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Quake Map  "Interdimensional Castle"

It's a small-sized map set in a gothic castle that lasts around 4-6 minutes, made to keep the players on alert at all times while navigating through it. Ranger faces a dimension-shambler bringing enemies into our world, amassing an army. With the bridge broken, the only access to the castle is through the caves and into the dungeon, where horrors await...

 

This is a single-player Quake map I made as a student project in Trenchbroom to experience the pipeline of a Level Designer and develop the technical/creative skills within this discipline.

Engine

Trenchbroom

Team Size

1 Developer

Role

Level Designer

Genre

1st person Shooter

Development Time

8 Weeks

One-Pager

This One Pager shows a top-down view of the playable map. Rooms are numbered in order of the golden path and shown with an image of that room. 

Click through the gallery to see images of each room.

Firstly, I had to settle on what the high-level concept for the map would be. Quake and its mapping community have a long history so I would first do research by playing the original game and get a feel of what its unique selling point is. With that knowledge, I would start planning a high-level concept through sketches, node graphs, bubble diagrams and reference images in my documentation.

Planning

Researching and brainstorming level ideas

Before I started building the level, I prepared by doing the research and ideation to figure out what the level would become by:

  • Researching Quake gameplay and player behaviour by playing the game and using online resources.

  • Set game pillars for the level to guide the design and decision-making of it. 

  • Draw sketches to ideate on level beats/challenges.

Through this, I figured that strafing, exploration and ammo management are the main player behaviours. Levels are built as labyrinth structures where players learn the layout as they go through the map.

Planning the level

After brainstorming through sketches, I would start to plan the map out by creating graphs that would show how the rooms are connected and how each gameplay beat is sequenced. Images can be found on the left.

  • Node Map: Sequencing the gameplay and showcasing the initial intensity of the gameplay.

  • Bubble Diagram: An abstract diagram that shows how the rooms are connected.​

  • Timeline: This shows how the player will progress through the level purely in the dimension of gameplay.

Gym Level & Blockout

With a plan and concept set for the level, it was time to get into Trenchbroom, set up the gym level to figure out metrics, perform gym investigations, explore more ideas for combat arenas and create modular kits. This was also when I worked with documentation to keep track of the level's development and record metrics & dynamics found through the gym investigations.

Documenting level metrics and condition

I set up documentation to use as I was making to map that was used for: 

  • Recording gym metrics for the player character movement and rocket jumps. 

  • Investigations into weapons strengths and weaknesses against certain enemies. 

  • Conditions of satisfaction, wherin the state of the various elements in the level is recorded and showcases the progress made weekly. The status would range from prototype to presentable product. 

The full documentation if interested can be found below.

Building a Gym Level

In the gym level, I started with figuring out character metrics and created a shooting range in which I could play and test the weapons of the game. Another section of the gym level would be where I performed enemy investigations and try out different combinations and setups to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the enemies and how players respond to them.  

Creating a modular kit

Based on the earlier concept, I was looking into gothic castles for architectural reference and landed upon Corvin Castle to use as a reference alongside existing Quake levels and images/art from other gothic castles. 

In the gym level, I would make modular assets I could reuse to place around the map and keep a consistent visual language and make the map seem like a believable play space for the player. Other building blocks were made based on the metrics for the character.

Collection of reference images used.

Sets of modular kits for the map.

Making the first blockout

After getting the metrics and performing gym investigations, I made a blockout of the map that gave a sense of scale to how big the result would be. I had already applied textures to the geometry for the opening section to set the mood and test out an application of the gothic style to the map. 

The rocket jumps were part of the 1st blockout for experienced players to get more resources out of the map. This blockout also tested how players would flow through the level and where they would get stuck.

Production

From here on out I would be testing and iterating on the level structure to develop a playable map that has all gameplay logic functioning, is well-balanced and keeps the player in flow. The final textures and lighting also get added to the map to make it presentable and readable. 

Perform playtests to improve the level

I would perform playtests every week by observing the player go through the map and documenting my observations similar to a research paper with a research question I am looking to answer through the playtest. From the data or observations - depending on the playtest I'm performing - I will derive conclusions that answer the research questions. From this information, I create action points that drive the following iterations of the level and afterwards test these, thus continuing the cycle. 

Opening Sequence

The first moment of the map had the player starting in the castle's moat. This has the player starting at a low point as they are in unfamiliar territory. The bridge leading to the castle is broken, forcing the character to enter a cave dungeon. 

​

At first, I had the player spawned facing the broken bridge part to show the context of what happened, but this made them face away from their objective. 

So, the following iterations were to ensure that the player would see where they had to go next but also notice the broken part of the bridge and look up to the castle to set the mood of the map.

The 3 main Iterations of the opening sequence.

Comparison of the first & final iteration

A similar iteration in the Chapel

Restructuring the castle and its look

The big castle hall is the moment when the 2nd beat of the level starts and the difficulty increases. The Knights have to be defeated before the player can progress. This is also the 1st time the Death Knight (a powered-up version of the Knights) appears.

​

As it stood, the space was too open and had very few ingredients the player could engage with during combat. Along with that, it did not seem like a believable space. I changed the level by:

  • Use reference images to rebuild the hall based on real-world architecture and locations. 

  • Include pillars players can hide behind and strafe between. 

  • Added barricades in front of fake doors to signify the player is unable to enter there.

Fixing combat across the map

One of the biggest issues when developing this map was that when the player would enter a room and alert the enemies, they would retreat into the hall they came from, in which they could limit the enemies' angles of attack. Enemies were alerted as soon as the player would enter the room, ovewhelming them.

​

I improved on this in the Guardroom specifically by:

  • Leashing the enemy AI by putting them on higher ledges, increases the time it takes for them to reach the player. 

  • Putting an ammo crate in front of the player to attract and reward them for entering the room, despite the risk of being between the enemies. 

"Player's POV Before Entry" A paintover of the Guardroom that describes enemies next step and player thoughts.

Paint over of Player's perspective upon entry.

Chapel room in the Quake level. Allmost all lights are off in the room, except for 2 that highlight important area's to the player.

Almost all the lights are off in the chapel when entering (Player's POV).

After killing the Vore, the player platforms on the structure and collects the golden key.

A Light Focal Point

In the Chapel, once the player has defeated the Vore enemy, they are supposed to platform up the broken structure. But players were often lost for a moment on where to go next. 

​

To resolve this, I had the room be dark upon entry. When the player enters, only 2 areas are lit up in the entire room. The area where the Vore will spawn when walking further into the room and an opening to the right of the player. 

Here I am using the lights to create a focal point that is to lead the player towards their next objective on where they have to go.

Postmortem

Achievements

  • After recognising the faults in my workflow, I immediately went back to the drawing board to fix what was missing and got back on the saddle swiftly.

  • I learned from online resources about level design to solve problems I encountered with the map.

  • The level was shared with the Quake community and got positive and constructive feedback from them. 

  • I participated in Blocktober with this level and got a lot of engagement with it.

Challenges

  • I did not make efficient use of my Gym, therefore the level got build without initial testing of challenges and the level went through big changes even after the initial blockout.

  • I was unable to clearly communicate the iterations of my level due to not delivering enough screenshots and footage of my level.

  • I had not done competitor analysis through playing other maps made by the community and thus did not know of conventions for the creation of this map.

Learnings

  • Start earlier on modular kit and reference it based on gathered images.

  • Never place enemies by a doorway because players will refrain from entering the room and fight the enemies between the doorway.

  • Incorporating lighting earlier on in my workflow will reduce the stress of implementing it and to make use of it as a guidance principle.

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