Level Design [WIP] Killing Space

[slavek]

Killing Space
For lack of a better name!
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Been working hard my own space map. lately and progress is coming along quite nicely and complete with detailed scripted events. So far this is my progress in the first part of the story map pack.

Pictures of Docking Bay #1


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Dark halls with blood and damage. Not ominous at all . . .



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[YoYoBatty]

Looks like UT2004 and Halo... I approve of this beyond the levels.

 

[Murphy]

Looks great. I'm not a fan of the white lighting though. A very light hue would make them look better, imo.

 

[Fel]

Looking good, pretty nifty. Im always happy to see new mission maps in the works.

Im concerned about the size of some of the rooms, i hope you'll be able to mob the enemies enough, so the big rooms are not ez to beat.

Be sure to use husks, they tend to make big open areas turn into hell.

 

[SIMOX]

Wow, are these monsters in last 2 pics bite?

Anyhow, is this is the mission where u will have to escape the station?

Looks good so far though.

 

[slavek]

Murphy: Lighting is still WIP atm. I might use a more blue theme but the docking bay will still be brightly lit. It makes players feel safe, in sharp contrast when they are forced into dark claustrophobic halls.

Fel: Docking bay is a non fighting area, once players leave it, there is no way back. The tunnel in the screenshot is quite long, most of you are already thinking "Easy for SS" I bet.

No worries though, there are alternate spawns like air ducts. Also, what is not shown in the screen shot with the white light post is what is behind you. Monsters only come one way down the hall. However, the players must "unweld" / cut a hole in a metal blast door to escape. 1-2 players must unweld while others fight an endless horde(Endless until you advance past the obj.)

Also, other creatures like/including the reaver will be put to use, and will most likely catch players off guard.

Simox: I have a basic plan for level progression, 1 set of maps is on a ship, the rest is a mystery.

 

[Fel]

Sounds great cant wait to play it

 

[Falidell]

Oh God i might not be able to play this map just because of screenshot Shot00103-1.jpg. OMG that would be terrifing!!! Plus to be honest i'm afraid of the dark lol( granted i'll still go into pitch black places if i needed to without hesitation ) this map reminds me of Doom 3 and that game scared me so so so often.

edit: i still wanna play this level tho =D
hit me up on steam or something if you need a beta tester.
steam name: falidell

 

[NGU ME]

Nice map dude!

 

[Olivier]

Any update?

 

[J.D.*]

Love Unreal 2 Textures. Amazing how most of the textures were strict Photoshop jobs. For some reason, I didnt think you could export textures from Unreal 2 packages..? or did you grab them from Dawid Michalczyks website?

 

[slavek]

Still working at it. I have been away for past week so have not had access to my editor. Still coming along smoothly though so no worries.

 

[slavek]

Love Unreal 2 Textures. Amazing how most of the textures were strict Photoshop jobs. For some reason, I didnt think you could export textures from Unreal 2 packages..? or did you grab them from Dawid Michalczyks website?

I came across a texture/SM set on a forum. Somehow someone got them out of Unreal 2 and into UT2k4. I saw the pack and first thought was "SPACE MAP!".

(Dunno why I made 2 posts. I'm tired -_-)

 

[HaTeMe]

Looks nice, always thought KF specimens seemed more like aliens than anything else.

 

[Undedd Jester]

If your still looking at lighting, having a pulsing yellow or red hazard light in a couple of places might be a good inclusion. Like the elevator scene in Alien Swarm. Dust is good too

Mute recommended btw

YouTube - Alien swarm Elevator Hard

Believe it or not this is the least annoying video I could find :/

 

[slavek]

Bump, not dead. I have been working under the radar on my free time. I have not taken updated screen shots yet, but I would like to ask people. What makes you jump in a horror game? What thing in particular scares/unnerves you?

 

[Falidell]

-inability to defend myself. Guns with lots of ammo Really Ruins the fear
factor.

-Pacing, a lot of Horror Type Games that are made to "scare" you rreally mess up Pacing. for example, if you see a scary monster rarely while going through the world it makes that monster scarier. but if you see that scary monster all the time then you get desensitized to the monster and it becomes no big deal. also this is a well used tactic for fear but, it works. hearing the monster and not being able to see it Really gets the heart pumping.

-Music, Music is a HUGE Deal when your trying to scare someone. i recommend something along YouTube - Penumbra Tech Demo OST - Creepiness in the times where the player is just exploring/investigating.
subtle but creepy.

-lighting is an obvious one, players feel safe where there is light(less light less safe) kind of the way our brains are hardwired. use that to your advantage. but again pacing is inportant in lighting as well players will get desensitized if the entire game is pitch-black. give a good spacing between low lit areas and well lit areas. this kind of goes hand in hand aswell. Shadow Play. a well lit room is still scary is there is a large corner of the room that is completely pitch-black. i recommend useing shadows on doorways. so the player can't see if a monster is coming through. even if they hear the door open. or better yea have the shadows in such a way that you can see the door opening but you can't see whats on the otherside do to there being no light. omg that really chills my bones.

P.S i Get spooked easily and am afraid of the dark, but i am a HUGE fan of scary games. namly the invesitative kinds like penumbra. oo huge fan of that series even with their lack of imagination with the monsters lol. sadly i havn't played their new one as of yet. you know Amnesia.

 

[slavek]

-inability to defend myself. Guns with lots of ammo Really Ruins the fear
factor. Ya, This is one of the first things I thought of when I started. Not too much but not so little that you are forced to use knife all the time. It won't matter if you spawn with a M14/SCAR if you don't have the ammo to fire.

-Pacing, a lot of Horror Type Games that are made to "scare" you rreally mess up Pacing. for example, if you see a scary monster rarely while going through the world it makes that monster scarier. but if you see that scary monster all the time then you get desensitized to the monster and it becomes no big deal. also this is a well used tactic for fear but, it works. hearing the monster and not being able to see it Really gets the heart pumping.

Thing I have in mind is plenty of combat to keep KF players satisfied but throw in the occasional dangerous/really scary monster. Smaller monsters come in larger groups, Big ones in small groups/single. Then you also have the ones that leap out of nowhere for those "Scare moments".



-Music, Music is a HUGE Deal when your trying to scare someone. i recommend something along YouTube - Penumbra Tech Demo OST - Creepiness in the times where the player is just exploring/investigating.
subtle but creepy.
I have some very subtle creepy music for just that. b

-lighting is an obvious one, players feel safe where there is light(less light less safe) kind of the way our brains are hardwired. use that to your advantage. but again pacing is inportant in lighting as well players will get desensitized if the entire game is pitch-black. give a good spacing between low lit areas and well lit areas. this kind of goes hand in hand aswell. Shadow Play. a well lit room is still scary is there is a large corner of the room that is completely pitch-black. i recommend useing shadows on doorways. so the player can't see if a monster is coming through. even if they hear the door open. or better yea have the shadows in such a way that you can see the door opening but you can't see whats on the otherside do to there being no light. omg that really chills my bones.

I'm still working on lighting but players start in a well lit large area, then are forced into dark halls. Really gives you that "****, I really don't want to go in there first" I also have some triggered sounds that echo down the halls, really gives you chills. Also on the topic of the doorway, I was thinking of doing a Boss/Large enemy battle. Have the door being hit/pounded on buckle so you can see dents forming, and after 5 or so hits, the door breaks and the nasty creature walks/jumps through the doorway.

P.S i Get spooked easily and am afraid of the dark, but i am a HUGE fan of scary games. namly the invesitative kinds like penumbra. oo huge fan of that series even with their lack of imagination with the monsters lol. sadly i havn't played their new one as of yet. you know Amnesia.

 

[J.D.*]

Making any progress on this? Would love to see this project go through.

 

[slavek]

Still making progress, I might have new screens up in a few days.