Picture of PABLO MARTÍN DE HERVÁS

PABLO MARTÍN DE HERVÁS

Level Designer

CGMA Level Design Course

In summer 2024 I signed up for the CGMA Level Design Course.

In this course, I made a few blockouts with different topics mentored by Shane Canning, Unseen’s lead level designer.

These are some of the blockouts I did in the course:

1. Urban city

urban city
urban city 2
urban city 3
urban city 4
urban city 5
urban city 6
urban city 7

The first level we did was located in an urban neighborhood, as it was a warm-up for the rest of the course, we were not asked to do anything too big.

The only requirement imposed on us was that the level had to have a store that the player could access at an intersection between two streets.

Time restriction: 1 week

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Template: ALS

Level goal: none

Level design techniques: none

2. Jungle temple

jungle temple
jungle temple 2
jungle temple 3
jungle temple 4
jungle temple 5
jungle temple 6
jungle temple 7
jungle temple 8
jungle temple 9
jungle temple 10
For the third week of the course we were asked to make a temple lost in the jungle.
The temple had to be a semi-open area in which the player could explore freely, but no matter which path they took they would end up in the final area of the level.
In my case, I decided to give it a narrative background in which the player is part of an expedition that has lost a few members, and now it is up to him to find them. I took advantage of this to try to encourage any player to explore the entire level to see everything I had created.

Time restriction: 1 week

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Template: ALS

Level goal: Find your missing partners.

Level design techniques: Landmarks, semi-open level, guiding lines, occlusion, image composition, breadcrumbs, environmental narrative.

3. Fantasy level

fantasy level
fantasy level 2
fantasy level 3
fantasy level 4
fantasy level 5
fantasy level 6
fantasy level 7
For the next level we did, we used a new character instead of the ALS. This character was a little guy with a somewhat clumsy movement, but he had the ability to fly.
Since we were given the freedom to modify everything as we pleased, I went into the character’s blueprint and transformed his flying mechanic into a gliding one in order to generate more challenging situations.
I created two areas with challenges that the player had to overcome to obtain coins that would allow him to open the door that led to the goal of the level.
The challenge elements (elevators, moving platforms and floating rings that accelerate the player’s flight) were programmed by me.
 

Time restriction: 1 week

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Template: Mage character from the Unreal Engine Learning Kit

Level goal: Get 4 coins to open the door

Level design techniques: Landmarks, guiding lines, occlusion, image composition, prototyping, player feedback, diegetic guidance

 

4. Space base

space base
space base 2
space base 3
space base 4
space base 5
space base 6
space base 7
space base 8
space base 9
space base 10
space base 11
space base 12
space base 13
space base 14
space base 15
space base 16
space base 17
One of the last levels consisted of a base in space.
For this level we were asked to think of several distinct sections that would coexist on the level. These sections had to be connected to each other through a main area.
In my case I made a residential area, a few warehouses, a mining facility, an observatory and a processing plant.
Due to time restrictions, I was only able to make the space but I couldn’t add any kind of task for the player.
 

Time restriction: 1 week

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Template: ALS

Level goal: none

Level design techniques: Landmarks, open level, guiding lines, occlusion, image composition.