Beyond the Horizon is a 3D Platformer with First Person Shooter elements developed in Unreal Engine in April 2024
Maps
These maps represent the three distinct areas the player will traverse through to complete the level, starting in the Village and ending in the Cave. The intention behind these designs were for the player to utilize different mechanics to complete each area. The Village facilitates exploration and introduces the player to locomotion. The Mountain focuses on platforming with the boosted jump mechanic. The Cave requires the player to shoot projectiles to clear a path forward, incorporating FPS elements into the game.
These early whiteboxes were used to test the flow of the level, which provided valuable information used throughout development to create improved iterations of each area.
Areas
The Village is the first area and introduces the player to the main objective. As a starting area there is not much to do here, since its primary purpose is to move the player along. The player can die, however, by jumping into the pond, which causes them to drown and have to restart. The only way to leave this area is to gain the boosted jump ability by collecting the magic boots located by the bridge.
The Mountain is the next area after leaving the Village. I tried to use forced perspective from the player's initial view of the Mountain to make it seem larger and more intimidating than it actually is. This area challenges the player to hone their new ability by only allowing progression through platforming with boosted jumps.
To help guide the player along the correct path up the mountain, I posted lanterns at the start of each platforming section. The player can explore alternate paths around the mountain, but only one path leads up. It also introduces a new threat, lava, that can kill the player. This area changed the most from the original map and whitebox in favor of a more natural formation.
The Cave is the final area of the game and introduces the player to the shooting mechanic, which is used to clear the crystals and progress through the area. Because the Cave is underground, I used a post processing volume to adjust the lighting so that the crystals and particle effects would not be washed out.
I purposefully put crystals toward the end of the track to force the player toward the exit to clear the way. this shows the player that the only way out is with the minecart, which can be found by exploring the main cavern.
Interactions
The magic boots are the first collectible in the game. Once the player collides with it, the blueprint will adjust the player's maximum jump height and then destroy the object. This introduces the player to a new gameplay mechanic: the boosted jump.
The shooting mechanic is one of the player's input actions, so they can technically use it from the start of the game. However, the UI prompting it is not introduced until the Cave. The projectile applies damage to other blueprints that are able to receive damage. This is how the projectile can clear crystals but not destroy other areas of the map.
The crystal is destroyed using a rudimentary health system. Currently, the crystal destroys once the projectile overlaps with it. This system could be expanded upon in the future to require multiple hits to destroy a crystal.
The minecart was the most challenging interaction I created for this game. I started by creating a minecart track using a spline. The minecart that the player grabs is not the same minecart they ride out. The real cart is hidden at the start of the track, and when the fake cart collides with it (player places the cart down) the visibility of each cart switches, so it looks like the player places the cart. Using a move track in the timeline editor, the real minecart follows the spline track out of the cave. To allow for the fake cart to be picked up I also had to create a grabbing system in the player blueprint.
To prevent the player from climbing out of the cave without using the minecart, I created these wood pillars that bump the player off on collision. Falling off these pillars drops the player into lava, forcing them to restart. I originally had the track floating over the lava to prevent the player escaping, however this was not ideal since it looks unrealistic. These pillars offered me a solution that didn't break the immersion of the game.
Reflection
The purpose of this project was to create a level that could be implemented into a full game but also stand alone as a complete experience. I learned a lot about the level design workflow during this project and the importance of understanding how technical design interacts with level design. I couldn't start my prototype until I worked out what gameplay mechanics would be present within the level. This also gave me more hands-on experience with blueprints and allowed me to explore more avenues in design, such as visual effects.
