Level Design Blog 19

Blog 19: 3/25-4/1

This week, I began working on the mock design test for Uncharted 4. Since the test specified that the level should take place in a set of ruins, and I studied abroad in Sicily during undergrad and spent a lot of time around the ruins there, I decided to model the landscape in the style of Sicilian ruins.

I started by collecting references both from the photos I took while I was studying abroad and from the internet. I decided to model the ruins in my level after a combination of some of the larger ruins I saw while I was traveling, combined with the landscape of Sicily.

I also researched Uncharted's co-op mode quite a bit, since I was much more familiar with the single player version of the game. I was particularly inspired by this level in the co-op mode, which was a similar style to the ruins I was hoping to create.

David Ballard - Uncharted 4

Once I had a general idea of the level I wanted to create, I drafted a rough map. I was planning to do a larger section of city ruins, which would be overgrown with foliage and somewhat incorporated into the terrain. However, as I started creating the level, I realized that I wanted a much more natural environment, with the ruins incorporated as more of a focal point of the level, and ended up altering the map quite significantly later on in the process.

Once I was confident with the layout, I moved into Maya and started modeling. I started with cubes for most of the buildings, then used booleans and edge loops to sculpt out more of the details. Once I got a bit into the model, though, I realized that I wanted to change it quite significantly.

I ended up reevaluating my references and pulling the best pieces from the original map into a more natural environment. I wanted the ruins to feel like part of the environment, but I also wanted much fewer intact buildings than my original idea would have had.

My next steps are to bring in the paths and details that I added to the original, more city-like version. Although it set me back a few days to start with a different map than the one I'm proceeding with now, I think it was a very good way of ruling out a lot of things I wasn't sure about including in the first place, and I think it's made me a lot more confident in where the project will go by the end.

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Level Design Blog 20

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