MeltDown
Honors Winning Thesis Project
Level Designer / Scripter
GAME: Fallout 4
ENGINE: Creation Kit
DEV TIME: 2.5 Months
GAME MODE: Single Player
Download Level
Download
Design Doc
Design
Reinforcing Player Goals
"Meltdown's" climactic section of gameplay and narrative is the player's final stand defending the nuke as it is defused. Early in development, however, the importance and drama of this section was undercut because the player didn't know what their final goal was, where it was, or why it was important. To solve this problem, I restructured the beginning of the level to give the player a dramatic look at the machine that will defuse the bomb, matched with a dialog sequence reinforcing its importance.
Initial Map
Final Map
Window View of the Dematerializer
This proved to be a more effective method of foreshadowing the level's drama than the backtracking I had originally implemented. Initially I had guided the player back through the section at the point marked by a star in the map below. This proved both confusing and ineffective: players often lost track of where they were supposed to go to when they reentered the interior space and didn't realize that the dematerializer room was important. By using visual foreshadowing, I was able to streamline player navigation while still communicating long term goals/destinations.
Initial Map
(First Loop)
Initial Map
(Second Loop)
Window View of the Lobby
Creating Distinct Spaces
Since "Meltdown" is a relatively large level and depends on tight pacing, maintaining the player's sense of direction is very important. When I first began building the level, I depended on quest markers and dialog. While these were sufficient for the beginning of production, it soon became clear that more would need to be done. To that end, I made an effort to give every room in the level a distinct purpose. or feel. After doing this, playtesters no longer got lost and could accurately call back to rooms in post-playtest interviews by each room's function or theme.
Control Room
(Pre-Aesthetics)
Control Room
(Post-Aesthetics)
Security Desk
(Pre-Aesthetics)
Security Desk
(Post-Aesthetics)
Cargo Room
(Pre-Aesthetics)
Cargo Room
(Post-Aesthetics)
Boiler Room
(Pre-Aesthetics)
Boiler Room
(Post-Aesthetics)
Lobby
(Pre-Aesthetics)
