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During my year of study at Rubika France (2016) I joined a team of 5 to participate in the Imagine Cup game development competition. For its first phase we had to submit a PowerPoint presentation for a concept we wished to build from in the next phases. We called ours "Beasts". The team was composed of two designers, two game artists and one game programmer. My main responsibility was the level design.
Around the end of my year of study at Rubika France I started a personal project of a map inspired by, and for
Far Cry 4. I had a few lectures on using SketchUp for Level Design in school and, after stumbling upon this video, I got inspired to create the 'block' concept of a Fort using the software. As I learnt, it is meant to be a "communication tool" before proceeding to a game engine. Incidentally, the final result can be exported as an .fbx using SketchUp Pro. Ensuing is a walkthrough of the map followed by a short description of my process.
Walkthrough
Story brief
Near the border between Kyrat and the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, exists a peculiar temple, built on the Domuha
(2 headed) waterfall. During the 16th century, a large group of Himachali migrated to this mystic site to build a place of worship, a place for Buddhists to feel safe, out of reach of the periodic invasions downhill, and far from the influence of other religions. With them, they brought their culture and notably their architecture, which gives to the place its unique appearance and legacy. There, people would live without too much trouble for centuries onward.
However, recently, as Pagan's men took control of the region, they discovered a site that is hard to get to, already fortified to resist floods and assaults, and with an unrivaled view of the valley leading to the Indian border. They regarded the temple as a way too formidable strategic position to not seize it from the monks. Therefore, they started evacuating
the people and settling down, slowly replacing religious artifacts for military gear in the process.
As their transition continues, the player comes in.
Video presentation
SketchUp Map Concept Far Cry 4 (Presentation, Commentary, 15min)
Lire la vidéo
Process
1. Intentions
Far Cry 4 is a game that had a certain effect on me, I was studying in India when it came out and I had traveled to the Himalayas many times, close to the setting of the game. I found its environments to be very interesting yet truthful to what I saw. Furthermore it was really fun. From all the tools at your disposal, the diverse ways you can approach each challenge, to all the really crazy situations it likes to generates around you. Personally I think it is still one of the best example of effective, emergent gameplay, especially when roaming around in the open world.
I was attracted by the idea of revisiting a part of it, combining my own experiences in the region with what I liked the most in the game. In order to do that, I determined the few aspects I wished to focus on :
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Just as in the original game I wanted to give the players a lot of options, angles of approach and tools to experiment with.
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I would design a Fort and its surroundings. They would have to work as a sort of symbiosis, one could not be separated from the other. They would be designed as part of something bigger, like you would encounter in the game's world, not as a self contained map.
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I would create a personal, memorable location using what moved me the most in the Himalayas, the powerful Indus rivers, and the Kathkuni architecture from the state of Himachal Pradesh.
2. Research
With my intentions defined I started collecting more information about the place I wanted to represent.
Since I knew that I wanted a river to play a central role in the map, I would have to learn how to make a believable Himalayan valley. I remembered my treks and kept many pictures but I needed some kind of formwork. Particularly I found this resource. To create a dramatic effect I settled on a type Aa/A river, flowing on a considerable slope and digging deep the bedrock that entrenches it. From these descriptions, I would be able to start building from a geological, more truthful base.
Then, I accumulated visual references and found this amazing study that sets forth the intricacies of the Kathkuni architecture and from which I could grab the essentials to represent the movement and the culture.
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I could use this lot of information as guideline, to not venture too far from the physical reality and maintain the suspension of disbelief going, but also keeping in mind that I could take some liberties :
"[..] it is not important that 3D spaces have realistic [2D] blueprints. All that matters is how the space feels when the player is in it. "
Jesse Schell, The Art of Game Design
3. Conceptualisation
Then I tried out some stuff on pen & paper and made some little 3D pieces directly in SketchUp to verify how some ideas transcribed in practice.
I started with imagining the valley and got excited by the idea of a split waterfall, with a sort of "island" in the middle, big enough to have the fort on top. I also remembered that the Hindu / Buddhist culture of the Himalayas liked to build temples near these sorts of natural wonders, like a source of hot water, a special waterfall or a particularly shaped mountain. I thought that starting from an old temple on its way to be militarized by Pagan's militia would be an interesting background, from which I could see many opportunities for storytelling and making the place feel lived in. It would contain places of worship, everything required for people to live and the military equipment being brought in the facility. Additionally, I had to get inspired by what a usual fort is in Far Cry 4 as well.
In terms of gameplay I started listing the main approaches I wanted to work around.
First of all I would allow players that want to create chaos to simply go through the main door with a vehicle or an elephant and start shooting. Same with the player that want to use the wingsuit or an helicopter to jump in directly from above without a care in the world for discretion. They would have a few barrels and cars to explode and a lot of enemies to shoot at. However, that way the opposition would be at its fiercest.
On the contrary I want the player using stealthy approaches to be able to "earn" advantages before a fight eventually takes place. But, if the player is caught in the middle it could turn around entirely, a kind of high risks, high gains situation. I thought that it would be great to use what made the fort special to create these routes, to have the player adapt to the set up. The player would be able to climb around the big waterfalls, where the guards would not think to look, and he would be able to use the river upstream and the mechanic of diving in to hide from view.
Furthermore I wanted to make vantage points from which the player could observe the fort and discover his options. No point in creating different paths if the player cannot identify them. Also I had to keep in mind that some players would like to use these vantage points to eliminate soldiers from afar, with a sniper for example. I would embrace it but I would not make their life too easy. Finally I had to think about the players combining approaches, for example when they approach stealthily to neutralize alarms before blasting everything else.
Summary :
Think about discoverability of each approach, place vantage points.
Some players combine a bit of each.
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'Bully' approach (ground)
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Through the main door with elephant, vehicle or explosives.
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Barrels & vehicles to allow them to create mayhem
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Very challenging, against a lot of enemies and firepower
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'Bully' approach (air)
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Fly in using wingsuit or helicopter
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Barrels & vehicles to allow them to create mayhem
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Possibility to fight from roofs
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Very challenging, against a lot of enemies and firepower
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'Sniper' approach(es)
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Shoots from a vantage point
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Easy and hard lines of sight
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Do not give him too long before reaction of the fort
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Stealthy approach(es)
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Gets close & access discreetly the fort
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Advantages to earn like alarms to disable.
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Covers, hideout for the player to remain unseen
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Enemies to assassinate
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Vulnerable if caught
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Once I figured out how everything would fit together globally ("macro wise", approximate location for most elements)
I decided to jump in the software.
4. Execution / iteration
I began building the level in SketchUp starting from a geological standpoint. I sculpted the base form of my valley, trying to get a sense of scale, implementing an overall percentage for the slope and imagining how with time, the river dug its way in the rocks. I placed early on the "island" and the road leading to it. From that I could sculpt in details that made sense with player navigation also. I would have to create pathways that are believable, easily identified, functional and aesthetically pleasing, in that order. Also I made sure to think about the vantage points I needed.
Obviously, some ideas worked better on paper and I had to make changes here and there. Besides I had to start painting in order to be able to make sense of the geometry more rapidly.
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(This is an advanced version of the geology of the level)
Once quite advanced on the geology, I took the measures and started building the temple piece by piece, one building, one floor at a time, with its interior and sized according to its purpose (dormitory, canteen..)
Then I painted the faces and started filling the spaces with a few assets I made on the go. I also took some from the 3D warehouse (when the license allowed me too), the full list is below. For the interior of the places of worship, I got inspired by a temple I visited in Nepal. It was very colorful and contained a massive prayer wheel. I thought that it would contrast very nicely with the military equipment brought by the militia, and therefore, it could convey the impact of the soldier's control to the player.
Afterwards I merged the assets together and made some adjustments to the map accordingly.
Merged
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Finally I placed the enemies according to the initial plan. I placed the patrols and the other soldiers not on duty.
Some soldiers are eating, others are playing cards. Also, some are training in a new shooting range, near a pile of religious artifacts being removed by the soldiers. Similarly to the interiors of the temple, I created these elements for contrast and storytelling.
Being able to observe most of the design in 3D, I could now make unprecedented adjustments, notably to the positions of enemies, taking into account the verticality. All the elements where finding their definitive place, the landscape its final form. I could examine the level from a "sniper, bully or stealthy" player's perspective and see if it made sense.
Once I could not find anymore minor and instantaneous corrections, I decided to validate the design for the time being and proceeded to create a presentation to make it easier to explain and to receive feedback, which was the end goal of the project.
What was a success :
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Most of the feedback I received from people was positive, the concept excited them. What especially intrigued them was the geometry of the valley coupled with the fort. For the most part people were eager to play it or see more of it.
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The objective was to learn and I did. I learned many things about my own process, how I would approach the design of such an open area and what matters when doing so. Where I forgot to take things into account or burdened myself with unnecessary stuff, what would I do differently next time. Also I learned from the feedback of people, especially from my teachers, they showed me certain traps my design could fall into further on.
What went wrong :
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It seems that I pushed SketchUp to its limits, whatever the machine on which I launch the project, it may be lagging sometimes. Troublesome for a communication tool that exists only to accelerate the workflow.
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The rhythm of the presentation is messed up at certain points, some camera moves are confusing and many people had to pause / rewind the video at some points. There are also a few misspells left. Basically I have ways to improve the form.
*List of assets borrowed from the 3D warehouse and their owners :
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Soldiers, David.M
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Buddha statue, Louise.F
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Cars, HAUG
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Palm tree, Studio G
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Conifer, David.H
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Bushes, Teras
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