Everent (WIP)
Studio Kismet
Everent is an open world speed-platformer set in the skies of a strange civilization called Stratos. Take the role of Ollie, as they explore these strange islands in the sky and liberate the people being help captive by a strange and ancient entity.
Responsibility:
Develop a level from vertical slice to post-production through block outs, set-dressing playtesting and iterations.
Details:
Completion date: August 1 2026
Team Size: 18
Position: Level Design
Engine: Unreal Engine
Version Control: Perforce
Tools: Jira, Adobe Illustrator, Miro, PowerPoint
Final trailer
From Ventis to The Fracture
At the start, my team aimed to create a vertical slice of our game concept. I was tasked with creating one out of the three levels, Ventis. This level was a destroyed barren environment with factory like structures and debris. This island was the first area the player would visit and it introduced mechanics, narrative and the main character, Ollie. The first section was designed as a linear experience, while the second was designed as an open world experience.
After the creation of the vertical slice for Everent, my team decided to change directions and merge the three levels we initially had into one open world. The design of the environments became much more various, with more elevation changes, density changes and angular, abnormal structural design.
Takeaways:
Everents mechanics called for more verticality and 3-dimensional parkour in the level design
Combining all the levels into one open world would make the game feel more alive and consistent
The Fracture
When my team started full production, I was tasked with creating a block out of the critical path, time trials and various POIs for a new area titled The Fracture.
Rundown
About the Level
Contains four time trials, two narrative points and one critical path
Created the block out in a personal level then later added to a main level
Used world partition and data layers
Used level instances and BPPs for optimization and efficiency
Used the landscape tool to create a natural environment
Created towers and broken structures using a modular kit
Used two assets packs from Fab; A rock asset pack and Steampunk city asset pack
Design Intentions
Create an area of the the open world that stands out from the other areas, both visually and design wise
Theme The Fracture as randomly dispersed islands with a factory like environment
Add rocks as The Fracture borders and obstacles allowing for different gameplay opportunities
Frame certain POIs and objectives using environmental assets and camera placements for guidance
Create gameplay areas that differ from one another within the time trials and surrounding environment
Add scattered, disheveled structures and obstacles for the player to engage with throughout the landscape
Create surrounding landscape and gameplay areas that flow well with the other areas in the open world
Planning
I created a level design document using PowerPoint to create a quick plan and organize my ideas for this new area. This document included sections outlining the narrative, design focus, and summaries of key locations and features within the level.
References
The Fracture is intended to be designed as broken and shattered islands, turned every which way defying order and direction. So I searched for reference images that gave the atmosphere of this design.
Miro board
I created a diagram using Miro to plan the flow and structure of this area. Since the level would be designed as an open world I focused on the flow of the critical path that lead into different optional side activities.
2D map
The 2D map combined the gameplay, and location features of the level into a single visual plan. The map once again served as a good starting point for understanding how the level would come together.
Processed and features
I used Unreal Engines modeling system to create polygons and shapes that resemble shattered, isolated rocks. I combined some of them and placed them elevated at different angles allowing me to create floating unnatural routes as intended by the reference images. Each area of the block out was color coded to identify time trials (purple), narrative points (orange) and the critical path (yellow).
After the initial block out was created in a separate level, it was added to thew main level consisting of all the other areas of Stratos. Using world partition, data layers and the landscape tool, I worked in the same scene as other designers to create surrounding gameplay areas.
Critical Path
The critical path was designed to be a snaking path, shattered path towards the main objective of The Fracture POI, the spire. The critical path allows for a variety of mechanics to be used such as rail grinding, power sliding and flying although it can be player however the player wants to.
One key section of the critical path that I created to make it stand out from other areas is two separate caves. These areas allow for tight gameplay opportunities that may not be as present in other areas of Stratos,
Time Trials
Within The Fracture section of Stratos, there are four time trials, each consisting of unique gameplay and theming.
Tube
The factory time trial is an intact part of Stratos still functioning and alive. There are many tight corridors, holes and platforms for the player to traverse across creating intense and high energy gameplay.
Rocky Ruins
I framed the main objective of The Fracture POI from the beginning of the critical path to make it clear to the player that it was the area they needed to go for this section of Stratos. The spire was placed at the end and I made sure it was centered by the camera at the beginning of the critical path. I also added some rock fragments around it to help it stand out and draw more attention to it.
The Drifter time trial is themed as a destroyed factory tower. This time trial relies heavily of the power slide mechanic, having the player traverse around the structure to enter a doorway and destroy a wall using their speed to leave. This time trial is designed to be one of the more challenging time trials in The Fracture
The Tube time trial is remnants of a factory, specifically pipes, riddled amongst rocks. Here the player can experience “360” gameplay, where they can loop around the insides of the pipes to head in specific directions and angles to complete the time trial.
Factory
Rocky Ruins is a combination of both rock, and destroyed bits of factory flipped upside down. This time trial is designed to be approached and played however the player decides to by making it possible to ride across the towers, or upside down on the flipped rock.
Drifter
Rock Section
There are multiple routes in this section that the player can take, all leading to three different sections of The Fracture.
The rock section connects the first area of Stratos the player will visit, The Dunes, and The Fracture. I designed this area to not be as open of a gameplay space, using the rocks to create a tight environment with many twists and turns, urging the use of power slide, boosting and jumping.
Tendrils
I added in spline based tendrils provided by the art team. I added them in a way where they loop, stretch and contort across the environment to give the illusion of The Halcion Heart (the big bad) latching onto and corruption the once living civilization of Stratos.
Narrative points
There are three narrative points in The Fracture that all contain different information about the world around the player. These can be discovered both on the critical path and ither parts of The Fracture through exploration.
Spire; Located on critical path
Flipped island; Located near Rocky Ruins TT
Airship; Located near Factory TT
Modular Kit Assets
Using an modular kit provided by the art team, I created various destroyed and disheveled structures for The Fracture and the surrounding area of the open world. These structures allow for a variety of gameplay opportunities and support the theming of a ancient, dead civilization.
Iterations
Throughout the production, The Fracture and its many features went through multiple iterations to reach the end result.
Critical path- Upside down
In the critical path of The Fracture, I designed an upside down section to add some unique dimensional gameplay. However, after multiple playtests I realized this section was nauseating, confusing, and difficult for players to navigate. Ultimately, due to the inverted mechanics upside down, a small amount of time to switch from regular controls to inverted, and almost instant transition from small island jumping parkour to this section, it did not fit well in this section of the critical path.
I ultimately decided to change this area as a whole. I created a custom structure using a modular asset pack and used it as a connector between the jumping island parkour to a rail grind sequence. This change allows for some downtime and realignment in the flow of the critical path as to not overwhelm the player with a challenging chain of outlandish and potentially challenging parkour. I feel it does not stray off too far from the pacing this area had int he original design as well, being about the same time to traverse this area as before.
First iteration
Final iteration
First iteration
Critical Path- Cave system
Final iteration
The cave system in the critical path of The Fracture POI was added to create a tight and intense gameplay sequence. After multiple playtests, the save system proved to be too small and close together. The obstacles were in places where the player would have to go once entering the caves and in unfairly unpredictable spots, making it difficult to successfully travel through them.
I make the caves much larger and moved the obstacles to places where they wouldn’t be in unfair or inconvenient positions. This allows for the player to successfully travel through the caves without it being too challenging and making the flow of this area smoother and more enjoyable.
Rock Section
Second iteration
Main POI path
The lead up to the main Fracture POI was very open and ambiguous on where to go, and what direction the player can approach it in. After many playtests and design iterations I decided that this was not optimal. This design made it hard for the player to realize where to go, where to find anything and generally had no structure that helped with the player experience.
I changed the design to be much more linear leading up to the main Fracture POI. This linear path had different routes and different gameplay experiences wherever the player decided to go in the path. This change greatly helped with guidance and structuring the player experience, giving them a direction to head in and guiding them towards finding the main POI and its features using specific sightlines and landscape pathing.
First iteration
First iteration
Final iteration
The rock section is one of the areas of The Fracture that went through the most iterations. Initially it started right next to the start of the critical path of The main Fracture POI. However, the area between The Fracture and The Dunes seemed empty, with nothing for the player to do, and nothing to guide them towards the The Fracture.
I decided to move the rock section farther away from the POI, placing it more in between The Fracture and The Dunes. This gave the player something to do when traveling between the two areas and guides them in specific directions while playing in this area.
After this change, we also realized that this area can be elevated for more seamless transfer from the main objective from The Dunes section to The Fracture. Ultimately, the rock section was kept roughly int the same spot but raised more to help with the gameplay flow from the main objective of the Dunes to The Fracture. Instead of the rock section being below The Dunes spire, it was now level with it.
Final iteration
Landscape
The landscape for the fracture started out pretty large with a lot of space available for The Fracture lead up area, rock section and the area surrounding it. After my team conducted many playtests, we realized that overall the size of the open world, specifically the main areas of Stratos needed to be downsized greatly. Players spent too much time traveling across barren landscape that served no purpose in the context of the areas where these instances occurred.
I cut off a lot of the dead section of the landscape that were causing these issues, decreasing the size of the Fracture greatly while keeping all the same features. Brining all the different location and features closer together while decreasing the amount of areas where there was vast empty section of landscape gives the player a better experience; making the traversal across the open world more enjoyable, interesting and overall not boring.
First iteration
Final iteration