Technical Design Map - Forbidden Forest
The Sandbox - June 2023
After becoming a Technical Level Designer I started working in close contact with the Development Team in order to improve our Game Maker and plan/test new features. As part of this process I created this fully multiplayer puzzle map to test our newest server-client messaging system. I also provided QA with a detailed guide of how I made it with the intention of using it for future benchmarking and build testing. This was an innitiative I undertook to improve LD-QA communications and make build testing easier.
Gameplay
Forbidden Forest consists of a series of puzzle mechanics based on collaboration between players. Mostly it is working with avatar detection triggers and visual cues. The main mechanic consists on finding two switches, for which two players will need to stand in front of, to open a third gate that must be crossed by the third player to allow all of them to pass through.
The Gate
This is the simplest form of the mechanic to show players how it works. Directly opposite spawn the players will find an NPC explaining how the game works, and from spawn the two switches are visible as well. Once the player sets himself near the switch, it will turn on and also activate a light for visual cue. A second player will have to do the same with the second switch, and then the gate will open. If one of them leaves their place the gate will close. The third player needs to pass through the gate and enter the red cube to activate the gate for all of them. A sound will be heard as confirmation for the party.
The Forest
Same mechanic, trickier space. The players will have to find the two triggers around the area. The first one is located right next to the first gate so it’s pretty easy, and the cable goes up to the second one. It’s meant to be very straightforward. The logic here repeats in the exact same way.
The Cemetery
The Cemetery part is a puzzle that requires complex cooperation. The Guide NPC next to the gate will explain and deliver the next quest. One party will have to stay in the Cemetery side while the other heads to the Underwater Grove and feeds the team with information in real time. The Cemetery puzzle consists of a series of levers that must be pulled in the correct order and then checked. If the combination is correct, the crypt will open. To check if the puzzle is correct the player in the Underwater Grove must check if the lights turning on and off when the levers are switched are either red or green. Once the code is started incorrectly, the rest of the code won’t work. It needs to be restarted.
The Crypt
Finally, a giant boulder will open up in front of the players and let them through a final area full of treasures underground, where they will be greeted by the Guide NPC.
Conclusions
After making this level I noticed the constraints in logic while working with any kind of behaviour or blueprint that required two states to deliver different messages. I was ‘hacking’ my way through it with very complex logic, and when I assumed my role as a Gameplay Product Owner we immediately started working on a Switch Component that improved that experience for creators.
Overall I think my time as a Technical Level Designer greatly prepared me for the challenges of my role as a Gameplay PO and made me more aware of how the engine worked from a dev perspective. This document was also useful for devs to understand how we use the tools as users, as they try to find corner cases for new features.
My work as a Tech LD
Most of my other Tech LD levels are not as visually striking as this one, as they focus on stress testing the technical or logical aspects of different features. This one was specifically delivered as a fully publishable map, also to stress test the interaction between a certain volume of dressing assets, lights and logic. For some other examples of my work check for example this Sound Level I made to test the capacity and range of music integration in the build. In this multiplayer map, any column can play music at random, and the players have to find which one is producing the sound before the time runs out. During this test we found many issues with the doppler effect and timer features, which were reported and fixed.
