CHANGELING

Changeling VR is a first-person VR mystery where you play as detective Aurelia Walker, a private eye with the power to dream-walk — seeing the memories of anyone she touches. The premise for the level: Angela's Loss follows a mother reconciling her relationship with her husabnd and kids after turbulent familial issues drove them all apart. The gameplay places the player in Angela's perspective floating in a turbulent storm, using momentum-based grappling mechanics to pull and fling yourself from object to object reaching each family member and reconciling her relationship with them.

Team Project Software: Unreal Engine 4, Perforce, ClickUp Roles: Level Designer, Environmental Design Unique Systems: Scripted Subway Sequence

PROCESS & DETAILS

As the lead level designer for the Mother's level, I was tasked with continuing development on fixing up the existing level. After playing through and testing thoroughly, my team and I felt very strongly that the level could thrive, but would need to be re-built from the ground. After putting together sketches, concept level layouts, intentional gimmick introductions and usage, and how it would work in tandem with narrative beats I pitched the re-design to the game's director where it was met with very positive feedback and a greenlight to begin development.

I was responsible for the design and development of level, the environment's visual design, scripting for unique setpieces, and optimizatizon using level streaming volumes. Due to the heavy focus on narrative, I learned to excel in a cross-functional team environent, communicating back and forth between artists, writers, and composers to enhance the emotional weight of the story. Designing the level was achieved through blocking out chunks of the layout I designed by using Unreal Engine's level editor, setting up playtests, and tweaking design and visuals based on feedback. For the visual design I worked closely with artists to communicate the level's modeling needs. Through the use of new models and textures alongside my design sketches, I focused on visually guiding the player's eyes to follow the action while creating compelling scenes that match the narrative structure and emotional tones.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

These drawings and notebook sketches detail early level layouts, general design notes, electricity effects, and environmental art direction. These were used to pitch the level's re-design to the game's director.

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LEVEL DESIGN & ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

The original stage was a large void with tons of floating objects spawned randomly, making navigation unclear at times. The narrative was conveyed through the stormy skybox and brief dialogue between Angela and her family. The overall idea behind the re-design was to have stroger intention behind the descisions made for the level. Why and where are we placing objects? What impact would that descision have on the conveyance of the narrative and how does it serve the gameplay? Does the space properly guide the player through the open space?

The first thing I decided on was using clouds and lighting to frame the space more intentionally. Visual formations like tunnels, corkscrews, leading lines, combined with effective use of lighting to guide the player's eyes along these structures and cloud formations helps guide the player's attention to where they need to go. Another important revision was handling gimmick usage. The level now introduces one gimmick at the begining of each section, builds upon the complexity of its usage during that section, and stays as a consistent component of the design for the rest of the level. The use of setpieces like the subway station or the large crib allows the environment to reflect its respective family member.

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