LEVEL DESIGN
I had to create an Arena-esque blockout for Unreal Tournament. The map should host minimum 6 players and a maximum of 8 players in a single space with a deep focus on certain distinctions that allow players to call out the space with zero art involved.
Tools: Unreal Tournament Editor
Date: November 2021
Development Time: 2 Weeks
Assets: Parts from Blocking Starter Pack by Xavier Loux + BSP + UT Dev Materials
This was my first attempt at making an Arena-style level map and I had no idea what to expect. I just knew that I wanted to focus on the gameplay. I wanted the blockout to be mostly open and I wanted to give players a better weapon straight away. The area should be a futuristic abandoned oil rig / some kind of a degraded ocean platform because of the open roofs of the buildings. Originally I also wanted to add some holes to the main area of the platform but that would have made gameplay a bit difficult since it would require the player to also look out for random holes in the floor.
I started experimenting with the Unreal Tournament movement mechanics and I've found out that you can wall-run and then jump to another wall-run that has a jump pad to add like a small skill jump to an area. Based on this I knew I had to use that in my map and also reward the player for doing the jump by giving him a reward at the end. In my case a sniper and a high place from where you can see most of the level.
(GIF from the final blockoout, also clickable for better quallity)
The green part is the part where I've implemented the jump that you saw above. The jump rewards you with a view of most of the level and a sniper for you to use in case someone decides to go for the risky crane gun. In here I've also added a pair of jump boots that are kind of risky to get since they are in a trap, and if someone sees you they can kill you very quickly.
The red building is just another smaller building that also has an inside part. There are two corridors, one that makes a connection between the first and second floor and there is another smaller corridor that makes a small connection between the front and back of the building.
The blue part is made by the crane that's in the middle of the map and the crane base. At the end of the crane, there's a Redeemer ( a Superweapon ), the risky part is that everyone can see you and shoot you while you reach the end of the crane.
