take down the centipede before it destroys the city.

About my level

Developed over 6 weeks half time
Unreal engine, Blender

Inspired by

Uncharted 4
Shadow Of The Colossus
A Way Out
GTA: San Andreas

The Finale

I wanted to have Player Agency when destroying the robot. In the end the player is the one to pull the trigger.

Introducing the robot.

I introduce the robot with a Call To Action.
Throwing the player straight into the middle of the action.

Introducing End Goal

The robot draws attention from the player, so I visually blocked it off to redirect player focus toward the city.

The Challenge

My goal with this experience was to seamlessly combine my love for designing levels and scripting. I wanted to create an open ended level in a setting where levels historically have been too linear.

I settled on creating a small level where I could push my scripts to their limits.

I chose not to go beyond whitebox, in order to keep a strong focus on level design - not environmental art.

Creating the robot

To calculate in which direction the different parts should rotate I used a formula that finds the intersection point of two circles.

These circles are created using the length of the different parts of the leg as a radius.

Step 1

Calculate distance
to intersection point

I wanted a tool that was intuitive, quick and easy to manipulate at any point in development.

I settled on having the body section follow a spline. To tell the legs where to place their feet i placed down actors that automatically connects to a body section.

The legs have a simple script that tells them when to move on to the next point.

Player Agency

I wanted to create a level where the player could tackle the robot in different ways.

In order to create multiple paths without using up too many resources I used the hourglass technique where you switch between large open areas and tighter corridors.

Using this technique i can make sure every player experiences the same key moments in the level withour sacrifising player choice.

Key moments

The hourglass technique lets me make sure every player experiences the same key moments in the level without sacrifising player choice.

Redirecting player focus

Having a large robot centipede draws lots of attention from the player. If the player is constantly looking at the same things they are at risk to suffer from visual fatigue.

I combat visual fatigue using two techniques.

Denial and reward

Image examples of deny n reward

The easiest way to combat visual fatigue is to deny vision of the robot altogether. Just as i can deny the player, I can reward them by revealing the robot from a new perspective.

Switching focal points

Throughout the first half of the level the players goal and focus has been on taking down the robot.

At the halfway mark I switch the players focus towards the city, rather than the robot. Now the player has to get to the city before the robot does so.

LEVEL DESIGNER & TECHNICAL DESIGNER

Stefan Groothuis

Robot Centipede Takedown

Summary

On their quest to rid the world of a mechanical centipede the player finds themselves on the back of a motorcycle with a bazooka. Take down the centipede before it destroys the city.

About my level

Developed over 6 weeks half time

Unreal engine, Blender

Inspired by

Uncharted 4

Shadow Of The Colossus

A Way Out

GTA: San Andreas

The Finale

I wanted to have Player Agency when destroying the robot. In the end the player is the one to pull the trigger.

Introducing the robot.

I introduce the robot with a Call To Action.
Throwing the player straight into the middle of the action.

Introducing End Goal

The robot draws attention from the player, so I visually blocked it off to redirect player focus toward the city.

The Challenge

Creating the robot

To calculate in which direction the different parts should rotate I used a formula that finds the intersection point of two circles.

These circles are created using the length of the different parts of the leg as a radius.

Step 1

Calculate distance
to intersection point

Player Agency

Key moments

The hourglass technique lets me make sure every player experiences the same key moments in the level without sacrifising player choice.

Redirecting player focus

Having a large robot centipede draws lots of attention from the player. If the player is constantly looking at the same things they are at risk to suffer from visual fatigue.

I combat visual fatigue using two techniques.

Denial and reward

Image examples of deny n reward

The easiest way to combat visual fatigue is to deny vision of the robot altogether. Just as i can deny the player, I can reward them by revealing the robot from a new perspective.

Switching focal points

Throughout the first half of the level the players goal and focus has been on taking down the robot.

At the halfway mark I switch the players focus towards the city, rather than the robot. Now the player has to get to the city before the robot does so.

Video of castle reveal

Robot Centipede Takedown

Summary

On their quest to rid the world of a mechanical centipede the player finds themselves on the back of a motorcycle with a bazooka. Take down the centipede before it destroys the city.

About my level

Developed over 6 weeks half time

Unreal engine, Blender

Inspired by

Uncharted 4

Shadow Of The Colossus

A Way Out

GTA: San Andreas

The Finale I wanted to have Player Agency when destroying the robot. In the end the player is the one to pull the trigger.​

Introducing the robot. I introduce the robot with a Call To Action. Throwing the player straight into the middle of the action.​

Introducing End Goal The robot draws attention from the player, so I visually blocked it off to redirect player focus toward the city. ​

The Challenge

Creating the robot

To calculate in which direction the different parts should rotate I used a formula that finds the intersection point of two circles. These circles are created using the length of the different parts of the leg as a radius.

Step 1 Calculate distance to intersection point

Player Agency

Key moments

The hourglass technique lets me make sure every player experiences the same key moments in the level without sacrifising player choice.

Redirecting player focus

Having a large robot centipede draws lots of attention from the player. If the player is constantly looking at the same things they are at risk to suffer from visual fatigue. I combat visual fatigue using two techniques.

Denial and reward

Image examples of deny n reward

The easiest way to combat visual fatigue is to deny vision of the robot altogether. Just as i can deny the player, I can reward them by revealing the robot from a new perspective.

Switching focal points

Throughout the first half of the level the players goal and focus has been on taking down the robot. At the halfway mark I switch the players focus towards the city, rather than the robot. Now the player has to get to the city before the robot does so.

Video of castle reveal

The Finale

I wanted to have Player Agency when destroying the robot. In the end the player is the one to pull the trigger.

Introducing the robot.

I introduce the robot with a Call To Action.
Throwing the player straight into the middle of the action.

Introducing End Goal

The robot draws attention from the player, so I visually blocked it off to redirect player focus toward the city.

To calculate in which direction the different parts should rotate I used a formula that finds the intersection point of two circles.

These circles are created using the length of the different parts of the leg as a radius.

Step 1

Calculate distance
to intersection point

Having a large robot centipede draws lots of attention from the player. If the player is constantly looking at the same things they are at risk to suffer from visual fatigue.

I combat visual fatigue using two techniques.

Throughout the first half of the level the players goal and focus has been on taking down the robot.

At the halfway mark I switch the players focus towards the city, rather than the robot. Now the player has to get to the city before the robot does so.