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Quest Anchor

Level Designer & Mission Scripter 

Paladins Trial - Created in UE4

Description: Quest for Valor is a third-person action-adventure platformer game. In this map, the player must progress through four different islands encountering a variety of challenges ending with a boss fight. These challenges vary between puzzles, platforming, combat, and different combinations of them.    

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Teaser clip

 

   

 

 

The Level

 

Goal: To have the player progress through puzzles/combat/platforming challenges by gradually increasing difficulty while they master the mechanics of the game.  

 

Tasks: 

  • Planning and white boxing an original concept level.

  • Create test gyms to plan and test level ingredients.

  • Test layouts and enemy positions to have a gradual difficulty ramp.

  • Script enemy behaviors and item drops using UE4's visual scripting (Blueprint). 

  • Created a secret location for the explorer archetype.

  • Iterate on enemy positions/numbers to keep the game flow smooth.

  • Use environment layouts to direct players.

  • Design & test boss fight through Unreal's scripting editor.

  • Create opening/boss cinematics.

  • Polishing level with final gameplay balance tweaks and art props.    

 

 

 

When planning the level, I drew much inspiration from The Legend of Zelda- The Wind Waker. I really enjoyed traveling from island to island learning new skills as I went. The level is designed to be an intro mission for the game. A Paladins Trial consists of five level beats containing combinations of Platforming/Combat/Puzzle encounters:

 

  • Beat 1: Light puzzle platforming section- Teaches the player the basic mechanics and systems of the game. The player must move the sliding blocks onto the pressure plates unlocking the door then pulling the lever to activate the elevator. 

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  • Beat 2: Easy/Medium ambush combat encounter section combined with light platforming- Teaches the player how combat works and how to deal with melee/ranged units. After jumping across a small gap the player is forced to step on a pressure plate which summons a single melee skeleton. After defeating the skeleton, a timer is set that spawns ranged skeletons ambushing the player. The player then platforms up to either ridge one containing a treasure chest and the other to progress.

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  • Beat 3: Medium/Hard difficulty platforming section combined with combat- This section leads the player across three sets of platforms, the first of which are stationary (Medium). After passing that the player triggers another ambush from two ranged skeletons across a ridge they can't get to. The player is then forced to pass a moving platform section while being bombarded from the skeletons (Hard). After this, the player has to platform across the last section where they have to drop a sliding block onto a pressure plate unlocking the door to the next area as well as fight a spawned mini-boss! (Hard). For the explorer player archetype a secret path is located just after the second platforming section passing by the moving platforming section, also rewarding the player with another chest. A gate boss is located at the end of the platforming section that the player must defeat in order to continue. 

 

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  • Beat 4: Medium combat/platforming/puzzle section- This section combines all three types of challenges. As the player enters the lair another ambush is triggered. The player must fight a single melee skeleton while avoiding ranged skeletons on either side of them (Hard). Once defeating the skeletons, the player must pull the lever activating the elevator, then proceed to push sliding blocks in line to exit the lair (Medium). 

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  • Beat 5: Boss Fight- This final section takes place on the final island where the skeleton king resides. Defeating the skeleton king requires the player to break a protective shield that is activated after damaging him every 33% of health. The shield can only be broken by luring the king into the blast radius of one of the skull heads around the island. The skull heads are activated by pulling the lever at the center of the island. As the skeleton king spawns each shield multiple enemies are spawned with increasing difficulty. After breaking his second shield the player can kill the king (Hard). The level concedes with a short cinematic. 

 

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