HLA Mod - Compound
PROJECT INFORMATION
Platform: Windows - VR.
Role: Level Designer and Scripter.
Tools: Hammer Editor/Source Engine 2.
Team Size: 1
OVERVIEW
Compound is a Half-Life: Alyx mod that introduces a new mechanic to the game. The mechanic is dimension shift. The player can shift between dimensions according to their will as they try to shut the combine experiment that is causing this shift.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Concept, BSP building, scripting the shift mechanic, prop and texture placement, players spawning, pathing, pacing.
PRE-PRODUCTION
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IDEA
I had finished watching Stranger Things Season 4 and absolutely loved it. I was always fascinated by the idea of an alternate dimension. ‘Upside down’ in the show was exactly that. The idea of having a mirror world that is identical in its layout and geometry but differs in its setting and inhabitants was fascinating to me.
I quickly realized that the game elements in HLA can be divided into two classes: City 17 and Xen. These classes can be used to define two separate dimensions.
I was happy with this idea and felt like this would help me craft a unique story for the level.
But I wanted to do more than just add a new story. I wanted to add something for the players to use. Like a new game mechanic, maybe? I wished to keep the same overall idea and add a mechanic that would pair well with this direction.
After a lot of thinking and googling, I came up with the idea of giving the player the control to switch between these dimensions. I felt like this would add a lot to the gameplay. My brain quickly moved to Titanfall 2's time travel mechanic in the mission: Effect and Cause. That was exactly what I wanted to achieve, but instead of time, it would be switching between different dimensions in this scenario.
PROTOTYPING MECHANIC
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Approach:
I wanted to prototype the mechanic quickly before jumping into level design. The easiest way would be to replicate the level x units away from itself and teleport the player between these two levels. The distance between the different player positions in both dimensions remains constant.
Implementation:
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The player should be able to teleport between two rooms (for starters).
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The player should be able to carry objects between the two dimensions. This will provide a lot of opportunities to create puzzle scenarios.
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When the player jumps dimensions, there should be an indication of where the NPCs are in the other dimension. This is important as it indicates the position of the NPC and allows the player to re-position better to their advantage. For the prototype stage, I added a floating blue orb to indicate that.
REFERENCES
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BEATS IN THE LEVEL
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Following the 4 part story structure of Ki-sho-ten-ketsu to pace out the story and gameplay beats in the level.
TOP DOWN VIEW OF MAP
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BLOCKOUT IMAGES
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DIMENSION 1
DIMENSION 2
PLAYTEST DRIVEN CHANGES
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I conducted 3 playtests at different stages of this level's development. Some of the changes I made based on my learnings through playtesting are below.
Redesign the reception area:
The reception area had a few problems:
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The open space available was too much. A large part of the area was unused by the players during combat. To fix this, one side of the room was cut and I made adjustments to the overall area and removed the excess negative space.
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The exit door was too close to the entrance into the area. Because of this, players did not have any incentive to explore the other half of the room. I re-routed the golden path of this area so as to make the player go around the room and finally end up in front of the exit door.
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As there are 3 doorways apart from the entrance, the player had to go close to each door to check if it was the correct one. I added clear visuals to deny affordance to the player through the decoy doorways.
Giving a new weapon to the player:
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During the playtest almost every player felt it was a painful task to take on so many enemies with a pistol. They knew what they had to do in order to take out the enemies but the process was not fun as it was tedious and took forever. To make it fun, I added a shotgun pickup just before the combat area. This meant the player will have two weapons now, one of which is more powerful and deadly at close range. Thus, rewarding the player for using the shift mechanic at the correct time to re-orient themselves in advantageous positions.
Adding gameplay gates to areas:
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In order to prevent the player from just running through the level, and incentivize the use of the shift mechanic, it was essential to add hard gates at certain sections of the level. These gates also helped in preventing backtracking even after shifting between dimensions. This really helped in controlling the pace of the level.
Adding text for information.
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Added prompt text at places for gameplay context and shift mechanic control tutorial for playtest.
POSTMORTEM
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What went well?
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Following the four-act story structure (Kishōtenketsu) for the level map out helped in setting a direction and following it from start to finish.
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Playtesting with different audiences: Even though the primary player audience for this level is experienced Half-Life Alyx players, it was helpful to have insights from people who had varied experiences with the game.
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The goal of the study was to make sure the level was playtested multiple times and iterated based on learnings from the playtests.
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Planning and implementing a new mechanic: As this level revolves around introducing and teaching a new mechanic to the players, it was important to have a working mechanic before the design phase. The implemented mechanic was good enough to test and play the level by the players.
What can be improved?
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Even though playtesting with varied HLA experience was helpful, there was only 1 playtester who was the most experienced and had actually completed the base game. He was the primary audience for this experience. It would have been great to get more people with similar experiences to make more informed decisions during iteration.
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Scoping was a big challenge for this experience. I started with a relatively large scope and had to dial it down as I was developing the level. With the limited time, it was important to make sure that the blockouts I was making were playtested and iterated well. I did not want to keep building the level without any sort of validation. This led to rescoping a few times during development.
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Currently, the level does not have any light. For a game like HLA, it is really important to consider lighting while designing the blockouts as it could play a key role in different sections of the level. I wish I had taken this into consideration since the beginning and included it in my blockout process.
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Showing the presence of enemies in the other dimension. In my mechanic prototype, I implemented this feature where the enemies in one dimension view as blue orbs in the other dimension. This was implemented to show the position of enemies in the other dimension so as to provide the player enough information to re-orient and position themselves better. But unfortunately, it made the experience less exciting. The next step would be to find a balance between showing the blue orbs always v/s sometimes and playtesting it to see what works.
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