Environment + Level Design of The Steps of Akasha
Screenshots from XING: The Land Beyond
My role was to create levels from paper to editor. I loved creating vistas, but mostly stuck to smaller cozy spaces due to optimization necessities. My job was to create the landscape and sculpt it, then place all the meshes on top, from architecture to plants to gameplay elements, in ways that were both beautiful and also guiding for player from one zone to the next. My level design includes purposeful occlusions (aka big rocks) of other level areas, as well as thought-out foliage placement for the most bang for our buck at every detail level. I also created puzzle zones, and helped come up with and implement puzzle designs, which were fully integrated into the environments. My ultimate goal was to have each level be beautiful and satisfying, with something always available for the player to do. I worked with 2 other teammates to come up with ideas on what we thought would be fun and look cool.
This is the opening shot when the player enters the level. We wanted it to be magical and mysterious, and adding a lot more of the glowing teal we used throughout the game in this area felt right.
Here's a more overhead shot of that initial path that the player must walk. I placed stalactites and stalagmites around to give it more of a "cave opening", as well as torches to light the way.
Crystals at the bottom of the level. The whole level is a vertical ascent (hence "steps") , which is meant to mirror the thematic "ascendance" of the soul that the player undergoes through these final trials.
The player climbs up the walls through a series of stairs, fans and bridges. There are floating platforms which enable some interesting level design, and I was able to create scenes like this.
The first puzzle area. After it was gray boxed and the puzzle was set up, I replaced all the boxes with our architecture set. I added all the rocks, trees and plants too.
Night cliffs. It's a long way up the Steps of Akasha, and I set up these vistas for the player to enjoy as they look upwards towards their goal.
I also took this area from greybox to this, and MAN it was a pain placing all the meshes and THEN going back to vert paint them all with moss. I mean, I also love it. I LOVE working in the editor.
I put this scene together and I just like it. It's functional with the puzzles, but there's something that's just so peaceful about it. Ahhh! I love this job.
The final puzzle is quite complex, with many steps. It was a challenge to make it all legible for the player, but I think it turned out well.