Mellas’ Castle is a level design project taking place within a large castle that has many hallways and rooms that have been long abandoned and waiting to be explored. I’ve always had an interest in level design that is straightforward but actually offers many different routes and rooms that can take someone away to go explore, and this was the case with Mellas’ Castle. Taking huge inspiration from Dark Souls, the goal was to create a level that had that feeling of open freedom rather than going from point A to point B and having many different rooms in a way to tell a story through the use of assets and props. While this was created to an environment I had also added some gameplay into the project, and like with the layout design, the gameplay was also heavily influenced by Dark Souls to coexist with the environment, that goes down to both the combat and the movements, the project has a lone knight that is roaming the abandoned castle and fighting off enemies as they explore.
Mellas’ Castle was created through the use of Unreal Engine 4 as a way to show off my skills and abilities that I had accumulated as a level design during my years at the university and previous years prior, starting off with a basic block-out and gradually working my way to create the project seen before you. During development, I managed to find new skills both through the lighting and animation, the lighting was through the use of a post-process and – like with the assets – was created using influenced with my inspired game to keep that gloom and dread feeling that the Souls series has been known for, and new animations were created for the characters seen in the video through the use of UE4 blend space.
The pictures below are examples of what Mellas’ Castle has to offer.
The video below is a walkthrough of my project. Edited down so it doesn’t take too long. Not only will the environment be shown, but the gameplay I’ve created will also be showcased. Enjoy!
Course: BA (Hons) Computer Games Design
About me: Yo! I’m Travis, a Canadian-Britsh student of Teesside University, nice to meet ya!
Biography: I’m a Game Designer at Teesside University. Games have always been a passion, and one area in games I’ve always had an eye for was the levels in a game, and because of that reason, one job in the industry I hoped to get into was a level designer. During my years at the university, I’ve managed to create many projects involving level design, from simple rooms to large environments. For the projects I’ve done in both the Journeyman and Beta Arcade, I served as a level designer. Each of the skills that I learned during both my time in University and before in College, has pushed me to become a level designer that I’ve always wanted to pursue.
Employment: For many years I’ve never had a full-time job, however in the past, I had taken part in a total of two work experiences, one where I worked within a team to get any jobs done together, and the other by myself. Before joining Teesside, I’ve also was once part of the Prince’s Trust programme, during my time there I had more experience with working as a team, helping communities with numerous jobs, and had many times lead my own group within that team.
Software/Hardware Knowledge: Unreal Engine 4 is my go-to engine currently, although I am currently interested in trying new ones. During my time in college, while it’s not my expertise, I manage to acquire two years of experience with 3D software such as 3DS Max. I’m also a frequent user of programs such as Photoshop.
Interest: Gaming has always been an interest of mine since I was young so I’m always playing games and spending my hours away with Skyrim. Other than that I tend to spend a lot of time on the computer just enjoying whatever I come across. I also like going on long walks… not down by the beach or anything mind you.
