Sprint 2 Blog
This second sprint was all about getting a level set up for our electronic playtest in the third sprint so that our programmers have a real level to test in. This sprint was a very busy one for me in other classes, but even still I was able to get my team the tools they needed for this upcoming sprint.
This was a 3 point sprint for me which involved drafting up an annotated map using the feedback we received regarding corridor length, width, and how labyrinth sections felt. I chose to go with a set up that would give shorter hallways for the player to help limit the powerful nature of the laser trip wires.
As you can see above with the annotated map, the hallways are broken up into sections that that (other than 1 elongated hallway) extend no more than half the total dimension in any direction of the map. This should help with increasing the power of guard patrols routes, audio control sensors, and cameras while reducing the power of the laser trip wire.
Entrances to the building (denoted by the red lines pointing towards purple segments of wall) act as entrances for the thieves. It was key that the thieves be given a variety of locations to spawn from as if the thieves had too many entrances on any particular side then locking down those areas with cameras, guards, etc. becomes too overpowering.
The spread of blue dots represents the locations that thieves can potentially steal from. Just like with the entrances these were very important to make sure to spread out around the level. Giving too few locations to steal from causes the same problem as mentioned earlier where certain security tools can be overlapped too easily and hold too much individual power.
Moving onto the block out period I took the liberty of creating a series of room templates to allow for more rapid level creation. In order to ensure I had proper templates for each of the possible variations of the three rooms sizes we will need I had to create 4 templates for each one. These templates allow for easy rotation of the rooms to ensure a proper fit.
Finally getting into the actual block out of the level I was able to slot the rooms together in a good pace. I did notice that some rooms did not fit appropriately due to consolidations we are currently having to make with the walls we will have access to for the first playtest. Currently there is a lack of doors to place into the levels but as soon as I have those I will be able to easily slot in all needed doors by simply adding them to the prefabs already created.
Additionally, upon receiving the windows we need I will be able to add those in quickly. Ultimately decor is not expected to be a big part of our third sprint so this is a very close visual representation of what we will have to work with for the player.
I did wind up taking a few modeling cards that I was able to get a start on, but there is not enough finished to feel worth showing in this blog. I will be taking up a portion of the modeling in order to help our modeler get in all required assets that we will need for this first test. Things like designing the cameras for the player will be important as giving the player proper representation of their security measures is a key aspect of a security simulator.
