For this level I ignored almost all sense of aesthetics and just focused on what I could make with blueprints and tested them out on the level. Everything is more a proof of concept rather than what the actual thing will be. Once I start implementing aesthetics, a lot of the setup for each area of the level will change and when they do, I can know for certain how I want things to be set up.
So I started as per usual with figuring out a general setting and theme for it. For this one, I went with heavy platforming and wanted it to take place inside a volcano.
After getting the basic idea of where I wanted things to be and what I wanted to happen in each area, I went ham with figuring out blueprints on how to make what I wanted.
I created two keys that the player knows if they have, a gate that needs the two keys turned in which is done with a key press, and it won't open till both have been turned in. I created wisps that teleports you away if you touch them, pillars that move up and down in the lava, and finally, I made a death floor.
With everything laid out, I tested out my level a few times with the current setup, and although it's not that good, it has the feel I'm going for, and once I get to the next week, I will lay it out properly.
This level took quite a while to make and I experimented with quite a few things. I didn't focus too much on aesthetics and in large didn't bother with making things extra pretty. The focus was on creating an actual level with obstacles, objects to collect, a goal to get to, and methods to herd the player from one area to the next. So, I started out with coming up with an idea for what I kinda wanted to make, and I ended up with a temple area in the himalayas, so I went to google for some inspiration.
After finding inspiration, I went about using the terrain tool to shape an area that looks like it belongs in the Himalaya
Things were beginning to take shape, and I then went from shaping the world to planning out a route for the player to take. I planned to have two temple areas.
After planning, I went on to create a blueprint that would allow me to paint the terrain with multiple meshes.
The player had to go through the temple in order to get to the long bridges taking them to the next temple. After painting the terrain, I went on with constructing some basic blueprint objects I could use several times over.
It then went on to planning out the first temple and iterating on my ideas.
As I went on, I started constructing more and more stuff, adding some decent lighting.
I had finally reached a state where I felt like I should start making some changes to the player character. I had designed some areas to need double jump and crouch. But I wanted sprint to be added as well because the level is quite large and getting around faster felt right. I also went ahead and added an elevator which was easily made with the matinee system. Just made the movement and put it on a loop.
But the level needed a bit more than that. I went for a banjo-kazooie esque feel with collectables. For the level was designed to have combat in it, but there wasn't time to add that kind of thing, one half would do, collectables. I created a ring and attached the script where it gets destroyed when colliding with a player, along with playing a sound.
And as the last detail to give my level some atmosphere, snow particles. I made a system for snowing and added it across the level.
Finally, my level was ready to be photographed, played, and fine-tuned.
And of course, a video clip of me playing the level. When I come to the stairs I wanted to demonstrate how it is really easy to screw it up the first time around with the way the character jumps, so it helps teach the player how jumping works in this game before they need it for real.
Tutorials I used
Snow particle system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cnRh_sE1x8
The pickup rings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNueIWCKoco
Elevator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THCR9p5mIz0
