Whiteboxing

April 22, 2020

Whiteboxing

Our team has whiteboxed the level for Force of Nature. Here, each member will talk about the portion of the level they designed.

https://youtu.be/MH2Cl380VTE

Justin Kung

Since I got the early portion of the level, I understood that my goal was to quickly get the player accustomed to the controls and lore as soon as possible and throw them out guns blazing and technology destroying. I had a plan of what the The problem with my section was how should pane out in a small room to learn all the basics and the backstory. So we have the player spawned in front of the "goddess of nature" who then tells us the story and gives us all the weapons. As soon as you walk out, you are blocked by a door that only opens until you shoot down all the targets. Since we had a melee weapon and I wanted players to have a chance to test them out so I added a dummy in the center. The targets are set at different locations so that players can adjust and aim to shoot them down.

I was suggested to give my section some extra length and was planning to but after looking at the second portion of the level, I felt as if my section did not fit the continuity of the second area, so I left it the same way.

Prototype of Section

Jimmy Liu

When we first conceptualized the level with pencil and paper, I wanted the middle portion of the level after the tutorial to have a huge, open-ended arena-type layout. The goal here was to defeat enemies until you found a key, after which you could open the door to the next level. However, the open-ended layout didn't seem like a good idea for a couple of reasons. The first problem was that the layout would require a lot of backtracking by the player to find the key, and the amount of time spent just walking would have been boring. The second problem was that there was little else for the player to do other than just destroy enemies; no secondary objectives, which would have made the level boring quickly.

I was suggested to give my portion of the level some secondary objectives—perhaps some obstacles of some sort—to keep the player engaged. I really loved the idea, so I ran with it and transformed my entire whitebox. The design is more linear to avoid backtracking, and some platforming was added for variety. There are now ramps, a bridge, and platforms to break up the monotony of the level.

In this section of the level, the player begins by facing off against a group of enemies: three walker-type robots and two stationary turret-type robots. Then, they must climb ramps that are guarded by two more turrets. At the top of the ramp, the player faces off against four walkers and then must cross a bridge guarded by two turrets (and if they don't destroy the turrets before crossing the bridge, they may get knocked off if they aren't careful!). After the bridge is three more walkers, and after them are a series of narrow platforms with turrets on top. The player must defeat all of the turrets before jumping from platform to platform to the end of this second section.

Section II overview

Section II opening

Bridge and platforms

Alex Kong

I worked on the whitebox for Zone III, the Factory. This would be the final section of the level, and where the player would need to complete their final objective: overload the Factory’s Power Core by collecting smaller power crystals that spawn around the Factory and “throwing” them into the Power Core.

I began the whitebox process by constructing the Factory skeleton, a framework of sorts that would outline the building’s shape and size. I used Unity’s Probuilder tool to aid me in this process. Then, I began work on the Factory’s inner shape; adding slopes, stairs, blocks, and other objects that would define the Factory’s interior. Most importantly, I wanted the Power Core to be located in the center of the Factory, where I had left a diamond-shaped hole in the floor for the Power Core, represented by a turquoise cylinder, to rest. Around it I placed small “railings” that would prevent the player from accidentally walking into the Power Core’s housing chamber.

Player Navigation was an important part of my construction philosophy for the Factory’s interior. Because the player would be facing off against swarms of enemies in this area, I wanted to give the player several options to relocate to and defend from. There is a long ramp along the right side of the Factory that leads to high ground, and further leads to the top of the Storage Room on the right. This location has a railing to prevent the player from accidentally falling down, and the slope of the wall means that the player can easily hide behind the slope and then peek out to attack when it is safe. This location is easy to defend from, but the player must still focus on the objective: collect the power crystals.

To balance out the strong defensive options offered by the high ground and covering obstacles, the power crystal spawning locations are in comparatively unforgiving locations. A total of four are located on low ground, with only one spawning on high ground. Of the four on low ground, two are located near the Factory entrance. One is located below the ramp leading to high ground, and the fourth is located inside the Storage Room on the left. These locations are intended to get the player moving; they cannot stay in any single place for the duration of the mission. Furthermore, the majority of the spawning locations being located on low ground is intended to incentivize low ground play; if the player can keep spawning locations consistently clear by using obstacles and cover on the low ground, they will have an easier time collecting the objectives when they spawn.

Overall, I think the results of whiteboxing turned out well. There is still some room for potential improvement, but as of this point, no major changes to the level’s shape or size are being considered.

Zone III - The Factory