Swap Meat

LEVELS

SOFTWARE:

Unity

INSPIRATION:

3rd person rogue-like | Shooter | Hades | HellDivers 2

JOB TITLE:

Level, Narrative Designer

TEAM SIZE: 16

DURATION: 1 Year

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Rip through hostile alien worlds, harvest mutant body parts mid-combat, and adapt faster than the enemies before they overwhelm you. Every alien you harvest gives you new body parts with unique powers — triple-jump legs, turret-dropping torsos, grenade-launching turkey heads.

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LEVELS

SwapMeat levels are divided into Open World Levels and Boss Levels. Players are dropped into Planet Levels and given 4 Primary Events they must complete to escape. They are encouraged to explore other Secondary Events, resource hubs, and shrines to gain EXP. I was responsible for building new Planet Levels and innovating past levels. I added new pathways, more engaging locations, and new encounter points to help guide the player and increase their playtime per map.

INTERSTING CHANGES

This level introduced the player to the mechanics while also allowing them to gradually test them against enemies.
Players were having difficulty understanding that their main task was at the end of the map, so I added high ground view (Picture 2) so they could see their directive from the start of the map
Players were also having difficulty understanding how to use their abilities. I communicated with the UI team and designed monitors to show player mechanics at locations where they were required

INTERSTING CHANGES

Alpha 01 is the first Planet the player lands on after the tutorial. It was the most refined of the planets and serves as the benchmark. However, it suffered from an overwhelming amount of events, confusing pathways, and a stale challenge event.
I improved this design by reducing the number of secondary events that spawn on the planet. This allowed players to avoid being overwhelmed by things to do on the first planet they visited. especially when they are still learning new mechanics.
I also added a new location for the planted "Broadside Challenge Events." Originally, there was only one location, and the player reported becoming bored with the same event location on each play-through.

INTERSTING CHANGES

Lunar 01 suffered from a lack of clear traversable routes and directives. Players also felt that the challenge event on this planet did not fit its environment.
I created two new areas to introduce a new challenge event for this planet. The results of these new areas were that players explored more sections of the map they hadn't needed to visit before.
This planet also lacked "Alien Faction" representation. To change, I communicated with the art lead and added new buildings directly associated with the Alien Faction.
This change not only brought repesentation but also helped guide the players to their objectives

INTERSTING CHANGES

This level suffered from pathing issues and narrative significance. Please were not only confused about where they should go but also about how they ended up here in the first place.
First, I changed the pathing by adding opening doorways and Yellow mechanical pipes to draw the players' attention and guide them through the level.
Second, a more narratively significant challenge is around rescuing a kidnapped comrade and destroying the mechanical monster that had kidnapped them.
Players reported a better understanding of their purpose and ease of navigation after these changes

INTERSTING CHANGES

This level introduces a car-body-part mechanic. So I built a racetrack to let players drive around the map.
Player feedback on the track was favorable; however, many players fell off and struggled to get back on.
I added extra jump pads around the track(Picture 2), and it helped, but not enough.
Finally, I added a second track beneath the first, with jump ramps(Picture 3) that launched the players into the sky. This allowed players to land on the second track if they fell and immediately jump back onto the first.

INTERSTING CHANGES

This level's original design (Picture 2) suffered from a lack of events, pathing constraints, and purpose.
From our game's narrative, it was a level meant to train the player to fight the next boss.
I started by first creating a Platou a the top of the center mountain. This served many purposes, such as creating an open area for the Final event, creating the "completing your training" narrative beat, and giving the player a visible goal to strive for.
Next, I hollowed out the center mountain and added passageways. With this change, players reported being able to move across the map more quickly and effectively than before.
Finally, I added new environment locations and props, including large oak trees and sand dunes. This separated the levels' design from the original "Alpha 01" level.

In Swapmeat, I contributed to Functionality by changing how players replay the game and the narrative systems.

For replayability, I designed a new system called Path Decks. Path Decks are collections of pregenerated paths that the player is encouraged to follow. I implemented this to prevent the monotony of the same events in the same location each time the player replayed a map.

For Narrative, I designed Narrative triggers that could be added to both maps and events. When players enter triggers, they get a Dialogue line that ties in their progression to the current story. This was intended to give meaning to the players' task and the overall story.

FUNCTIONALITY

PATH DECK CONSTRUCTION

I created a minimum of 5 path decks for each planet to prevent the monotony of the same events in the same location
I did this by ensuring each planet had multiple Primary, Challenge, and Final Event locations to choose from. These locations were also spread across different corners of the map to ensure the player had to traverse most of the world map to complete it.
I accounted for the time between events to ensure the player has enough time to complete each event before their timer runs out.
Finally, on the path between the Required Event, I added at least 3 Secondary Events. These events were placed slightly off the main path to allow players to experience more of the map and provide a risk-to-reward dynamic.
If players attempted Secondary Events, it would chip away at their overall time; however, if they completed those events, they would receive more EXP, Items, and Meat abilities.

NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION

Narrative Triggers are a component in Unity, added to a hit box that triggers when the player collides with it.
These triggers served multiple purposes, such as advancing the story, explaining new player abilities, and entertaining players during events.
Narrative triggers are also part of the event system. I add specific narrative Triggers during Event steps. For example, if a player encounters a locked door during an event, a Narrative trigger would play from an NPC to help them open the door.

EVENTS

Swapmeat Events are designed to challenge the player's abilities, guide them through the world, and be endlessly replayable. For this rogue-like game, I created events to correspond to the different enemy factions and populate each planet. Events are divided into 4 categories: Primary Events, Secondary Events, Challenge Events, and Final Events. The Player completes 2 Primary Events, 1 Challenge event, and 1 Final Event to complete a planet.

Primary Events: Players are required to complete 2 Primary Events per planet to progress to Challenge Events.

Secondary Events: Side Mission to give the player more EXP, new meat abilities, or prolong their countdown timer per planet.

Challenge Events: Longer and more complex, often require the player to defeat a mini boss or learn a new mechanic.
Final Events: Event required to leave a planet. More often than not, the most difficult Event on the plants.