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Level Design + Narrative
All of the level design elements are woven together with Heliotrope's lore. The general setting is the main villain's backstory, where he searches for his allies whilst shipwrecked. He also discovers phantom stones: purple, luminescent matter that bolsters any technology it touches. The player can collect phantom stones to fuel their jetpack, allowing them to explore the area and search for the remains of their crew.
"Light Flicker" Blueprint Code
"Fade to Black" Blueprint Code
Creating Cinematic Experiences
The last piece of the puzzle was making the experience feel cinematic. My design goal for this project was to emphasize the dreadful nature of the player's environment. I used Unreal Engine 5's suite of cinematic tools to evoke a dreadful feeling through set dressing, lighting, environment design, sound design, and particle effects.
I established an immediate sense of danger by showing the player's escape pod in flames, then transitioned to a desolate environment littered with dead trees, lightning, and a derelict spaceship.
For the interior, I wanted to showcase the extent of the damage caused by the spaceship crash. Originally, the interior was on a flat plane, but this approach felt too "clean" for a spaceship that was supposed to be falling apart. I changed my approach by tilting the entire level on the y-axis, reflecting the crash angle of the ship's exterior. I then added some sparks, hanging wires, and ambient lighting to emphasize the broken-down nature of the spaceship.
Utilizing Unreal Blueprints
I utilized Unreal Blueprints to bring the world to life. In addition to the jetpack blueprint I wrote for the player, I made another blueprint that would act as a helmet light, setting the intensity when the player clicks the left mouse button.
For set dressing, I made a "Light Flicker" Blueprint that would change the intensity of a red point light at a random rate. I also made a blueprint that adds a "fade-to-black" effect when transitioning between areas. This involved detaching the camera from the player actor, stopping the player's movement, and finally adding the camera effect.
Many of my actor blueprints were modular, and I was able to place them throughout the area with different values as needed.
Whiteboxed interior (with some texturing)
Final interior
ROLE
Level Designer, Gameplay Programmer
Team Size
Solo
Description
An interactive, cinematic sci-fi experience about an astronaut searching for the remains of his crew on a chaotic planet. Set in my Heliotrope Storyworld
Heliotrope: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience
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