The Undead Champion
Warcraft 3 Custom Level
Development Information
Project Overview
Level Intentions
Level Files
-
Role: Solo Project
-
Game: Warcraft 3
-
Tool: Warcraft 3 Level Editor
-
Development Time: 2 Months
-
Game Type: Single Player
-
Combat Heavy
-
Big Exploration Opportunities
-
Unique Level based Puzzles
Level Summary
The level is intended to be balanced between adventurous and thrilling where the players will be surprised at each turn. There will be puzzles that make use of the hero’s abilities as well as the player’s brains. The level will contain mini bosses that will test the player’s skill from time to time. The player will also gain party as he progresses through the level as well as items to use. There will be side quests and hidden items scattered throughout the level.
Level Map
Level Map: 2D Photoshop
Level Map: 2D Photoshop with critical (purple) and side (lime) paths
Level Map: In Warcraft 3 Editor
Level Map: 3D SketchUp Make
Post Mortem
What went right
-
Integrating the puzzles was something that went right. The concept puzzles that were created managed to be implemented in the level without bugs or any issues.
-
Being a college project, time management was a huge task regarding this project. Fortunately, I managed to cover every deadline and complete the level within the 2 months allotted.
-
The Warcraft 3 editor was a huge challenge at first since it was a completely new software to me. However with some online help, I managed to get used to it within the first week by creating dummy levels and then making the actual level was much easier for me.
What went wrong
-
Playtesting was something that was done a bit late regarding this project. It was started on the second last week before the final deadline, and therefore was rushed. Only 2 iterations of the playtesting was able to be executed before the final submission.
-
Since the playtesting was done in only 2 iterations and was generally rushed, there is a significant scope of minor bug fixes and tweaks that was overlooked.
-
Since before this project I had no experience with the Warcraft franchise, coming up with a level concept that would work within the game was a little difficult since I was unaware of the elements that I had to work with.
What I Learnt
-
Before this project, I had no prior experience of level designing in an editor of a existing game. While working on this, I encountered several issues that I had to solve or work around using the limited assets at my disposal, which was a unique problem solving experience.
-
For this project, I had to create several narrative cutscenes, which was also new for me. Setting up cameras, figuring out their paths to make sure they don't clip through environments and replicating the storyboards into the game was a challenge I had not faced before.
-
I also learnt a lot of effective space management in levels. The first iteration of the level (in editor) was extremely blank as the world was not populated enough with props. By the final iteration, I had to make sure there were no blank areas in the level where the player could feel bored, and also make sure that every area of the level had something to offer to the player.