Dungeon Design Test

The requirements for this design test were to create a three room dungeon, connected by a hallway. I had 4 days to complete it in UE4. The guidelines were flexible with consideration to genre and mechanics; my largest requirement was to only use the provided art assets to construct the scene. I was, however, able to create my own particles and modify provided assets.

I quickly turned to my whiteboard to plan out a space, and write out what I would ideally create, and then a list of possibilities after exploring the assets. Since gameplay guidelines were very loose, I began to plan out what kinds of interactions could here, and what genre of game I could take inspiration from. Ultimately, I decided to build this environment as if it were from an Elder Scrolls title. I designed a prison escape scenario, where the player must find a way out of their cell, and use what limited resources they can acquire to make a break for it.

The Prison

I first designed a hallway and jail cell on the second floor, where the player starts this mission with no weapons or equipment to fend for themselves. I whiteboxed the jail and guard station just outside, and began exploring the asset pool to see how they can be applied in the space.

Basic lighting and props in place.

Final prison cell. The player starts locked away, and must tunnel their way into the next room when the guards change shifts.

Guards’ quarters, on the other side of the wall. Along the wall are some weapons and equipment that favor light or heavy play-style preferences. These are all modified assets from the assigned asset pack. The iron shield for instance, is actually a coffin lid.

This descent leads straight into the foyer, a key connecting room. A keen eye might turn around at the base of the stairs to find this green aura through a grate. Crouching into this small duct under the stairs reveals an enchanted idol, an essential key item players will need later. If a player misses it, they may see this light when approaching from the foyer.

The Procession

I whiteboxed the foyer, a midpoint for three rooms: The jail, a sacrificial chamber, and a crypt. This room also contains the exit door. I wanted to create an area of significance that the player can feel tethered to without getting lost. They will enter this room from the jail, and see an opened door to the right. At this time, all other doors are sealed. Players pass through here between actions in each room where they are visibly reminded of their objective: finding the key to escape. It also helped me establish some anchor points with the architectural design of the space. Interiors require an extra level of care and precision.

The opened door reveals a procession: a large hallway where prisoners are dragged through towards a chamber of sacrifice. By design, it is intended to be difficult to approach. It’s a narrow path, leading to a small room where the clan wishes not to be disturbed. The player must be equipped with a shield to force their way forward through positioned archers.

I layered the lighting in this hallway, using green lights to draw attention to the enemies, but lighting the back wall entrance with a golden light to denote the objective. I also created these green smoke particles by duplicating a provided campfire asset, isolating the smoke particle, and modifying its material to produce green smoke instead of black. It creates an arcane ambience I was hoping to achieve.

Here we have the sacrifice chamber. I initially planned to make this quite large, but had to keep my scope in check these 4 days. I instead opted to create a space full of uneasiness and claustrophobia. Low ceilings, human cages, and a death pit.

A mother and child taken together were the last souls in this awful place. A pitiful duo in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This cell contains a puzzle involving skeletal fragments and requires the idol the player discovered earlier under the staircase. If the player missed it, they must retrace their steps, and find a haunted green glow somewhere they’ve been. Once this puzzle is complete, the sealed door leading to the crypt will open, and the player must return to the foyer.

The Crypt

With this foyer door now open, players are greeted to a spiraling staircase. I made my own spiral stair BP and applied a pre-existing material to it to achieve this.

Two walls are lined with coffins on the way down. The stair height was tested to ensure navigability.

In my initial design I wanted the mausoleum to be broken into 4 compartments, but the assets worked better in the context of two larger areas. I hid 2 key items for these pedestals in each area. Collecting them will open a hidden room with the exit key.

A desecrated skeleton in some enchantment ritual. There are mages in this room, and the player will find the key item in the cauldron with the skeleton.

A resurrection of a skeleton recently “blessed” in the arcane ritual. A powerful champion once awoken. The key in this room is in the crypts along the wall. The player will have to inspect them.

Finding these idols opens this small vault containing a large key, This will free the player after making a break for the exit door in the foyer.

And that’s the end of the level! Thank you for exploring this 4 day adventure with me. Every project leaves you with something, and I am very proud of what I learned while creating this.