SUNLINE

Role: Level Designer | Team Size: 19 | Engine: Unity | Jan 2022 - May 2022

Overview

Sunline is a first-person 3D free-running game which follows the story of Ana, a rebellious and gadgety teen in the utopian city of Elyria. When a devastating storm threatens the city she loves, she must put her skills to the test as she becomes the only one able to save Elyria. Aimed at college-aged challenge seekers, players run, jump, climb, and slide their way through the beautiful art-nouveau architecture of this solarpunk city.

Trailer

Now on Steam!

My Contributions

I was brought onto this project after the fall semester with the sole purpose of helping them build out levels. I was originally responsible for building out levels 3 and 5, but after we made some changes to the scope of the game I was set to work on only level 3 from the ground up then to rework the back half of level 2.

Designing and Implementing Level 3
Updating levels 2 and 3 based off tester feedback
Reworking the back half of level 2
Polishing levels 2 and 3 before release

Level 3

Level 3 Gallery

Level 3 Iterations

First Blockout

The first version of level 3 was meant as a way to set up the scale of the level. I didn't focus on the full gameplay aspects of the level rather I wanted to make sure the sizes of the buildings felt alright when players stood on top of them. This process helped me better understand the lowest possible playtime. Through that, I was able to set up the best ways to add in obstacles to meet the playtime requirements for the level.

Adding Obstacles

Once I had the base layout of the map I began the process of laying out the obstacles that were in the player's path. For Sunline, we didn't plan out strictly where the players obstacles were going to go. Rather we took each area step by step feeling out how it felt to traverse the space as the player. This allowed us let the level flow build itself so everything meshed together perfectly. I found this process quite fun as I was able to quickly iterate over ideas during the building process itself.

Needs More Fun

While the level flowed pretty well overall, and testers seemed receptive to the small changes that were made based off feedback. The level seemed to be missing this sense of fantasy fun that can be found in this game like being launched by fans, crashing through glass, and running on walls. Due to this realization, I shifted around portions of the level to include more opportunities for these fun mechanics.

Final Touches

Once the team felt like the level was in a pretty solid state, we began the decoration process for the level. This included swapping out the various buildings, adding in foliage, and placing props. During this time, not too much of the level's flow changed other than a few spots here and there. Most of this time was spent rather making the space feel lived in and readable.

Level 2 Rework

Level 2 Gallery

Level 2 Rework

Merging The Old With The New

One of the challenges I had with this level was merging the original level from Fall semester in with my additions to the back half of the level. Luckily for me, there was a problem spot just before the final climb up. I decided to cut out this portion of the level and instead have players take a detour into the newly created section. It then loops the player around and up using some of the new mechanics to then connect back into the original ending for the level.

Introducing New Mechanics

One of the main reasons for needing to rework this level was due to the introduction of new base mechanics for the player between semesters. In the spring semester, we added the ability for players to interact with cranes that moved platforms in the level, and we added fans that could blow players in the directions they were pointing. This level provided a perfect opportunity to showcase these new mechanics as the level took place outside, and there was plenty of room for player to move around and explore the new mechanics.