What is the Game?
The Exaggerated Epoch of Edward O’Hare is a narratively drive action platformer on Steam.
Follow the recollections of a grandfather as he tells his grandson, Colin, a slightly exaggerated story from his childhood. Experience the story through the eyes of a child as he attempts to recreate his grandfathers wild story with his toys.
Level Team Members:
The level sub-team was tasked with creating all levels for the core player experience.
Producer: David Looss
Lead Designer: Wyatt Ameden
Level Designer: Julian Benchimol
Environment Artist: Sam Dykes
My Role:
As lead level designer, my primary job was creating levels for the core player experience. Each level went through three stages of production.
Concept
Example of an outline made for the farm level.
Taking the already made assets from the engine, I was able to create an accurate scale that was used for each subsequent level design. I used Adobe Illustrator to create a rough 2D outline of the overall geometry of each level that I would then use as reference for the greybox stage of production. Depending on the level that was being created, if multiple scenes were needed, they would be added to the concept document to make sure everything stayed together.
Greybox
Example of greybox made for the farm level.
After the concept stage, I then took the 2D references and translated them into 3D in engine. Each greybox was made using the pre-established scale and the height of the greybox was set to the height of the carboard brick asset. When creating a greybox, I always start outlining the play area with a border, and start moving inward. Adding in walls and geometry that match the 2D concept as accurately as possible. Once the walls are created, I then start moving upward, adding more verticality when needed.
Preparation
Color coding sections to pass on to environment artist.
Once the greybox is complete, I start to outline each section of the level so our environment artist knows exactly what is going where. Using different colors, I help dictate what parts of the level are what so there is no confusion. For example, a red floor means spike pit, while a green floor means grass, and so on. With this, our environment artist is able to create and add assets accordingly to recreate the level with as good a look as possible.