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Wingman
Role: Level Designer
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 15
Dev Time: 4 weeks
(Jan 22 - Feb 15, 2024)
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Highlights:
Level Design
Worldbuilding
Game Description:
Wingman is a thrilling arcade-inspired air race game. Set in a picturesque and colorful open-world archipelago, each race runs you through a dynamic landscape full of canyons, ruins, caves, windmills, and much more.
Tasks and responsibilities
This game was a school project in collaboration with Turborilla. Our job was to create a new action sports game to accompany the Mad Skills IP. This new title was to be smaller than the Mad Skills title and introduce a new action sport genre to the Turborilla catalog.
My primary tasks and responsibilities for this project were:
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Level Design
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Worldbuilding
My contribution
The first task that I had as a level designer in this project was to create an open-world island where 4 action packed air races would take part. Each race was supposed to last between 30-45seconds as to be easily replayable and not feel too frustrating if the player made a mistake.
I started with gathering inspiration and finding reference images. The first thing I thought about was an old game I used to play called Wii Sports Resort, Island Flyover.
Something that was of great importance to me were to have all races feel easily differentiable even though they existed in the same island.
For my first iteration of the level map, since I wanted the races to feel unique I chose to have 4 different landmarks where each race would take place. Number 1 would be in a town area. 2 above the ocean and travelling away from the mainland. 3 inside a mountain. 4 towards the southmost part of the island and going underground.
First levelmap
Final levelmap
First Blockout Island vs Final Island
Races
Since each level in this game is a race. I want to talk about the process for each one and how and why the initial level changed into the final version through iteration.
Level 1) Seaside Town
Playthrough of level 1
This race is the first level that the player is introduced to. I aimed for the difficulty level being easy.
It was important to me that the player had a good overview of where they were going, as well as more time to plan their route and approach to each checkpoint. I also made sure to design the level in a way that the player would feel like they wanted play around using the throttle for speed. Both increasing and decreasing it.
One early change I made to this level was to change the starting position of the race in order to give the player a bigger overview of the next checkpoints as well as the whole island. I also gave the player a bit more space before the first checkpoint in order to familiarize themselves with the controllers a little.
Another important aspect I realized during playtesting was that the players felt like the turns in this first level were too steep. So I made sure to circle the player in more instead of forcing them to quickly turn.
The hardest and most dangerous part of this level are the turning windmills. I wanted them to feel dangerous by spinning, but not too fast. My goal was for the player to be able to calculate their slow turns and plan out where they would fly.
Level 2) Lighthouse Lookout
This is the second race. I aimed for the difficulty level being medium.
I wanted a bit more tension for this level and for the player to feel a sense of danger. This was done through the following four steps:
1) I am forcing the player downwards towards the ocean floor while navgating through a hole in the terrain at the start of the race.
2) This is followed by a section where the player can breathe a bit and increase the throttle while flying over the ocean.
3) Right after that we have tension again by forcing the player to circle a lighthouse. This is tightly followed by windmills which the player has encountered before, keeping the tension up.
4) After that the player is once again allowed to breathe while cruising back towards the big island but there is a final challenge flying through a rocky structure very close to the ground, making the player feel the pulse going upwards again to finish off the race.
Level 3) Mountain Passage
This is the third race. I aimed for the difficulty level being medium.
For this level I really wanted the player to have to adjust the thruster more than they had done before.
This was done through sharper turns as well as danger in the form of ruins and rocks near each checkpoint. In this level, danger is surely imminent throughout.
Level 4) Sweeping Canyon
This is the fourth race. It was originally the final one, and therefore aimed to be hard.
During this level I wanted the player to be able to use the knowledge they had gathered so far in the previous races.
This level was also the first one that I allowed the player to take alternative paths. The goal of this was for players of different skill levels to be able to complete it, but also for top players to experiment which one is the absolute fastest. A riskier playstyle would be rewarded in the form of time
Here are two examples of the player being able to choose paths. The red one is narrower and more dangerous, but saves time. The green one holds the largest gap but at the cost of valuable seconds. I want the choice to be in the players hands.
I really wanted the player to feel something special during this part of the level. This is the furthest south of the island and this long turn allows you to look out at the endless ocean, wondering what more there could be. And then turning back having the whole island in your view again.
Following the flight high up with the windmills, I contrast this by forcing the player down low for the rest of the race.
Level 5) Island Flight
This is the fifth race. Due to us having time, we decided to add another hard race.
The goal of this level was to take the player through the whole island, reminding them of where they had been before. But in the reverse direction. I was inspired by the final bonus levels of Mario Kart on the Nintendo 3DS.
Based upon playtest feedback, this level was by far the hardest one and therefore very fitting for the final level. It involves plenty of of sharp turns, requires proper throttle management, and has the player flying very close to dangerous terrain all throughout.
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