TEMPEST Gears of War
LEVEL OVERVIEW
Development Info
Role: Sole developer
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Game Mode: Single-Player Mission
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Development Time: 350 manhours
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Game Mode: Single-Player Mission
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Development Time: 350 manhours
High Concept
Fight across a massive airship while switching between a combat oriented soldier and a puzzle-solving robot named, Jack.
Design Summary
"Tempest" is a single-player level created in the Gears of War Unreal Engine 3 and is supplemented with a large quantity of imported Unreal Tournament III assets. In "Tempest", players take on the role of a nameless Coalition of Organized Governments' (COG) soldier who must board a massive COG Command airship that has recently been hijacked by the insidious Locust Horde.
As the soldier, players must fight their way across the hull of this airship, finding a way inside and to the ship's bridge, where they must retrieve vital military data before the locusts discover it. Luckily, accompanying the soldier is the flying, cloaking, and hacking robot, Jack. At any time during "Tempest", players can leave the soldier's body behind to take control of Jack in order to reach areas and/or perform tasks that the human soldier cannot.
As the soldier, players must fight their way across the hull of this airship, finding a way inside and to the ship's bridge, where they must retrieve vital military data before the locusts discover it. Luckily, accompanying the soldier is the flying, cloaking, and hacking robot, Jack. At any time during "Tempest", players can leave the soldier's body behind to take control of Jack in order to reach areas and/or perform tasks that the human soldier cannot.
Design Goals
- Introduce entirely new mechanics to Gears of War that still stay faithful to the universe
- Add unique puzzle solving to the standard Gears' combat formula
- Build an massive airship in Gears of War (a setting entirely new to Gears)
- Create a complete level experience with beginning and ending cinematics
Level Inspiration
Prior to coming to the Guildhall at SMU for level design, I was extremely inspired by a level from Mass Effect 2 called, Lair of the Shadow Broker. One of my favorite parts of this level occurs when the protagonist, Commander Shepard, must board a dangerous enemy’s ship by landing on the ship’s hull while it flies through the atmosphere of an incredibly volatile planet. For the sake of time, let's just say that this was one of those levels that I really hoped to help make one day.
Over a year later, when we were assigned our largest project to date, I decided it was the perfect chance to pay homage to this level's awesomness and to explore the expanded sci-fi aspects Epic touched on in Gears 2 and 3.
Over a year later, when we were assigned our largest project to date, I decided it was the perfect chance to pay homage to this level's awesomness and to explore the expanded sci-fi aspects Epic touched on in Gears 2 and 3.
Level Highlight: Jack's Abilities
Jack presented a tremendous opportunity for me as a designer. Most significantly, he's been part of Gears since the beginning, so players are all extremely familiar with abilities. Thus, by choosing to let players finally play from Jack's perspective, I was able to create new gameplay abilities in the Gears universe, while not breaking from cannon.
Just like players see in Gears, in "Tempest", Jack is able to hack into computer terminals, fly, and cloak. Players must utilize each of these abilities if they hope to advance through the level.
Just like players see in Gears, in "Tempest", Jack is able to hack into computer terminals, fly, and cloak. Players must utilize each of these abilities if they hope to advance through the level.
Level Highlight: Building an Airship in Gears
Creating the atmosphere and architecture of the enormous airship in "Tempest" took an incredible amount of time and the energy. Initial challenges and limitations led me to build this level from start to finish twice, however I'm proud of the end result.
Below is a short world building trailer of the final airship:
Below is a short world building trailer of the final airship:
Level Highlight: Cinematics Galore
One thing that always bothers me about student levels, mine included, is a lack of cinematics (particularly at the beginning and end) that make the level have a sense of legitimacy. For "Tempest", I wanted to try my hand at in-game cinematography to hopefully eliminate this barrier as much as possible.
Traditional Cinematics
I created several cinematic cutscenes that helped build the narrative of the level, specifically the relationship between Jack and the soldier. Having never done these before, I studied cinematics in several games over and over. In particular, I broke down the camera techniques Bioware utilizes in their Mass Effect games because of their proficiency at delivering a strong connection between two fictional characters.
Cinematic Gameplay
It was important for me that players felt they were accomplishing something epic in "Tempest" and that they were participants in events much larger than themselves.
To accomplish this, I allowed players to control certain events that might usually be handled in a traditional cinematic. A perfect example of this comes at the very end of the level when player's must get Jack from the bridge to a Raven flying outside.
To accomplish this, I allowed players to control certain events that might usually be handled in a traditional cinematic. A perfect example of this comes at the very end of the level when player's must get Jack from the bridge to a Raven flying outside.
I could have simply used a matinee sequence showing Jack leaving the ship and entering the helicopter. However, because I wanted players to feel as though they were the one orchestrating this awesome escape, I instead allowed the player to control this scene. To help sell this moment more, I placed a physics volume over this flight path that pushes the player to the side to simulate them having to fight the force of the wind. And because I'm obsessive over detail, I scripted the Raven to sway back and forth in the "wind". Only when the player actually makes contact with the Raven's open door, does the level's final "traditional" cinematic occur.
Level Challenge: Trial, Failure, Sadness, Life Introspection
As a kid raised on Captain Picard and pre-CG Yoda, I loved that Gears 2 and 3 explored more science fiction elements. I had high hopes to achieve this in the original Gears, unfortunately, finding pieces to construct a massive airship turned out to be more daunting than I expected. A lack of viable pieces led me to get extremely creative with assets that never had any business performing the roles I asked of them.
Because of a tight schedule, I ended up constructing the entire level using only these Gears assets. At this point, our class was over and the project was technically complete. However, I was never pleased with how far I took the level visually. I had struggled for so long just to find pieces that worked that I never was able to polish it as much as I would have liked to.
Because of this nagging dissatisfaction, I decided that I would export a few of the fancy sci-fi assets from Unreal Tournament III and then re-import them into Gears. At first, I planned on only using these UT3 assets to supplement my level, but after the first assets made my airship look immediately more credible, I ended up importing more and more. Before I knew it (i.e., 200 hours later), I had rebuilt every inch of my level. As insane as this process made me think I was at times, I am extremely proud of the results and happy I didn't give up on my crazy airship idea.
Here are some before and after shots:
Because of this nagging dissatisfaction, I decided that I would export a few of the fancy sci-fi assets from Unreal Tournament III and then re-import them into Gears. At first, I planned on only using these UT3 assets to supplement my level, but after the first assets made my airship look immediately more credible, I ended up importing more and more. Before I knew it (i.e., 200 hours later), I had rebuilt every inch of my level. As insane as this process made me think I was at times, I am extremely proud of the results and happy I didn't give up on my crazy airship idea.
Here are some before and after shots:
