The Hospes Asteroid | Benjamin Foster: Level Design Portfolio

Trailer

Type: Personal Project

Software Used: Unreal Engine 5.4, Adobe Illustrator

Genre: First Person Shooter

I wanted to use this project as a challenge of creating a level that would fit into a First Person Shooter game. 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

Summary

The Hospes Asteroid is a new unidentified object that’s arrived into our solar system, with just enough size to act as a minor planet. It is said the Hive are using this as a cover to slip past our patrols, and scout out more routes for their bigger fleets. We need to touch ground on it, and prove they’re indeed inhabiting it. And if so, retrieve any data indicating what plans they have for attack.

Constraints

Unreal Engine 5
FPS Game Starter Kit (Character Controller, AI, and Equipment System)
First Person Shooter genre: Appropriate framework to facilitate gameplay in this genre.
5-10 minutes of gameplay
Level must have a start, middle, end point and have a clear sense of progression

Layout

Image Gallery

Quest Overview

Step 1:

Start at entrance and encounter first enemies

Step 2:

Enter the caves and maneuver down the stairwell

Step 3:

Continue through the Armory and Barracks, encountering more enemies as you go

Step 4:

Cross the Bridge and fight your way through more troops

Step 5:

Enter the Hangar as new ships arrive with more enemies to combat

Step 6:

Fight the Boss and pick up the data pack he drops when dying

Step 7:

Enter the Data Pack into the spire and fight the remaining enemies while it uploads

Step 8:

Exit via the teleporter to get back to your ship

Custom Blueprints

Death Fall Respawn

Proximity Door

Data Pack/ Data Spire

Key Iterations

Armory/Barracks

In feedback from a first pass at this area, I was told it felt more interesting for the enemies than it did for the player themselves. As my first real level project, I was fine with creating a space, but had trouble filling it with an appropriate amount of enemies and environmental obstacles to make interesting gameplay. I struggled with the balance of giving space for the player to move freely, while providing enough cover to make it fair to the player. I then spent more time playing destiny, and getting a feel for the pacing of the combat, and the location of the full and half-cover pieces. This helped me get a better grasp on the the different types of cover, and I then implemented these techniques accordingly.