Khion I: No Return
Skills I've developed and Tools I've used during this project
- Unreal 4
Because we had to prototype our ideas before asking for new features in the game, I evolve my scripting, logical thinking and programming skills. This made me comfortable to talk with the programmers whenever was necessary and it made possible to better implement new mechanics to the game.
- Maya
I had the opportunity to work close with the art team, which made me able to create better concepts on every side of the game. Because of eager to keep learning new skills and my desire to specialize myself as a Level Designer, I've learned how to model basic objects, consequently improving my blockings skills which allowed for better scenes when creating the new maps of Khion I.
- Spanish
I've arrived in Spain three months before my master began and my Spanish was just a basic knowledge on that time. To spend 12h per day beside my partners was an amazing opportunity to develop my proficiency. I just can say thank you to all person on my team for the patience on me every day and for their efforts to make everything clear to me. Now I consider myself fluent and they are fundamental part on this.
- Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop
I've learned them both on my graduation between 2008 and 2012 and it was an invaluable know-how as it made me capable to develop good and clearly game maps.
- Architecture
I was always fascinated for the conception and creations of cities all around the world. This passion made me start a lonely study about this area which I've progressed during the worldbuilding and level creation in Khion I.
- Storytelling
I do have a hobby about writing and to have a survival horror game in hands was a full plate to my imagination to work on. During this project I've learning the skill of telling stories without say any world just with the ambience around the player. This experience was nothing but amazing.
GALLERY
Here are some images from our final game version.
This gallery is focused on show some look and feel from our scenarios and how our player sees everything.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
GAME MAPS
I could enumerate more than a hundred things I've learned creating those maps and blocking them inside Unreal 4. However, I prefer to quote those who called me more attention and I think they are something you just know when you use the tools.
- The Nav Mesh -
Its concepts and how to make it better for the player perception and the IA movements is a really sensible thing. Every change can make a huge difference on gameplay and it is dangerous at the same time vital for a game development. Know this allowed me to concept better maps after, which saved a lot of time on the moment we were blocking and testing new areas.
- Player Experience -
While concepting a map I was always thinking what would be passing through player's mind, what does any detail on map could mean for him as a narrative context, a behind the obvious story layer and how it could affect positively the gameplay.
- Pace and Player's Cognitive Flow -
Before start a new map, I was always with my pen and notebook writing what the player have learned, what items he could have or not at that time of the game and what body's temperature and cloth battery he could have. All those things made me able to create differents moments on the same map allowing the player to feel different emotions during his experience.
- Illumination -
To work with a survival horror game scared me at the first time for the natural difficulty it has on the development process. However, in the end it was a really bless for my learning process. I could explore deeply the illumination area and with my colleagues I understood many concepts and many ways to do it with the engine, even talking about the improvement of its performance for the final game build.
Our first gameplay map for testing some movement mechanics, game feel and cold parametrization. At this time our game was a third-person camera and we learned a lot working on spaces in a closed environment.
At this time, the complex was more plain and large. Our narrative was constructed based on people living there and working at the same place, like isolated from the world. We needed to merge realism with gameplay.
This was our first Némesis (main enemy) map. Where our player should have a free gameplay with exploration and avoiding the encounter. At this time, we had a concept of a high-tech company with modern structure and architecture. Our game was supposed to show futurists features.
To give more realism for how this place could be real, we merged sustainable architectural concepts with gameplay. From this narrative necessity, we developed this area.
After changing main narrative concepts about the complex in general, all maps needed a rethinking and new models. The Warehouse received a complete rework on its structure. Our first labyrinth studies provided us good references to keep improving encounters and shocking scenes. All these exercises enriched our gameplay and made we work faster.
Our second floor from the new Warehouse map gave us an insight for the final gameplay in our Demo version. How the player should be presented and how he was demanded to play with the Nemesis wandering around him was a delicate process to put on the game, but in the end every piece of work contributed to the same spot. This was really fun and made us grow a lot to create better situations for the players.
This is the final version of the Nemesis map, where the place is now darker and underground. Everything was more rustic, but with some technological appeal. It was an excellent exercise to rethink and recreate without losing quality on player's experience. The right side area was planned, but in some time of the process we decided to not develop it balancing the costs of time and production. Less is more, a powerful lesson.