Game Design & level design

dying light:

“TROUBLE IN PARADISO”

DYING LIGHT DEV. TOOLS | 70 hrs | singleplayer

high-level design goal:

short, parkour gameplay with strong visuals

execution

VERTICAL PARKOUR CHALLENGES

  • Many of the parkour challenges emphasize verticality to encourage the use of the Tic-Tac skill.

  • Parkour challenges ramp-up in difficulty, eventually requiring the player to perform multiple wall-jumps in sequence.

ENEMY PLACEMENT TO ENCOURAGE PARKOUR

  • Ranged “Toad” enemies are placed near the level objectives to increase the challenge when parkouring.

  • Fodder enemies are placed all along the street level, encouraging the player to jump across the town rooftops.

gallery

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postmortem

What Went Well

  • Use of parkour: Challenges that require parkour skills, like sliding, vaulting, and wall jumping, were implemented early and iterated throughout the project.

  • Aesthetics: Implementing the visual aspects of the level went smoothly after discovering an asset pack provided by previous developers.

What needs improvEMENT

  • Challenge progression: The latter parkour sections of the level do not have a steady increase in challenge and would benefit from being redesigned.

  • Level ending: The ending of the level can fall flat, as no immediate feedback is provided when the player activates all the communication relays.

Even Better If…

  • Understanding the tool earlier: Early iterations of the level suffered due to being unfamiliar with Dying Light Developer Tools.

  • Larger emphasis on narrative: If dialogue/cutscenes were implemented, players would have a better understanding of their goal.