“Exfoliated”
playthrough of Exfoliated
Initial Design
I started by making a top down and building the first two rooms in TrenchBroom to pick a suitable style for what I had in mind. I decided to go for a aliens-inspired sci-fi setting which later deviated more towards space hulk.
Once I had the theme decided I set about planning the placement of the main objectives and enemies throughout the level. I wanted to make a level where the player would have to survive against a superior enemy, something I would achieve by limiting ammo and health pickups throughout the level. To make sure the player didn’t just avoid combat altogether, I placed a locked door and it’s corresponding key in opposite ends of the first half of the level.
First iteration
The first iteration included doors and deciding to place a jumping puzzle in the room after the armoury (Never marked it on the map though). This iteration mostly saw me block out the rooms beyond the first and second one and setting up the doors and buttons.
Second iteration
The second iteration saw me changing the positions of the enemies in the map, adding a hidden room, near the key room, and finishing the jumping puzzle. I also changed the final room to hold a boss fight. The boss room was created with keeping the feel of the rest of the level in mind, so the player is pitted against an enemy against which movement and cover are his strongest weapon. At this stage, the boss fight was near impossible to finish.
Third (Final) iteration
In the third and final iteration I added a water-filled tunnel followed by an ambush. The level was made slightly easier with the addition of more ammo and health items and a big armour pickup in the boss room. Additional polish was added in the form of story exposition through messages given to the player at buttons. Also, some panels had damage and hanging cables added. I finished off by adding ambient sound effects and changing the lighting around to make the level more evenly lit.
