ENGINE: Unity 6
GENRE: Arcade/Action
ROLE: Level Designer
RELEASE DATE: TBA
Axis Shift is an arcade-style action game developed in Unity. Players pilot an advanced combat vehicle with the unique ability to seamlessly transform between three different forms: Tank, Spaceship and Submarine. Using each form's weapons and abilities in tandem, the player must defeat waves upon waves of corrupt androids and traverse across land, sky and sea.
I helped to develop the game during the capstone semester of Sheridan College's Game Level Design program, working as the game's level designer, utilizing many of the techniques and strategies I had picked up over the year-long program. The game will continue active development for the foreseeable future, with the game set to release on Steam.
A playthrough of Steelforge Spire, one of the levels I designed for Axis Shift.
RESPONSIBILITIES
•Greybox map layouts within Unity, utilizing specific tools such as ProBuilder, establishing core geometry and spatial relationships within a dome-shaped force field environment.
•Develop environments to accommodate fast-paced combat-focused gameplay featuring three unique styles of movement and gameplay, understanding metric requirements of each vehicle form and developing visual language to support to each one.
•Determine gameplay flow and challenge by configuring enemy waves with escalating difficulty.
•Design and incorporate level-specific gameplay mechanics and interactions (i.e. destructible level elements).
•Refine level experiences through curated focus playtesting sessions.
•Implement kitbashed art assets to establish key thematic cohesion across levels.
DESIGN PROCESS
For Axis Shift, the overall direction that was taken with the level design was focused around open-ended, arena-style environments that would be well-suited for the game's fast-paced, arcade-style combat encounters.
The first of these arenas that I designed was Steelforge Spire, a junkyard-themed level featuring a tall, multi-layered incinerator tower as its centerpiece. The level went through many iterations over the course of development.
The goal of the level:
•Design an environment that encouraged free transformation between vehicle forms (Lots of ground for Tank to move around, verticality and open-air space for Spaceship to fly. Eventually water channels and underground water tunnels were added to allow for Submarine usage as well)
•Design intentional enemy waves around different parts of the map. Enemies begin at ground level and get increasingly more challenging as stronger enemies get added to the mix and more complex placements, including verticality, are utilized.
The early greybox form of the level, using simple ProBuilder shapes.
The initial kitbashed version.
The refined kitbashed version, featuring adjustments to level layout and increased level of detail.
Iteration and Refinement
•Player feedback revealed that the initial scale of the level felt too small for the Spaceship. In response, the size of the force field enclosure nearly doubled in size.
•The central furnace room was repurposed into a network of underwater tunnels for the Submarine.
•The large pieces of metal jutting out of the ground were repurposed as ramps to allow the Tank to climb onto the tower.
•Many of the finer details and assets used only a few times were removed or replaced to enhance asset reusability -- Placed greater constraints on myself. In the end, a total of 32 assets were used across the level.
•To improve playability, I removed all railings from meshes in the scene in order to make the level easier to navigate.
The initial version of the tower, without the ramps.
The scrap pieces were later repurposed as ramps.
Central room that was repurposed as an entry point into the water.
