The Outpost
Overview
“The Outpost” is a First-Person Survival Shooter where the player must investigate a research outpost on a hostile, alien planet. The prototype was a prototype that made it through all three rounds of a Gauntlet Challenge during my time in the Technical Design track at FIEA.
Final Gameplay Trailer
Studio: Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) at UCF
Type: Gauntlet Assignment for Technical Design II course
Role: Lead Technical Designer
Team Size: 1 - 2
Development: February 2020 - March 2020
Ownership: Original conceptualization and prototyping. gameplay programming, level design, technical art, and presentation.
Responsibilities: Prototyped and developed the prototypes 1, 2, and 3. Developed the level design for all prototypes. Programmed the game mechanics for the flashlight ability and survival mechanics for health, thirst, stamina, and battery power. Programmed enemy AI for pathfinding and attacking. Developed collectable assets for players. Set up spider assets and rigged animations.
A Hostile, Alien World Awaits….
Prototype Action Blocking
Once the systems and gameplay mechanics have been devised, the next step is to test these systems and gameplay mechanics in an action block prototype. In this action block prototype, both system mechanics and gameplay mechanics were prototyped and tested before moving on to the first iteration. The following systems and gameplay mechanics were devised in this action block:
System mechanics for health, thirst, stamina, and battery power
Point System for determining player damage ability
Flashlight ability to allow player to see in a darkened area
Battery power mechanic linking both the player ammo and flashlight ability
Enemy AI that tracks player movement and does damage upon impact
Enemy spawning object that spawns enemies into the environment
Lives System for player to die and respawn
1st Pass Prototype
The first iteration of the Outpost prototype puts the system and gameplay mechanics into context by providing an introductory level to test out the mechanics in gameplay. Here, a basic level is provided to allow the player to taste the gameplay that lies ahead. The following was initiated in this 1st Pass Prototype:
Crashed-landed ship to test flashlight ability in context
Hostile alien environment to provide environmental storytelling to the player
Multiple pick-up items for battery power, health, thirst, and stamina to provide player with ample opportunities to test game systems
Multiple enemy spawning objects to allow player the opportunity to experience core gameplay
Large Navigation Mesh Volume to test Enemy AI ability to track player in the level
2nd Pass Prototype
The second iteration of the Outpost prototype goes further of testing the systems and mechanics in a new environment and in an narrower environment. This second prototype brings in a new enemy AI that is paralyzed by the flashlight ability. This prototype begins to also delve deeper into the environmental storytelling component of the prototype. The following was initiated in this 2nd Pass Prototype:
New enemy AI that is paralyzed by the flashlight ability
A new environment that tests the systems and game mechanics in a narrower environment
3rd Pass Prototype
The final pass of the prototype brings all of the components together. This final prototype fully conceptualizes the systems and game mechanics, and provides the environmental storytelling aspect to entice the player to delve deeper into the outpost and find out what happened. The following was initiated in this 3nd Pass Prototype:
Added the force shield push ability for the player to push back enemies
Added new spider enemy AI that explode on contact
Added new spider environmental actors that add to the environmental storytelling
Added new weapons that the player can switch through
Created final level that brings all of the narrative components together
Final Prototype Level Design
For the final level prototype, the goal was to tell a narrative through the game environment and game flow. The player starts the game on the landing dock of a research outpost of a hostile, alien planet. As the player approaches the research station, the outer bay doors are broken as if something has escaped…as the player ventures into the depths of the outpost, the player can see alien specimens behind observation cages…deeper in, the player encounters mutated colonizers and scientists that have been infected by a mysterious virus…baby alien creatures rush out of hatched eggs to attack…and finally the cause of infestation becomes present…
Level Design Gallery
Enemy AI
Enemy Spider Actors
Gameplay Blueprints
