Gobbo’s Gambit is a third-person stealth/action game where Gobbo must escape a labyrinth guarded by skeleton warriors.
Responsibilities:
Created 4 complete levels in Unreal Engine 5 for a third person stealth and action game.
Worked with a team of designers and engineers to prototype all puzzles.
Placed all art assets and the majority of props in all levels.
Led the level design process and gave constructive criticism for a team of 4 designers.
Refined enemy placements, patrol patterns and documented any bugs that appeared.
Coordinated and actively participated in weekly Agile group meetings.
Prototype Blockout
This prototype blockout was to test the metrics for the player character’s climbing and jumping. This test zone was the basis for future levels to be made.
Enemy & Art Tests
Here is a continuation and refinement of the early player metric test levels. I utilized placeholder art to facilitate the beginnings of enemy AI placements and patrols. By using assets that were readily available, I was able to share with the art and engineering teams the foundation of the overall direction of the game.
The Final Pass
Here is an example of the player avoiding enemy emplacements in the final art pass. The player avoids the detection of the skeleton warriors and sneaks their way to an exit.
First Zone
The first zone teaches the player to utilize the pushing mechanic, crawling and climbing to proceed without the threat of enemies. This is done to help pace the player to learn the basic interactions within a linear space.
Guiding Lights
In this first zone I utilized lights and particle effects to guide the player forward towards the exit.
Second Zone
This level begins with the player entering a large chamber triggering combat. Afterwards, the player is given a split path that either incentivizes stealth or combat, which then converges into their first major puzzle.
Mining Hall
At this point in the game, the player has only had a few small combat encounters, so using the mining theme of the level, the player encounters several skeletons mining arcane crystals.
Branching Paths
By having a split path after the combat encounter, this gives the player agency to choose either more combat with more open areas, or a stealthier approach with cramped spaces and line of sight blockers to advance.
Third Zone
After the player breaks free from their jail cell, they finds themselves in the skeleton barracks, where the exit is foreshadowed. The player is given multiple paths, but are funneled into the exit room.
Alternate Routes
By utilizing level design principles such as leading lines and breadcrumbs, I enticed the player to follow alternate paths to encourage the player towards a stealthier approach.
Breaking Pathways
The player sees the exit at the start of the level, so to create a more dynamic space, I broke up the golden path with static meshes and I placed enemy patrol routes to halt the players movements. I added a broken side hallway that was only reachable by following breadcrumbs and could only be accessed by crawling.
Gallery
