Level 4-13

I completely scratched and rebuilt level 4-13 in the Godot Engine. For this level, my design goals were to provoke anxiety, while balancing the difficulty progression of this world and the game as a whole. The previous level had a difficulty spike while the next level would be the last level and it was going to feature two high intensity sequences, so I did not want to exhaust the player with difficult challenges nor overshadow the intensity of the previous level. Considering this, I chose a theme of reusing mechanics learned early on, but in an innovative way that would support the narrative and level’s theme. I decided to feature a faux maze setup, using pipe tunnels, claustrophobic corridors, and obstacles to guide the player towards their objectives. Additionally, I selected mechanics that would heighten the anxiety, such as falling bridges and blockades. I interwove these themes with the narrative direction for this level to create a sense of interference from the antagonist.

At the very start of the level, I set the tone of the challenges ahead by allowing the player to see the exit – visible yet unreachable. While the dialogue plays out, the player encounters a simple puzzle as they loop back around towards the exit, only to be unable to get to it due to a locked gate. This shows the player that their final goal is to unlock the gate, but first they must traverse the level with interconnected pipes designed with obstacles to create the oppressive, anxiety-inducing atmosphere, while simultaneously funneling the player towards the correct next objective.

As an example of how I utilized a faux maze setup without confusing or frustrating the player, in this sequence, the player falls down along and narrow pipe tunnel. While the camera starts at a zoomed-in state, by the time the player reaches the bottom of the tunnel, the camera has zoomed out to show a variety of nearby areas with gameplay value. It is visible to the player that ultimately, they will need to get to the checkpoint on the bottom right, but that their choices going forward are limited because there are gates, doors, and piles of bones blocking them from reaching it. I designed this area so that the player will be funneled from one puzzle to the next, while seamlessly looping back around to be able to clear out the bones in order to continue. The bones in this sequence play a critical narrative role as well –they symbolize the antagonist’s interference as they fall from the pipes to obstruct the player’s path forward.

Another example where I considered the narrative direction for this level is where I utilized the falling bridge mechanic. While the player was already familiar with the falling bridges from way back in World 2, what they had not seen yet was the bridge falling towards them at the same time as falling under them. This prevented the player from crossing  the pit and forced them to fall into it, as if the antagonist was trying to sabotage their progress. This sequence took several iterations to get it right, since I didn't want the player to immediately fall into a death trap. I ended up dividing the pit into three areas. The first area presented the most amount of danger, the middle presented no danger, and the last had only a slight amount of danger. To prevent the player from falling into the first pit, I placed enemies hanging under the bridge to keep the player moving forward.