Villa
INTRODUCTION
PROJECT DETAILS
Villa is a Left 4 Dead 2 survival map, fully playable in cooperative mode.
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My goal was to create an abandoned and weathered house.
I wanted to convey to the player the experience of tranquility before the storm, moreover, I wanted to create a contrast between calmness and horror action.
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Developed in 5 weeks
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Valve Level Editor: Hammer World Editor
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Level Design
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AI scripting (for the Zombies)
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Performance (light and nodraw textures)
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Pre - Production
LOGICAL PHASE
Click to enlarge
Before gathering reference images, I like to start with a text file.
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During this process, I write down these elements:
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GOALS: what I want to do, why and how.
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ELEMENTS: gameplay elements at my disposal to use.
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QUESTIONS: questions popping up during the logical phase.
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IDEAS: idea popping up during the phase.
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SEQUENCE: effective design sequence of the level. This style permits me to constantly questioning myself and iterate.
References
Villa is inspired from zones of nord-Italy. To convey the experience of tranquillity and calmness, I thought optimal to set the level in the countryside of a city and not an urban centre.
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I think the horde coming through helps the experience i was looking for, the sudden broke of calmness.
Level Flow
Level flow is very simple, due to the nature of survival map, the objective is to hold the ground.
Design & Gameplay
A lot of the gameplay bits is borrowed from Left 4 Dead 2. I used the elements of the game to indirectly tell the player where to hold ground optimally without forcing the decision.
RESOURCES
The villa is stuffed with resources indicating a good holding spot for the horde.
VERTICALITY
The villa is designed to be vertical rather than horizontal like a bungalow.
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I wanted to give an interesting critical path and layout, I wanted the player to have the idea of escaping to the roof when things get tough in the base level.
OVERWHELMED
The Zombie AI is scripted to give a full assault on the villa, they can climb on the walls and attack from the balcony.
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My inspiration was Resident Evil 4, where the real horror is getting overwhelmed by more sentient enemies.
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LANDMARKS
The Villa is the highest and most different building in the courtyard, these gives an indirect indication to the player to explore it.
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It is also the only opened house.
Steam Workshop page
Conclusion
This is a map created to hone my level design skills and learn spaces, lighting and AI. If I had more time I would redesign some of the aspect of the level. I think that some spaces are too wide, and the Villa doesn't have breakables wall that would had added more gameplay value.
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In conclusion I learnt a lot, and I will do a better workflow next time, thank you for reading!