Lisa M. Ortiz
Level Designer, World Builder, and Lighting Artist
PANDAMONIUM
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Level Designer
Roles:
Responsibilities:
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Design Capture the Flog (CTF) Maps that followed team designed specifications for Vanilla and Variant game modes
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Light the map with a lighting setup that gives the space a sense of whimsy
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Model placeholder meshes and simple final meshes
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Help populate the distant city and skybox
Genre: 4vs4 Capture the Flag
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Team Size: 8
Team Name: From Anything Studios
Development Time: 16 weeks, 2015
Development Info
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Lighting Designer
TRAILER
LEVEL DESIGN
Our task was to design one regular Capture the Flag (CTF) map and one CTF map that had some variant from the vanilla level's gameplay. Our team decided early on that we were making a non lethal game. So instead of "kills" the player has "knock outs" and instead of a regular gun with bullets we arm the player with one gun that shoots tranquilizers and and one gun that flings bean bags.
Map Design
There are two maps in the game. Because our team was small, we really needed everyone's focus on one map in the beginning, and later we got people working on the Variant CTF Map. I personally worked mostly on the Vanilla Map so that is what I will be focusing on.
I and one other designer were tasked with designing various maps to be tested at whitebox level of completion.
The biggest challenge in designing a multiplayer map like this was keeping the teams balanced in terms of base location, sightlines, pickups and player paths to the other team's base. We did not want to make the map obviously symmetrical when playing but did end up making it mostly symmetrical. We used visuals such as placement of banners and plants to make each space feel different. We also used a different color story for both bases. We used red and warmer colors for Panda Land and blue and cooler colors for Panda World. The natural elements like wood were used in both paces to keep the entire space cohesive. After testing and iteration at this stage we designed a map that was the best of our combined ideas.
Later in our development process we found that some playtesters were still a little confused about what direction each base was in. So we thought back to zoo designs and remembered that zoos place footprints of specific animals leading to their enclosures. So we placed panda footprint decals (as a Panda is the flag for each base) on the ground facing toward each bases' panda enclosure. This helped players quickly glance down and know if they were headed toward the panda or away.
Environment & Location
The setting for our CTF match is at a city zoo where a new and exciting panda exhibition is being debuted. Unfortunately, there happens to be two exhibits instead of one. It is up to the zookeepers (players) of Panda Land and Panda World to capture the other teams flag (Panda) so that they get the most visitors to their own Panda Exhibit (Team Base). We chose to lean into the fact that zoos most often decorate their animal enclosures with décor from the region they are from. So, as pandas are native to China, the decorations in this part of the zoo has a westernized view of Chinese architecture and an overabundance of panda motifs.
As a Capture the Flag map there needed to also be a very clear distinction between the two teams. Both were panda focused but we colored one team and their base blue Panda World) and the other red (Panda Land). So when players look around during fast paced gameplay, they can quickly recognize where they are and which direction they need to go to score a point.
Gallery
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