Soulslike Castle
Solo Project, Level Design, Blockout
Project Summary
Iterating from left to right you can see the paper prototyping process. The outer pathway dock and underground were cut to reduce level duration.
Paper Prototyping
Architectural components, points of interest, and guide map.
Level Methodology
After defeating the archer the player has two paths they can take. Battling through the ramparts (left) or the barracks (right).
Barracks
Ramparts
Level start: Upon entering the castle the player can see the flag tower whose contents are the level’s objective. A stairwell leads to the ramparts and a doorway to the left leads to the southern courtyard. The stairwell path leads to a locked door if players follow that route forcing them to take left path.
Heading out the left door the player can see a stairwell guarded by an archer and rubble blocking their way. The archer being on high ground creates a powerful sense of threat to the player because they have great visibility and range from that point. This draws the player to the staircase so that they can deal with the threat.
The barracks pathway has players encounter a powerful enemy in an isolated office setting (later versions would include destructible furniture in the room to create a close quarters combat scenario). The next barracks encounter is an ambush . The enemy near the door draws the players eye and enemies who are hidden by the bunk beds attack from the side and behind.
The ramparts have many ranged enemies and players will first encounter two of them with limited cover (left image). The next encounter is an ambush with two smaller enemies the first drawing the players eye and the second attacking them from behind. The rampart continues with combat encounters until it connects back to the north courtyard. There is a checkpoint midway.
The rampart path and the garrison path connect in the north courtyard which is left open so that players can fight the optional boss who would drop a unique item. Next players proceed to main tower which will help them find the key needed to open the flag tower their ultimate goal in the level.
The main tower allows players to see and access a collapsed building that has an npc who progresses the narrative and gives the player the key needed to access the flag tower and complete the level.