ALIEN REMOVAL DIVISION
Alien Removal Division is a fast paced, action-packed first-person shooter, set in a military research facility during the 1950s. The base has been overrun by aliens and you find yourself, as the only survivor, at the centre of the invasion.
Level Designer
Unreal Engine
University Project
Steam Release
ABOUT A.R.D.
Alien Removal Division is a fast paced, action-packed first-person shooter, set in a military research facility during the 1950s. The base has been overrun by aliens and you find yourself, as the only survivor, at the centre of the invasion. Your escape will be challenging, but you’ll have an array of weapons and movement abilities to help you during your fight and on your getaway.
ESCAPE
Use your parkour skillset to wallrun, double jump and dash and make your way through the infested tunnels, missile silos, storage rooms and secret caves that make up the military base.
COMBAT
Engage in gory combat and discover the different options to destroy your enemies. Use your movement skills to stay agile against the aliens, fighting back using an arsenal of high-powered weapons that reward their unique purpose
ALIENS
The aliens you’ll encounter vary from smaller insect like crawlers to large creatures that can only be taken down by targeting their weak spots. Use your parkour movement to avoid their attacks and to exploit their weaknesses!
PROJECT ROLES
LEVEL DESIGNER
- Created two movement challenge sections and a combat arena, making blockouts with a modular asset kit, polishing gameplay by playtesting and iteration and set dressing them with marketplace environment asset kits.
- Concepted and prototyped a level design ingredient.
- Created two set dress tools to speed up the set dress process.
CO-COMMUNITY MANAGER
- Functioning as a point of contact between the players and the development team.
- Attending and organising events and setting up livestreams.
- Organising social media and creating content for the different channels.
MOVEMENT SECTIONS
A.R.D. has two types of level sections, movement challenges and combat arenas. The movement challenges focus on a specific ability and gradually ramp up in difficulty.
The two movement sections I worked on are the slide/dash and wallrun section for which I set the following goals. The movement sections must:
- Teach the player certain movement abilities such as sliding/dashing and wallrunning while gradually building up the difficulty and preparing them to chain different movement abilities together.
- Prepare the player for combat encounters where they are expected to use the movement abilities during combat.
- Create a rhythm of challenges that helps the player build momentum so they can manoeuvre through the play space at high speed and in a satisfying manner.
- Offer different paths for the player to choose from, supporting different skill levels.
Steam Demo Trailer
WORKFLOW BREAKDOWN
Sketching
Sketching gameplay moments in a modular fashion, keeping the modular asset kit and character metrics in mind.
Gym Level
Building gameplay moments in a gym level, testing them internally and iterating upon them with received feedback.
Blockout
Combining blocked out gameplay moments into movement challenges, playtesting the sections with members of our Community Discord and polishing gameplay based on action points from testing.
Set Dressing
Set dressing and lighting the level section using environment asset kits from the marketplace. Set dressing was done in while maintaining close communication with other level designers and environment artists to ensure consistency across levels.
COMBAT ENCOUNTER
The combat encounter I worked on is The Research Lab for which I set the following goals. The combat encounter must:
- Introduce the kamikaze enemy to the player, showing it from a safe area (playing a short cinematic) so the player has time to strategize before entering into combat.
- The geometry must support the enemy behaviour of all three enemy types (grunt, tank & kamikaze).
- The geometry must facilitate the usage of all movement abilities, giving the player the opportunity to combine the advanced moveset with combat.
SET DRESS TOOLS
Spline Mesh Tool
Concepting and prototyping a spline tool that can be used for placing certain meshes (such as pipes and electrical wires). Further implementation and polishing were done in close collaboration with system designers on the team.
The tool is aimed at speeding up the set dressing process.
Spline Mesh Tool
Lights
Concepted, prototyped, and implemented several different light types aimed at leashing the player.
All light types are included in one blueprint (the light type is selected using a dropdown in the details panel).
Simple to use (drag & drop into level editor) and aimed at speeding up the set dressing process.
Different light types
LEVEL DESIGN INGREDIENT
- Concepting, prototyping and testing a level design ingredient that compliments the player’s movement abilities and fits within the set game pillars.
- Implementing the level design ingredient through visual scripting (blueprinting).
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
Devlogs
- Preparing and conducting interviews with team members.
- Editing the devlogs with Photoshop to fit the setting of our game.
- Devlogs function as a means of introducing the team and to talk about specific development areas within our project.
Livestreams
Steam Next Fest Livestream
Scheduling and participating in livestreams, talking about the development of the game, my contribution and our future plans.
- Answering questions from the community about the game and its development.
Videos
Release Trailer
- Recording gameplay footage to showcase the core of the game (and editing the footage with Adobe Rush).
- The trailer is visible on the Steam page and is thus meant to quickly show what players can expect, and to get them excited to play A.R.D.
Community Reactions Video
Gathering footage from videos made by players (and editing this with Adobe Rush).
- These videos are meant as a way of saying thank you to our community for playing our game and being so supportive.