Stealth Experience
A First Person Melee Action RPG Adventure
Goals for this Piece
For this piece, I wanted to create a short Stealth-Only mission inspired by games such as Hitman. A personal challenge for this piece was to work quickly with a limited number of weeks to practice and get better at one of my weaknesses; that being that I used to not be very swift when it came to blocking out my levels.
Specification
Credits
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Jakub's Template
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Lush Stylized Environment
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Stylized PBR Nature
Project Details
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Developed in 4 weeks
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Unreal Engine 5
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Modern Day
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Third Person
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Linear Experience
What I Did
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Level Design
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Set Dressing
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Mood/Lighting
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Blockout Models
Software Used
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Unreal Engine 5
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Forsaken Template​
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Good Sky
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Blender
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Inkscape
Overview
Pre-Production
Getting Started
For this piece I wanted to downscope the experience a lot. Due to the crash in the last project and outside interference during the weeks leading up to this piece, I wanted to make sure I could plan a piece together within the small timeframe I had left.
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The first half of the week went solely towards research and brainstorming, as I was split on a lot of ideas and couldn't at first come up with a design I felt was plausible.
References
That was until I decided to enact some wise words a friend told me; 'Keep it Simple, Stupid.'
Therefore, I took away a lot of the mechanics from Jakub and solely focused on one aspect: Stealth. And one of the best contender for a third person stealth experience is non other than the Hitman series.
I immediately began scouring images and videos to find inspiration and by the second week I had established a solid foundation to start from.
Blockout
Swift Design
Since I had only a couple of weeks to make my design, I would have to be decisive. I did not have the time to create several variations of each room or take a whole week alone on metrics, that was unfortunately not my luck.
As such I started out with the simple concept; infiltrate the compound and assassinate the VIP in his room, then escape.
Setting
When electing what sort of experience I should make, I started to lean into the environment being a mansion or some form of villa. This was in large part since a lot of the infiltration designs I used as references were Castles, Villas, and Mansions.
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I also felt like if I had the time to create more in door environments, it could offer a nice opportunity for some interesting floor plans and traversal through the compound.
Traversal
Stealth Rules
Rules for Stealth
Unfortunately during development, Jakub's Template was not very co-operative in giving me consistent feedback and input in my designs.
The Intent however is that you have to stealth past the entire compound and can not be spotted. If you are spotted and the enemy call it in - you lose. Therefore I aimed to create clear patrol paths and cover islands for the player to utilize throughout the experience so give a satisfactory main path.
Climbing
Climbing became the lynchpin mechanic which held a lot of the piece together and created interesting moments.
I sought to make a lot of the climbing feel impactful, either by making it all tied closely to guard patrols, as well as making the climbs feel distinctly different from one another so each climbing area gets its own moment to shine and offer a new vista/experience for the player.
Takedowns
Due to the limitations of the template and my own timed budget, I was not able to introduce a mechanic in the piece where the player can hide bodies.
This did become slightly problematic as the enemy A.I continued acting in unexpected ways, including sometimes reporting a body, and sometimes not.
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Therefore, I aimed to design takedowns in very specific scenarios.
The Ledge Takedowns was particularly handy in aiding the player in disposing of specific guards to continue through the level.
These guards would be placed in areas where the A.I would not see the bodies and thus move past the problem of giving inconsistent player feedback. Using takedown on patrolling enemies would be the player's choice, and up to them to decide the right moment to do so.
Patrols
Development Difficulties
Timing
When it came to designing the patrols, one of the key aspects I wanted was for the player to have a vantage point each time where they could view the patrols without being detected. This way, the player could analyze the situation before going forward, adapting to the pattern, and then exploiting the weakness.
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Since the A.I seemingly does not react to footsteps, it unfortunately offered the gameplay opportunity to run up to guards and create a lot of noise without being detected. The intent however behind the timing and patrols were for the player to run only when they are far away from enemies - and sneak up behind them quietly the rest of the experience.
Multiple paths
In some areas I elected to attempt my hand at some hourglass inspired design choices. Limiting the players option at some areas before opening them up. The two large stealth areas were the clear examples of this. Offering a alternating paths to approach their mid-term goals but then combining them together into a single path. Offering a slight variation in gameplay experience without overloading the player with options at every single obstacle.
Orange Box
I wanted some form of interactable object in the piece beyond just climbing, and I settled on the moveable orange box from Jakub's template. This would be used in a couple of areas - to either open up new paths, or be able to reach ledge and heights the player could not reach before. I would alliterate on this design, at first using it as a mandatory roadblock to teach the player the mechanic - and then use it for optional paths for the player to reach the next mid-term goal or help them avoid enemy patrols.
Communicating to the Player
Goals
When it came to Short-, Mid-, and Long-term goals - I attempted to do so often from vantage points where the player was out of sight and harm's way. Utilizing composition to highlight the Mid/Long term objectives, and giving them time to assess the short term challenges in between them and their goal. This became crucial as the objective was to find a way into the VIP's room, meaning the player had to plan and adapt their approach carefully.
Threat Areas
When designing from a top down view, I imagined often that each short term goal with enemies had different levels of threat area. This was both to steer the player away from just charging in and communicate where they were/were not supposed to go, as well as help them find either the easiest path forward - or - the most challenging one, depending on the player's playstyle.
