Hospes Asteroid

Trailer

Type: Personal Project

Time Frame: 2 weeks build

Software Used: Unreal Engine 5.4, Adobe Illustrator

Game Inspiration: Destiny

This project was my first assignment in my Master's program, and was supposed to be based on a First Person Shooter game chosen from a short list. The game I chose as inspiration for my level, was the original Destiny from 2014. I wanted to capture the same aesthetic of the moon environment in the game; with the starry sky backdrop in the beginning, transitioning to the dark caves as the player progresses. The level has a few scripted events, like the dropships flying in, and the player entering the datapack into the spire, which then triggers the alarm. I used the FPS Game Starter Kit asset pack to get a feel for the combat, and utilize some of the more advanced character scripting within it.

Walkthrough

Image Gallery

Layout

Reference Board

For the planning, I referenced a lot of images from Destiny itself. I wanted to make sure the lighting gave off the correct vibe, and was insistent on giving the skybox just the right look. I used the Landscape tool to give the rooms a rocky and hard shaped look. I also made metal-looking structures, with some deeply rooted in the walls, to give the feeling that the aliens had lived there for a while. I also implemented statues and abnormal structures, to reinforce the alien atmosphere.

Lessons Learned

Key Takeaways

Scale: Using the Landscape tool can have an unintended effect on scale, and can sometimes make it hard to gauge the size of other objects.
Enemy behavior: One of the main things I didn't properly evaluate initially was the enemy encounters. I didn't realize at first the need for multiple iterations when designing combat encounters, and making sure the enemy placement is both enjoyable, while also not being too difficult.
Scope: The map ended up being fairly large and needed a lot of care in filling that space out naturally. While it was intended, as levels in Destiny are quite long, it presented a challenge to find the balance between emptiness and clutter.

Technical Skills honed:

UE5 Blueprints: For this level, I was able to master spawning enemies and gather more knowledge of Blueprints in general. I combined some other Blueprints learned with the spawning functionality as well. Using the Key and locked door concept, I was able to iterate inserting a data pack into a spire, causing enemies to spawn and an alarm to go off. I am also more comfortable with altering already preexisting blueprints including player behavior (Starting weapon & Double-Jump capability).
Animations: I worked with the level sequencer for the first time to have animations play in the level, and it was very satisfying to see them work as intended.