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Sunken Place

Level Summary

"Sunken Place" is a Fallout 4 level of my creation that takes place at Deadman's Marsh, an old flooded town on the outskirts of  The Commonwealth. This level showcases the Flamer weapon against a series of Mirelurk encounters.
Engine:
Platform:
Creation Kit
PC
Development Time:
12 weeks
Team Size:
Individual

Initial Concept

InitialConcept_SunkenPlace.png
Iteration
InitialConcept_Legend_SunkenPlace.png
Production of this level went well due to good early planning, however, there were changes made as I started blocking out. For example, the building in front of the Right Wing of the plane was quickly removed because I wanted to keep a strong leading line from the angle of the wing to the side of the plane.
WB_SunkenPlace.png
Blockout
Launch_SunkenPlace.png
Launch

Design Goals

Circular Flow

A major goal for this level was to implement circular paths for players to flow through both within smaller combat encounters as well as the for the entire level.

Landmarks

This level contains both large background landmarks that act as "weenies" for the player as well as smaller points of interest to act as conveyance symbols.

Sightlines

Finally there are key sightlines intentionally placed within the level for players to understand the result of their actions.

Circular Flow

CircularFlow-SunkenPlace.png
CircularFlow2-SunkenPlace-02.png

Circular Combat Encounters

With the high prescence of melee enemies within this level I designed the combat spaces with circular flow in mind. 
CircularFlow3-SunkenPlace.png

Circular Level Flow

The path the player takes throughout the level is also one large loop. The player will finish the level where they started.

Landmarks

Landmarks1_SunkenPlace.png
Landmarks2_SunkenPlace.png

Crashed Airplane

The primary objective of the level is to enter a crashed airplane which can be seen from multiple angles throughout the level.
Landmarks3_SunkenPlace.png

Points of Interest

Additionally I have placed minor points of interest to generate player intrigue and guide them throughout the level.

Sightlines

SightLines_SunkenPlace.gif

Showing the player the result of their actions

There are specific sightlines within the level I've designed such as this one from the cockpit of the plane back to the opening gate.

Postmortem

What Went Well

  • Interesting combat against melee enemies.
  • Verticality at multiple elevations throughout level.
  • Mirelurk ambushes are exciting hook of the level.
     

What Went Wrong

  • AI navigation was difficult to get working smoothly between floating wooden pallettes.
  • Including mirelurks within the final confrontation of the quest caused it to feel unbalanced.
     

What I Learned

  • Leave room for player choice. Player's liked the flamer, but wanted more weapons to choose from.
  • Investing time early on level and quest structure gave me more time for visual polish.

Gallery

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