I began by trying to find what I could add onto the game that would be unique from the content already there yet fit in with the context of the game. I ended up going with the main design of a mountain (many mountains) with structures built into it.
Once I had the initial concept, I begun creating maps to illustrate my plan. I compared my maps to the ones I had studied and used them to reference the distribution of food and creatures. However since my region was intended for more experienced players I put less food across it then is typically found so players have to scavenge more for food.
With the maps done I begun to greybox my level. Since I was using tools completely new to me, I was careful to take my time and figure out everything before going headfirst into the level design.
One of the challenges with these tools was how long it took to render a room. This meant every time I wanted to change something in the game I would open the editor file, make the change, render it and then overwrite the old file with the newly created one. This was costly time wise and meant I had to be very deliberate with my design. I used my metrics to guide my design to remove the possibility for error.
I playtested the level with players who had prior experience with Rain World and watched them play. Seeing how they experienced the world and where they went when they had no direction from outside the game was used to inform if I was on the right track or not. Once I got to a place where I was confident in my player experience I begun to do a bit of polish with texturing and effects.
One of the major challenges was iterating upon my designs and re-integrating them into the game. It made anything that was a pain point for the player a difficult process to fix. I made sure the changes I were making would have a positive impact in order. I lot of the final touches had to be done in the actual game and those changes saved into the files.
See Other Work
I began by trying to find what I could add onto the game that would be unique from the content already there yet fit in with the context of the game. I ended up going with the main design of a mountain (many mountains) with structures built into it.
Once I had the initial concept, I begun creating maps to illustrate my plan. I compared my maps to the ones I had studied and used them to reference the distribution of food and creatures. However since my region was intended for more experienced players I put less food across it then is typically found so players have to scavenge more for food.
With the maps done I begun to greybox my level. Since I was using tools completely new to me, I was careful to take my time and figure out everything before going headfirst into the level design.
One of the challenges with these tools was how long it took to render a room. This meant every time I wanted to change something in the game I would open the editor file, make the change, render it and then overwrite the old file with the newly created one. This was costly time wise and meant I had to be very deliberate with my design. I used my metrics to guide my design to remove the possibility for error.
I playtested the level with players who had prior experience with Rain World and watched them play. Seeing how they experienced the world and where they went when they had no direction from outside the game was used to inform if I was on the right track or not. Once I got to a place where I was confident in my player experience I begun to do a bit of polish with texturing and effects.
One of the major challenges was iterating upon my designs and re-integrating them into the game. It made anything that was a pain point for the player a difficult process to fix. I made sure the changes I were making would have a positive impact in order. I lot of the final touches had to be done in the actual game and those changes saved into the files.
See Other Work
I began by trying to find what I could add onto the game that would be unique from the content already there yet fit in with the context of the game. I ended up going with the main design of a mountain (many mountains) with structures built into it.
Once I had the initial concept, I begun creating maps to illustrate my plan. I compared my maps to the ones I had studied and used them to reference the distribution of food and creatures. However since my region was intended for more experienced players I put less food across it then is typically found so players have to scavenge more for food.
With the maps done I begun to greybox my level. Since I was using tools completely new to me, I was careful to take my time and figure out everything before going headfirst into the level design.
One of the challenges with these tools was how long it took to render a room. This meant every time I wanted to change something in the game I would open the editor file, make the change, render it and then overwrite the old file with the newly created one. This was costly time wise and meant I had to be very deliberate with my design. I used my metrics to guide my design to remove the possibility for error.
I playtested the level with players who had prior experience with Rain World and watched them play. Seeing how they experienced the world and where they went when they had no direction from outside the game was used to inform if I was on the right track or not. Once I got to a place where I was confident in my player experience I begun to do a bit of polish with texturing and effects.
One of the major challenges was iterating upon my designs and re-integrating them into the game. It made anything that was a pain point for the player a difficult process to fix. I made sure the changes I were making would have a positive impact in order. I lot of the final touches had to be done in the actual game and those changes saved into the files.
See Other Work
Level Designer
Cavernous Cliffs
Tools: Rain World Level Editor | Team: Solo | Timeline: 3 Months
Level Designer
Cavernous Cliffs
Tools: Rain World Level Editor | Team: Solo | Timeline: 3 Months
Level Designer
Cavernous Cliffs
Tools: Rain World Level Editor | Team: Solo | Timeline: 3 Months
Summary
• Studied in-depth and created Case Studies of vanilla regions in the game.
• Created a LDD and maps with enemy and item spawns.
• Planned enemy AI placement and food spawns.
• Designed greybox and used appreciation playtests to improve the quality of the design.
• Added textures and effects to the level.
Project Goals
Rain World is one of my favorited games, so I wanted to create a mod that added a new large region onto the game. I wanted to create an expansive region that would add a substantial amount to the base game. Since the game is an open world, I wanted to have different sub-regions to help diversify the areas the player can explore. I also wanted to have something meaningful at the top of the region with all of the paths pushing the player to investigate what is at the top of the mountain.
Summary
• Studied in-depth and created Case Studies of vanilla regions in the game.
• Created a LDD and maps with enemy and item spawns.
• Planned enemy AI placement and food spawns.
• Designed greybox and used appreciation playtests to improve the quality of the design.
• Added textures and effects to the level.
Project Goals
Rain World is one of my favorited games, so I wanted to create a mod that added a new large region onto the game. I wanted to create an expansive region that would add a substantial amount to the base game. Since the game is an open world, I wanted to have different sub-regions to help diversify the areas the player can explore. I also wanted to have something meaningful at the top of the region with all of the paths pushing the player to investigate what is at the top of the mountain.
Summary
• Studied in-depth and created Case Studies of vanilla regions in the game.
• Created a LDD and maps with enemy and item spawns.
• Planned enemy AI placement and food spawns.
• Designed greybox and used appreciation playtests to improve the quality of the design.
• Added textures and effects to the level.
Project Goals
Rain World is one of my favorited games, so I wanted to create a mod that added a new large region onto the game. I wanted to create an expansive region that would add a substantial amount to the base game. Since the game is an open world, I wanted to have different sub-regions to help diversify the areas the player can explore. I also wanted to have something meaningful at the top of the region with all of the paths pushing the player to investigate what is at the top of the mountain.