Fundamental Level Design Direction Development

Early on, the game was structured around climbing a tower to reach a rooftop boss. Through playtesting, it became clear that the controller and core mechanics felt best when moving horizontally and downward, forcing a change in the initial design direction.

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• Problem: Vertical progression conflicted with the controller/mechanics
• Change: Pivoted to a downward-centric structure (start high → descend)
• Result: Clearer pacing, stronger traversal, improved readability

Readability Iteration: Tutorial Challenge Room

Selected iteration example based on feedback and observations gathered during testing and EGX showcase.

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• Problem: The space was cramped, reducing clarity on the room layout and how the wave challenge worked
• Change: Expanded the room’s size and adjusted slope placement/scale to better match player expectations
• Result: Clearer understanding, more agency, and smoother challenge flow

Dark Room Clarity and Enemy Visibility

Dark rooms rely on silhouette recognition, so readability and fairness can quickly break down. These iterations focused on improving enemy separation, telegraph clarity, and player agency while keeping the low-light mood.

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• Problem: Pillars and enemies blended together in low light, and the platform wasn’t readable during combat, causing confusion and accidental falls
• Change: Extended pillar height and raised back lighting to increase silhouette contrast. Added a blocking fence around the platform edge to improve boundary readability and prevent accidental falls/out-of-bounds behaviour
• Result: Enemies read more clearly against the environment, and players could focus on positioning and threat management without accidental edge deaths

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• Problem: Fast enemies became hard to track at close range, reducing silhouette readability during high-tempo encounters.
• Change: Adjusted enemy silhouette proportions (longer profile) so the shape stayed readable across lighting angles and close-range movement.
• Result: Players could identify and react to threats more consistently, even during fast-paced sections.

Enemy Encounter Design

Enemy spawning triggered on room entry due to limited AI traversal (enemies immediately path toward the player). Early encounters encouraged the use of doorway choke-points and occasionally overwhelmed players when multiple enemies spawned at once.

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• Problem: Enemy spawn locations overwhelm players and promote uninteresting combat
• Change: staggered spawn when within larger rooms (not just on doorways), increased spawn trigger to enemy spawn distance and added the door valves to promote environmental engagement  
• Result: Enemies are more manageable and less overwhelming, and players need to correctly interact with environmental elements to succeed in combat encounters properly.

Lighting Refactoring

This refactor focused on improving visual clarity across different player setups and environmental lighting conditions, while keeping the intended atmosphere.

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Why the refactor was needed

• Feedback: Visibility varied drastically during testing, from “acceptable” to “barely visible”, depending on the setup
• Playtests: Players missed enemies, pits and environmental tools when only slightly outside key light areas
• Consistency: Lighting didn’t scale well across room sizes and looked unpolished when single-point lighting was applied to spaces that didn’t fully support it

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What changed

The lighting approach was standardised across the project, including light spread, wall distance, placement rules, light types, intensity, and colour balance.

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Professional practice update

To validate readability, I introduced a repeatable testing process using multiple monitors and contrasting real-world conditions: direct light, direct sunlight, bounced light, and no light. I also applied consistent lighting layouts for common room features (e.g., corners, walls, slopes, and drops) to ensure predictable results across environments.

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• Problem: Lighting lacked consistency, scalability, and clarity across different player setups
• Change: Rebuilt lighting using a consistent rule set and improved multi-condition testing
• Result: Improved readability and visual clarity while preserving tone

Performance Optimisation Pass

The optimisation pass focused on improving performance across all levels for a broader range of player hardware.

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Why was the optimisation needed

• Feedback: Some levels struggled on a lower-spec machine, revealing performance issues
• Testing gap: Earlier playtests were primarily on higher-end systems, where problems weren’t noticeable
• Impact: Frame drops and stutter reduced gameplay clarity and responsiveness

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What changed

General optimisation improvements were applied across levels, scene setup and occlusion/culling. A targeted pass was then completed on the library level, the primary performance issue indicator, reducing asset complexity and improving level setup to stabilise performance.

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Professional practice update

This feedback highlighted bias in my testing environment. I updated my workflow to include early optimisation by default, prioritising debug statistics over how the game “feels” on my own PC, and validating performance on lower-spec machines.

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• Problem: Higher-spec testing masked performance issues
• Change: Optimise by default and use debug/profiling metrics
• Result: More stable performance and a stronger optimisation workflow

Maze Flow Breakdown

This level uses a maze-like layout built around a clear linear spine, with optional branches that add variation without compromising player direction. The space uses a dark-room lighting approach with anchor lights along each stretch to support silhouette recognition and readable navigation.

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Design goals

• Maintain “maze” themes without losing player orientation
• Support readable combat spaces and enemy telegraphs
• Control difficulty spikes using pacing and staged spawns

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How the flow works

• Linear spine: A core main route that always progresses toward the goal
• Branch pockets: Short dead-end or loop branches used for variations
• Reorientation cues: Lighting placement and bookshelf layouts that guide players back to the spine

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Staggered spawns

• Spawn triggers: Enemies spawn triggers are staggered rather than immediately on entry
• Stagger timing: Spawns are spaced out to prevent instant overwhelm and allow threat prioritisation

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Result: The level retains maze-style variety while staying readable, with encounters that scale smoothly and encourage movement through the space.

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Iteration note

Earlier layout explorations were more maze-dense, but testing showed readability and encounter constraints worked best with a stronger main route. The final version preserves maze identity through branching pockets while keeping progression clear.