About The Level
"Crossed Swords" is a standalone level for Fallout 4 that takes place in a fully custom world-space, Capstan Island. The quest takes the player through a bloody conflict between two factions, with the player piecing together the truth of the conflict before they must choose a side and finish things. The quest also contains a side quest in which the player helps a prisoner find out what happened to his wife amidst the bloodshed.
Design Goals
This project was all about focusing in of fundamental level design techniques and improving how to create levels. In addition to layout, I also wanted to demonstrate integration between level design and quest design. To showcase these principles, my design goals for the project were Conveyance, Flow, and Environmental Storytelling.
Conveyance
The primary design goal I had for this level was conveyance. I wanted to create a level that players could easily navigate, and a story the player could understand. My focus was all about leading the player through the space and creating an interesting environment that was easy and fun to navigate.
Flow
I wanted to create a level that the player could flow through without frustration. The placement of cover and layout of the geometry were planned so the player could freely move around them and enjoy navigating the space. The cover placement is spaced out and the buildings are placed for easy movement between them.
Environmental Storytelling
As the player walked through the level, I wanted the player to be able to get a sense of the story without talking to anyone. To accomplish this, I dedicated extra time to set dressing and interiors. I wanted to capture the feeling of a village torn apart by showing context of the island before the conflict, and the devastation that happened after.
Maps and Planning
Island Overview Map
Museum Floor 1
Museum Floor 2
Postmortem
Went Well
Went Wrong
What I Learned
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Planning. I spent a lot of time in pre-production planning and iterating on my design. Because of this, I was able to begin production with a solid plan and a clear understanding of what goals I needed to accomplish.
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Adjusting Scope. While I was initially over scoped, I was able to adjust my plan and cut content quickly to produce a plan that was possible to complete within the time constraints.
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Playtesting. I was able to secure play-testers regularly and got a ton of feedback from various types of players. Because of this, I was able to adjust the conveyance to be very successful.
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Over Scoped. I started this project over scoped. I initially had 2 more areas planned for the level, but due to the time constraints I had to cut the planned content down significantly. In the end I was able to still produce a compelling and fun level in the smaller play-space.
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Inexperience. This was my first full size project in Creation Kit, and my inexperience with the tool limited my ability to flesh out some areas. I lost a fair amount of time learning the ins and outs of the engine, which took away from the time I would have used to focus on design. I eventually got the hang of the engine and was able to finish strong.​
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Planning. Through this project I learned a lot about how much time planning and pre-production can take, but I also learned just how critical this can be. If I had started production without the solid foundation I brought in, The level would have suffered for it.
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Strengths. I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses during this project, and I learned how to play to them. For instance, I learned that I have a talent for world building and environmental storytelling, but I am less talented at writing dialogue and complex scripting. In the future, I will be able to play to these strengths and work on improving my skill in areas I am weaker in.
Playthrough Video