Dying Light: "Breakout The Cage"
"Breakout the Cage" is a single-player escape-type linear level with a game duration of about 15 minutes for Dying Light. The player is a veteran captured by the enemy and then held as a slave in a prison. Players need to escape the prison within ten minutes after the alarm is triggered, use various props creatively to kill guards, obtain gun supplies, and finally escape. Otherwise, enemy reinforcements will arrive, and you will be taken back to prison if the mission fails.
Parameters
• Walkthrough about 15 minutes.
• Two exteriors and two interiors.
• A main quest.
• Includes two story endings.
What went well?
• Combat Flow – I managed to build a linear run- and-gun themed level, creating a tense gameplay experience.
• AI Management – I made some multi-wave arenas with two different AIs. Also, I enriched the AI's behavior with patrols and animations.
• Milestone Planning – I made a production plan document in the early stage of project development to clarify the tasks of each milestone.
What went wrong?
• Enemies in the player's blind spot – Players killed by enemies in their blind spot will interrupt the combat flow experience.
Solution: Try to make the enemy appear in front of the player, and I can use sound effects or special effects to remind the player of the enemy's location.
• Ranged enemies have high damage – High-damage long-range enemies will cause players to hide behind cover and dare not come out, which is not conducive to the run-and-gun experience.
Solution: If the engine supports it, the damage and accuracy of ranged enemy can be appropriately reduced.
• Pause time when interacting – Players don't want to spend time picking locks or reading notes because the timer is always on.
Solution: Timers can be paused during interactions if supported by the engine.
What I learned?
• Combat Design – Through the practice of personally making levels with combat as the core gameplay, I learned the techniques related to combat design, such as designing arenas, AI behavior and progressive challenges.
• Quick Navigation – Since the player needs to move quickly in the level and find the exit, the conveyance elements in the game need to be more obvious, such as using leading lines, lighting, or dynamic elements.
• Cinematic Narrative – Using movies to tell the story at the beginning and end of the level makes the mission feel more understandable to the player.
Overview Map
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1.Prison Cell (Interior)
The first section is the prison cell where the player is initially held. Players need to bribe the doorman to leave the cell, kill the guard, and get the staff card to open the door to leave this area. Players gradually acquire weapons to prepare for future combat.
The second section is the outpost, which is also the quarters for the guards. The guards know that the player is running away, so they are armed with rifles to stop the player from leaving.
2.Prison Outpost (Exterior)
3.Prison Warehouse (Interior)
The warehouse is the section where debris and rubbish are stacked. Players have to deal with reinforcements and operate the computer to unlock the gate to escape.
The last section is the prison's yard where the prisoners work. This is connected to the parking lot of the prison. Players need to escape the gate and drive to the safe area.
4.Prison Yard (Exterior)
This level simulates the Run-and-Gun theme, encourages players to quickly progress and kill enemies in the level, and uses a timer system to enhance the player's sense of urgency. The level creates a progressive challenge flow, where players can easily kill melee guards in the first half of the level, slowly transition to a faster-paced gunfight in the second half, and the level gradually includes vertical structures to enrich the gameplay.
Run-and-gun games place more emphasis on dodging and evading enemy fire. This means that the player has to move fast, kill enemies quickly and go to the next section. I influence the player's gameplay experience by setting the timer and weapon placements.
"Run"
The purpose of using the timer system is to prompt the player to choose the fast-moving strategy of Run and Gun rather than the cautious strategy of stealth. After the 10 minutes expires, the player fails the mission and is sent back to the prison. With the fast-paced background music and alarm sounds, the player's tension will be high, increasing player excitement and engagement.
"Gun"
The selection criteria for the weapons of the level are that they can quickly kill the enemy at medium or close range. The purpose is to prevent players from lingering too long in an arena. Therefore, I placed the submachine gun and the shotgun on the critical path of the level. The second loop I expected is: move quickly to approach the enemy - kill the enemy - get supplies, and loop again.
Other Factors
In order to navigate player better and faster, I used pipes, decals, dynamic special effects and lights as conveyance to help prevent players getting lost.
In addition, I also placed oil barrels and spilled gasoline (which can be ignited) near the spawner of the enemy, so players can use them to kill enemies quickly.
In order to achieve the effect of fast movement and killing, it is necessary to ensure that the overall game difficulty is moderate to help achieve a progressive challenge. So I reduced the accuracy of the AI's shooting and made sure the player didn't encounter more than three enemies at the same time. This increases the safety of the player when moving quickly.
In the first section, players can get pistols quickly, and the enemies are basically melee type. Players can adapt well to the shooting feel of the game and get into a run-and-gun state.
The second section is mainly divided into first and second floors. Enemies spawn from the rooms in waves, but basically every area will have oil barrels to help players clear guards quickly.
In the third section, player will encounter emergency reinforcements of guards, who will kick the door to attack the player, which tests the player's ability to react quickly.
The narrow space also tests the player's ability to use cover.
In the last section, after the player gets the gate card, there will be three waves of reinforcement guards, and they will be tricky. However, the player can escape directly from the exit to the safe area.
In the second section, I designed a two-floor structure, and players can go to the balcony through two floors of stairs or climbing wooden boxes. To balance the second floor, I created two collapsed areas on the balcony that players need to jump over. There is cover there to provide protection if players stumble and fall.
In order to deal with more enemies in the factory area, I had the player enter on a high platform with a good sight line view, and some cover as protection.
Also, in order to deal with multiple waves of enemies, I implemented two buildings in the final yard area for players to climb to shooting points with high verticality.
