CAGD 270 -3D Game Level2 v1 Feedback

     The last project for this course was designing another 3D level, but this time our theme was Medieval, and we were given the Game Kit to have a base to build the level. I first thought of the Medieval theme: Castles, Towers, and Dungeons. The plan was to make a level where the player started in the middle of the forest and had to make their way through some rocks on a river because the bridge would be broken. After finishing the first part, there would be the castle, where the player would need to open the doors and kill enemies. There would also be destroyable objects with a crate texture, and some buttons may be hidden behind them. After the player explored the top part of the castle, they would advance into the next section, the dungeon of the castle. In the Dungeon, the player would jump across some rocks in lava, and the tone of the level would become dark and cold. After completing puzzles in the dungeon, the player would fight the final boss. With this plan in mind, I made a quick annotated level map.


    After completing the level, I had some people playtest the entire level and immediately got feedback on it. To start with, the level was too simple; there were many details missing that would better the level. For example, there weren’t any trees in the forest, or the broken bridge was not implemented yet. The playtesters said that adding these two would improve the environment of the level. Now moving on to the castle, there wasn’t much to be modified other than texturing and adding more details to help the player engage better in the level. Some of the suggestions included a throne with a mid-tier boss, more doors and keys, and zones you would need to complete a puzzle to receive a power-up. The castle section was nice; however, it could have been better implemented. Moving on to the dungeon part, it was mostly missing, so many ideas were provided, like hanging cages or torture devices like the guillotine and things like skeletons to give more ambiance to the level section. The boss fight section was something I didn’t have the chance to start, so the playtesters gave me ideas for what it could be. For assessing the theme and enemy placement, playtesters commented that their positions were balanced and didn’t need much of a change. There were areas in the level in which the player could go on the side to not do a jumping sequence and skip a section of the level.


    Overall I think the feedback was very positive, and there are a lot of improvements that can be made to the level. Starting with the decoration, the level is very reliant on decoration to fill empty spots throughout the level, like the trees and dungeon sections. The length of the level also seemed to be an issue. Since there wasn’t much content for the player to interact with, the level became boring fast, and the player had a loss of interest.

For the future of this level, I think the main improvement would be the completeness of the level. The feeling of the environment is important for this magnitude of level, so adding the necessary details will be essential to keep the player’s attention. I think more puzzles and jumping areas would improve the level and make it longer for the player to complete. Another area that needs more attention is the boss fight, because it looks like a key step to finalizing the level and making the player have the adrenaline rush leading to satisfaction of the level. With all this improvements applied, the level could become better.

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