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Uncharted Game Jam
Role: Level Designer
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Team Size: Solo Project
Dev Time: 2 days
(Jan 21 - Jan 23, 2025)
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Highlights:
Level Design
Game Description:
This is a level I made as part of a 2 day Uncharted Game Jam, trying out the AGLS system for the first time.
My contribution
The point of this Game Jam was to create an Uncharted-like level with the help of the AGLS system, in just 2 days.
Below you will find the full walkthrough of the whole level. After that I will go into detail about how and why I designed this level the way I did as well as my thoughts behind every decision I made.
Full Level Walkthrough
The first task that I had was to brainstorm what kind of environment I wanted to make the level for. Ultimately I felt like Uncharted has the closest roots to a jungle/ruin vibes. So that's what I went for. I aimed for the level to be played quite early, but not as a first level.
Usually I would not color my blockouts like this, but since this also acts like the final environmental art I decided to do it in order to portray the feeling better.
The mission goal is to enter a temple in the mountains.
First you arrive to what remains of a ruined town. The enemy has also gotten the hands on the map to the temple and have already set up an outpost in the town.
You then climb along the mountainside and make your way up to the large stone bridge.
After that you jump and swing across rocks and a stranded ship on a river until you take a leap of faith and climb up the final part of the mountain.
Quick Levelmap sketch
Blockout result from above
Design Decisions
Now I want to walk through the whole level and explain my design decisions for every sequence.
The first sequence of the level is the arrival at the ruined buildings still standing.
This is the players view at the start of the level. I wanted the player to see all 3 enemies before walking down the wooden planks in order to plan their approach while they walked down. I also wanted to draw the players eyes towards the grand waterfall and stone bridge in the distance, foreshadowing the path to come.
I wanted to give the player some cover straight away in order for them to prepare engaging with the enemy. And naturally progress them forward towards a better cover with better options for the firefight.
Next the player enters a ruined building. Here I wanted the player to get a small breather in after their first firefight in the level, while walking towards the large window as well as the hole in the building.
At the window the player has a great overview of the next enemies and the terrain ahead. They are unspotted by the enemies and can plan their approach as they please.
Here I gave the player plenty of cover and 2 options. Either push forward and approach on the right side, or walk up the ramp and enter the house on the left. The left house is the safer option since you have more cover from the sniper enemy as you can see on the right picture. I also gave the player the reveal of the cave entrance at the end of the bridge, which I in production would have wanted to be a very memorable sight. Like the picture from Uncharted below.
Once all enemies in the village has been taken care of, the player can progress further by lifting the debris and climbing on top of the roof of the last building. I wanted the player to get warmed up with climbing here in preparation of the next sequence which is a climbing one.
At the top of the building the next sequence starts. Right before then I give the player the option to pick up a weapon with full ammunition in case they had not picked one up off the bodies before. Then we have an uncharted style rope swing onto the mountainside followed by a longer sequence of climbing. I really wanted the player to feel like they left the safety of common ground and were dangling from a great height. I also wanted this sequence to take a while in order for the player to feel like they had really worked towards the goal of getting onto the large stone bridge they had been seeing since the start.
When the player arrives at the bridge, I wanted it to feel memorable and like a great accomplishment. This is done through the view of a majestic waterfall coming down from the mountains on one side, and on the other side the view of all the terrain and hurdles you went through to get all the way up there.
After the bridge there is some traversal on top of the riverbed in classic Uncharted fashion.
The sequence ends in the player climbing onto a shipwreck hanging over a waterfall. The player has to rope swing across the mast of the ship, and finally run and take a leap of faith off the boat onto the side of the mountain. The goal here was to provide an interesting rope swing area as well as increase the tension when the player realizes that it's either do or die in order to get away from the boat.
I finish off the level with some traversal through a tight crack in the mountains. I like mixing between a little more enclosed space in between mountains and a grand open view in the jungle. This path leads up to the temple entrance at which point the player sees the enemy forces already has beat you to it. Two guards are posted by a campsite outside that has to be dealt with. Before the level ends I once again show the player the start of the level through a hole in the mountainside. Allowing them to peer all the way down where the adventure began. Serving as a nice reminder of how far they've come. They then cross a wooden bridge and open the door to the temple where the next level begins.
Finally here is the moodboard I created, consisting of some of the images I used to get inspiration for this level.
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