Erusal Remake: Level Design Process
I have been remaking Erusal for some time now. Today I thought it would be fun to reflect on my level design process.
The original Erusal release had a lot going for it. I only spent about a month on it, but the story is solid and I am proud of my first go at making terrain. The ambient sound is also extra terrific. It remains my most positively rated game on Game Jolt - and even now a handful of people download it every day.
But...it is also lacking in a lot of ways. Distances between interesting interactions are HUGE. You have to walk quite a distance to get from house to house in this dilapidated town, and the scenery along the way can feel pretty sparse. Filling this scarcity is my top priority for the remake. Through forethought in level design...it's not a hard problem to fix.
The basic layout of the town is not changing between the original and this remake - so I had a good starting point. Using simple cubes I began by roughing out flat areas vs slopes, structure location and layout, and the locations of interesting interactions.
Dropping in as a generic player early and often, I walked the distances within and between structures many times before starting with any assets.
After the level was roughed out with cubes I started on the terrain. Getting terrain heights correct and then smoothing everything out into a natural look was a time consuming process for me, but I am thrilled with the result. There is a nice blend of open vs closed feeling areas. Pacing of gameplay will improve dramatically, and it looks a lot nicer, too!
In the original Erusal I made all the assets myself, but this time around I gave myself permission to buy assets in the Unity asset store. The difference is incredible. Even the small, cheap rock pack that make up the large bolders in this image is an incredible leap forward. Is it AAA quality? No - but I am just one guy with a hobby after all.
The first area of the game is nearing completion. The bridge connecting this church to the rest of the town collapsed. Even God has abandoned this wretched place. I hope you enjoyed this insight into my level design process.
