FLOODGATE
MULTYPLAYER FPS
LEVEL DESIGN
This was a small project made in Unreal engine 4 tailored to prove my skills on the engine and in level design. In this project I designed a tactical Fps multiplayer map developed on multiple height levels inspired by games like "Rainbow six: Siege". I designed my map on a single building where the players have different ways to control the map itself.
THE GAME MODE
The game is a small multiplayer symmetric 3v3 match that consists in a series of 3 rounds. A team will spawn on the northern side of the building (Team1), while the other will spawn to the south (Team2). Each team has a limited amount of respawns during the game. When all respawns are depleted and no player of the team is alive, the team loses the round. The objective of each team is to recover an "object" that is located in the underground basement and to bring it back to the respective team spawn point. The problem is that the basement is flooded by a lethal substance. Players can drain the substance by interacting with a valve that will be located in the ground floor inside the building. Re-interacting with the valve will cause the basement to flood again, killing everyone inside it. This means that the team must cooperate to get the "object" requiring them to defend the valve from the enemy team, which is more numerous since at least one player will be on the labyrinthic basement searching for the artifact. The valve can spawn/activate in two different locations (A or B), one will be closer to Team1 while the other to Team2.
In the game there are no pre-determined attacker or defender roles. Since the closest team to the objective will be the first one to reach it, and will have the implicit role of defending it, the role of attacker or defender will depend on the valve spawn position.
Each player can choose between three classes at the beginning of each round.
THE PLAYERS CLASSES
In this game there are three different classes that for now will have generic names.
The classes are designed following a rock-paper-scissor approach which In this case is:
Trooper < Scout < Ghost < Trooper.
Trooper
The Trooper has the highest amount of HP, the slowest movement speed and the highest firepower. It's equipped with an assault rifle and a small shield on the back that will deflect enemy bullets. This class will perform best when controlling a static position.
Scout
The Scout is the fastest class of the game. It's equipped with a short-range shotgun and 2 grenades. Its speed will allow it to move easily on the map, spotting enemy players or flanking them. Its grenades allow it to disrupt the enemy defense or constrict them on a tight spot. This class is the most suited to search the "object" in the basement thanks to its speed, its shotgun and its grenades.
Ghost
The Ghost is equipped with an SMG, it also has the signature ability to become partially invisible, especially if not moving. Instead of controlling the enemy valve, the ghost can directly descend into the basement attempting to steal the object from the enemy team, which would be unaware of its presence. This class is also designed to ambush the Attacker class using its stealth ability.
15 / 10 /2020
The Ground Floor
The ground floor is the main area of the game. This floor hosts both of the possible valves that will "spawn" during the game. This floor path follows a circular structure with a tight intersection in the middle. There are no direct paths or lines of sight to the other side of the building (Latitudinal) encouraging the team to spread around the map, avoiding direct open conflict.
As mentioned before, each valve (A & B) are located near the team's starting positions. The closest spawning team will reach their respective objective first, while the other team will have multiple paths to choose from, but must travel an overall longer distance to reach it. I made sure to balance A and B distances and paths so that they are the same for both their respective attacking team and their respective defense team. I'm also making sure that both A and B are equally defensible positions, balancing the geometry of the room with the number of entry points and their directions.
THe Map layout
The map has 3 different floors. Each floor has different purposes and opportunities.
You can see my initial sketches of the architecture of the level below. I will add the furniture later on.
The First Floor
I call the first floor the "Highway". This floor has no relevant object but is very open and easy to traverse and has two "holes" in A and B. Gaining control of this floor is a huge support in the attack / defense of the objective. This floor is best suited for the Scout class which has a higher movement speed and flanking capabilities. Knowing this, this floor is the perfect ground for preparing counter-flanking ambushes on the enemy.
The basement
At the start the game the basement is completely flooded, and so inaccessible. To drain the basement a valve must be used at the ground floor. The basement can only accessed by two sets of stairs, each located near A and B.
Since the valves (A & B) can just be "active" one at a time, the basement can only be accessed by the stairs near the valve while the other set of stairs will be closed off.
The "object" (objective of the game) is contained in the basement and it will spawn randomly in a series of fixed locations a the start of the game.
This floor will follow a maze like structure using very tight places and complex paths. Every aspect of this floor is designed to slow down the player in the search of the "object" and promote close quarters combat.
First Floor
Update #1:
I've finally decided the theme of the level! After collecting a good number of free models available on SketchFab I've decided that the theme of the level would be a sort of "vintage library/research" building.
I lowered some bookcases to create a gap between the ceiling and the bookcase. This gap allows the Scout class to throw his grenades to the other side of the bookcase.
I still need to add a model for the valves, fix the level lighting (at the moment it's a bit messed up) and compress or remove some files since the package weights 5gb at the moment. Here are some screenshots of the furniture I've added so far.
Update #2:
After managing texture sizes and unused plugins (and other stuff), I reduced the package size from to 5.5GB to 156 MB
Update #3:
I've completed both of the valve rooms and assigned better names/functions to all the building rooms.
My goal is to make each room have a clear purpose to offer more variety, but more importantly to facilitate player callouts and tactics (ex. "I've seen two enemies in the Top guest room"). This also create more contrast between the house itself and the basement (in which is much harder to navigate in and make callouts).
Ground Floor