Adriana Matic
Level Specifications
Engine:
Number of Players:
Genre:
Game Modes:
Development Time:
Size:
Unreal Engine 5
Up to 12
First person PVPVE
1
2 years
1km x 1km
A Walk Around the Jungle
Solving the Foliage Problem
Jungle was imagined as a large-scale, open terrain map with thick, dense foliage. It additionally featured several large, subterranian sections that spanned the bulk of the middle of the map.
I was the principal level designer/master plan holder of this map. I designed the overall layout, spacing, connections, vision and gameplay. As such, I was the owner of maintaining quality in each zone. I also built out several of the zones as well as worked with other level designers to bring their places of interest (POI's) into alignment with the master plan. I worked heavily with the art team to set forth the narrative, art direction, and maintain clarity across the map.
The Jungle was around 1 km squared. You can see the top down without foliage in the image to the right. As you can imagine, a jungle map in a high time-to-kill game introduces several problems. Famously, foliage is the enemy of target recognition, pathfinding, soft cover and "camping" gameplay. Additionally, traditional methods of curtailing this, such as injecting severely laned walls of stone, heavily interferes with the believability of the space. As such, it was my job to solve these issues.
Target Recognition and Pathfinding
In the gallery to the side, you can see the refinement over time of easing the foliage, curtailing sightlines, and setting forth a structure to ensure target recognition and path clarity were paramount. What we realized quickly during development was that the density of the foliage was critical to selling the feeling of a jungle. We had to establish clearly and concisely where players could go and where they would be restricted. Most importantly, we didn’t want to completely eliminate the feel of open terrain gameplay.
Additionally, for Jungle, we established viewpoints around the map that allowed players to clearly determine where in the map they were at all times. You can see a breakdown of these sightlines below. These views were specially curated to open and compress along with the various places of interest. We mimicked this compression as well in contrast between lanes and arenas. In this way, we encouraged players to flow out of lanes and connections and into the arena spaces we had created to hold objectives.
A Case Study of Iterating in Natural Environments
In the following images you can see the before and after of these rules in play.
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The foliage density was rapidly increased to denote clear sightlines and reduce the players' need to scrutinize every corner
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The lane leading to the next POI is wide and clear, whereas the sub path is small and dense
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There is a smattering of ruins to show the next area will lead to an ancient zone and not an industrialized zone
By following these rules the clarity immediately increased, and there was a huge, metricable increase in playability across the map. With these considerations to player affordance, the gameplay of Jungle gained a strong identity and became a fun, interesting map.
Finally, to cap this off, aesthetically, Jungle was one of my favourite maps! Please enjoy this screenshot of my favourite area!
Establishing Rules and Guidelines
Critically, for Jungle, we established a set of rules to enforce across the map. The goal was to create affordance considerations, to facilitate PVP and PVE play, and to help players orient themselves in the map. To that end, after several playtests and rounds of feedback I established the following:
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Place breadcrumb trails along lanes that can help players understand where they are, and what sort of POI's they were heading towards
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For example, fishing boats and implements on the way to the fishing village, ruins on the way to the temple etc.
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Expand and contract the physical space/lighting of an area based on whether or not it was a lane or an arena zone
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Maintain critical sightlines at marked points in the map that align with distinct silhouettes
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Severely contract and densify foliage in non-accessible areas to promote clear target outlines and reduce camping opportunities
