Small Village Blockout

This is a small project I created after learning about level design and gameplay design in Unreal Engine. The version used for this project is UE 5.2. This is a a blockout with scripting included after learning about Level Design.

Mission Design : 

• The player has to reach the fortified building. But the bridge is retracted preventing the player from reaching the building.
• A gear wheel is missing. The player is tasked with exploring to find out a method to find the wheel to power the bridge.
• On exploring, player finds a mansion where survivors are taking shelter. On interacting with the other NPC's player learns that the gear wheel is with the operator. The pllayer obtains the spare key for the windmill from the mansion.
• The player also learns that the operator could be in the windmill or his house. The player is then given another exploration beat to search for the bridge operator. 
• The player finds that he is not in his house. When the player reaches the windmill, he finds the operator dead. The gear wheel is found inside the windmill.
• The gear wheel can now be placed and powered on the bridge.

Optional Objective : 

• When the player interacts with the NPC's in the mansion, there is an optional objective where an NPC asks help from the player for finding another character who is trapped in the barn surrounded by enemies.

Level Design : 

The player is given an overview of the entire level from the beginning so that they can plan ahead or get an idea similar to the game Alan Wake.

The player is guided to the objectives by catching their attention towards the buildings using a smoke emitter. This is also a storytelling method showing the player that there are other characters in this location in an otherwise abandoned village.

Map Overview :

Some other things that can enhance environmental storytelling : 

The windows to some houses are barricaded showing the player that there might be some people still alive. 

The lighting is a directional light rotated to show that it is close to nightfall to enhance the spooky element of the level.

PS : There is no dialogue system implemented. The NPC's are just characters with a Text Render that shows the dialogue. Please do remember this is like an early prototype for a level.  This is the case for the side objective too.

Play time - 8-9 minutes.

This project was created after completing 2 course from Unreal Dev Community following tutorials of 2 game developers.
-  Implementing Level Design with Blueprints 

- Demonstrating Animation Blueprints and AI for Gameplay Designers

I combined my learnings from the 2 courses to create this level.

The level is scripted entirely in Blueprint. The AI enemy characters are created using a simple Behaviour Tree - one which moves the AI to the player onc detected. They play an attack animation on getting close to the player that reduces health. 
If the enemy is hit with a headshot, that is an instant death. I used a different static mesh for the gun. The animations came with the project itself.

Improvements that can be made : 

  + Provide player with a better weapon as reward for exploring

  + Add a bit more verticality to the level. Also add variety to the buildings in the town.

  + Add a cinematic camera that shows certain aspects to the player. For example, at    the start when the village comes into view, play a sequence with a panning shot that shows the region that the player will be exploring. 

If this becomes a fully fledged level, the player is not given a minimap/guided by hand throughout the level so as to promote exploration.