We just lately revealed a teaser for our sport Legacy 1917, the place we confirmed the primary gameplay footage of the “Prologue” stage. In this text, we are going to discuss in regards to the primary ideas of stage design, methods and tips that had been used to create this location.

Preparatory work

The place to begin was the work on the final synopsis. At the primary stage, the group and I created gameplay conditions, linked them with the narrative and tried to attain the specified gaming expertise. This is how the primary drafts of the placement design doc, stage schemes, descriptions of gameplay conditions appeared.

The subsequent step was extraordinarily necessary to work with references. This usually helps to kind the final look of the placement, to know the topology of the realm, its primary options. We didn’t try for historic authenticity, however we wanted to convey the spirit of town, its particular options.

Monotonous places will shortly bore the participant, and dealing with references helps so as to add selection and spotlight these options that characterize the area.

Having ready the design doc and having provide you with a sketch of the extent, we proceeded to the lengthy stage of creation. After many iterations, we lastly got here to the specified outcome, which we’re able to current to you.

Introductory scene

According to the synopsis, the primary scene of the extent is the station. This is historically the place from which the research of town begins. Similar moments had been, for instance, in Half-Life 2 or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The participant can get acquainted with the realm concurrently the principle character and their feelings from what is going on will coincide. In our case, the Brestsky railway station was taken as the premise.

At the very starting, the participant enters a big space and sees numerous individuals in entrance of the station. Here he has the chance to go searching, talk with individuals, kind an concept of ​​what is going on round him. The whole first a part of the extent is an acquaintance with town that survived the revolution. The primary character arrived right here with no clear concept of ​​what is going on, and our job is to deliver him updated. This a part of the extent doesn’t comprise any threats and the participant is free to discover it, however already on the exit the soldier warns that it may be harmful exterior the station. This is how we put together the participant for the upcoming challenges.

Further Dive

Here is a piece of the extent the place we go into extra element about what is going on on. The participant sees littered streets, deserted wagons, trams, a damaged energy line, and so forth. The fruits right here is the road, which is totally blocked by makeshift barricades. Throughout this part, we present the participant that this place can nonetheless be harmful and step by step escalate the state of affairs. If the station created the impression of a peaceable location, then additional down the extent, the participant increasingly usually stumbles upon traces of armed conflicts.

Here, the attentive participant encounters a small department, which he can discover to search out assets and one of many first secrets and techniques (collectible merchandise). It is necessary to notice that just about all the time in our sport the character strikes diagonally from the underside to the highest nook, however right here we intentionally shifted the actions to a horizontal airplane. This makes it attainable to position a visual passage into the constructing on the central a part of the display. Also on this place, the participant can discover a ladder, which additional motivates to discover this space.

Even if the participant ignores these indicators, shifting on, he’ll see a platform from which he can clearly soar down, and to the aspect he’ll discover the key already acquainted to him from the coaching stage. This will stimulate him to nonetheless discover a passage upstairs.

First Blood

Of course, as a part of the tutorial ranges, the participant encountered enemies. He has discovered the fundamental mechanics: he is aware of how you can sneak, stealthily kill, distract enemies with particles, cover within the bushes. But it’s this stage that presents the primary actual take a look at for the participant. However, we did not need to make the participant endure an excessive amount of. Our job was to create such a take a look at, which was primarily fascinating for the participant. Here are some tips that helped us with this.

The variety of enemies. This is essentially the most banal methodology of facilitating or complicating gameplay segments. It is utilized in virtually all video games that contain collision.

Structure of the world. When your job is to sneak previous a bunch of enemies, it’s essential to know precisely the place you might want to go. The specifics of our digital camera doesn’t suggest that the participant can see the exit from the world, being on the very starting of it. For this cause, we tried to maintain the world easy sufficient to make it simple for gamers to navigate at first. The primary factor right here is to not make it too easy, since creating an fascinating panorama immediately impacts the standard of the gameplay.

Space for maneuvers. Even a small variety of enemies can create issues for the participant if the world forces him to continuously be close to them. This is an effective way to extend the stress because the participant will get the sensation that they’re continuously on the verge of detection, however this solely works if they’ve mastered the fundamentals nicely sufficient. That is why the primary arenas recommend that it’s attainable to keep up a cushty distance from enemies.

Numerous excessive and vast shelters. The accumulation of containers that closes Peter to his full top is instinctively perceived by him as a extra dependable shelter than a small fence. In order to make the participant really feel extra assured, we tried to make use of these covers extra usually.

This phase has two arenas linked by a connector, by which the participant can take a breather. Such components let you join a number of arenas collectively to create long-lasting stealth sections, with the chance for the participant to take a brief break. In addition, checkpoints are normally situated in such locations in order that in case of dying the participant doesn’t replay your complete phase, however continues the place he had issues.

After the stealth part, you might want to give the participant a break from any such gameplay, and as you realize, the most effective relaxation is a change of exercise. But extra on that within the second half…

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