What Went Well

I nailed the aesthetics of the level. Although not being evaluated on the artwork or degree of difficulty, I wanted to immerse the player in a world that felt familiar. The theme made my level stand out. The finished product had a strong sense of the environment I was emulating.

My level had a good flow to it. Those who play tested and shared feedback, including peers and other professors, gave outstanding reviews. They all said they enjoyed the experience I crafted with few complaints.

My design process was successful. I studied real world environments that my level was based off of. This helped me achieve the realistic feel of the map. I spent time researching what made a successful Unreal Tournament map. I think the process I followed helped me to create a map the both looked and played well.

What Could Be Better

This was my first assignment using Unreal Engine. Therefore, learning how to use the editor was baked into the time needed to develop the map. The project would have benefited from having prior knowledge of the tools. More familiarity would have saved me time and possibly avoiding pitfalls that happen during development with an unfamiliar engine.

I could have made more detailed level design layouts. I was incentivized to start working in editor as soon as possible. I sacrificed creating detailed level layouts with metrics and measurements. Doing this would have made the transition from design, to greyboxing, to final art, much smoother.

What I learned

What I gained through this assignment was knowledge of how to level design in Unreal. This was my introduction to the engine and I enjoyed the experience working with it. By the end of the project I was able to navigate my way through the editor and its tools quickly. This project helped reinforce that picking up new tools is exciting and not something to be overly stressed about.

I was able to learn more about creating multiplayer environments. Players competing with one another. Sight lines, level flow, weapon and health placements, spawn locations, cover, etc. became a focus. With the help of play testers and tools like heat maps showing player activity. I was able to create a fun FPS map on my first try.