The Outskirts' forest is abandoned territory, populated by the dying, titan-like Crane robots. They were left mid-work as their operators scattered and society fell apart around them.
Task & Credits
As the director and level designer, my task was to build the forest that occupied the majority of the Outskirts; I had to take in account the mood and narrative beats required for this scene. I used Photoshop to plan my moodboards and Unreal Engine 4 to build the level.
I set dressed the field and forest landscape, using foliage and environment props provided by Synty Studios. Two other artists in our team, Daniel and Callum blocked out the ground earlier in the project, and we reused this setting. My contribution to building upon their ground work is the cliff point at the end of this level.
Cinematic walk-through, without the chase sequence to show the field
The frame rate in the final build is better (my elderly laptop is betraying me here!)
Play-through, with the chase sequence and UI
The actual frame rate in the game (filmed on a pal's better computer)
Planning
To build the forest, I started by sourcing a number of references from Stålenhag and Stath to guide the mood, colour and atmosphere of the scene.
The composition of the forest transitions from lush, overgrown woodland, to a felled glade where Cranes stand dormant, mid job, surrounded by dead trees and chopped trunks. Searching for media from games (The Witcher), photography and art (Stath and Stålenhag), I collated a several reference images with a synonymous vision; the below five images ultimately dictated and supported the final arrangement of the forest.
A rocky landscape (left) - layers of trees that aren't extremely packed so light can filter through (right)
Like layers of paper in a shadow box, varying layers of foliage silhouettes to add depth to the scene (The Witcher)
A lush, organic landscape contrasted by titan-like man made structures that recede into the background (Stålenhag & Stath)
A brief look at the work in progress
Once I had my moodboard, I meticulously worked my way left to right, placing flowers, trees, and props by hand so to build a collection of cinematic scenes to guide the story forward; to work more efficiently, I used the foliage tool in Unreal to paint grass in the far background.
In this first image, I was working on perfecting the placement of the mountains in the background so that the light would highlight where they intersect.
In the second, I was building my first cinematic scene with this giant tree and the leaves blowing in the wind. This is when the player enters the forest for the first time.
In the third, I was working on staging the shot where you see the Cranes up close for the first time - this is the core narrative beat for this level, the player's introduction to these robots.
Lastly, I added a cliff top, inspired by Inside, so that the player has a vantage shot of the next level - the Power Plant.
Evaluating the forest - narrative beats & cinematic scenes
The field - creating barriers to define the path in a side scroller
I learnt very quickly that when set dressing a side scroller, without environmental borders and barriers, the player's path does not feel defined.
In other words, the player can only go left or right, so wide expansive space in the back and foreground feels odd if the player is unable to travel there.
We also have a mechanic that allows the player to jump between the foreground, middle ground and background - so it was even more imperative to define where the player's main path is.
Looking at Inside, I was inspired by how Playdead's designers defined the player's path, using a clearing on the ground, foliage placement, or props to block off space.
I tried to translate this design choice to the field that borders the forest. You can see I've created a foreground border using only a broken wall, an overgrown hedgerow and grass.
When this space was just ~ field ~ it felt uncomfortably empty, so, in the background, I've placed a small hut, broken wooden fences, these dilapidated stalls, bushes, long stems of grass and trunks to fill the space between the lit up house and the player.
Lush forest - short-lived safety beneath the trees
To reach the forest, the player will have to run through the field while being chased by our main enemy.
When they reach the forest edge and the broken wall, I want this to be grandeur moment where they suddenly feel safe and protected beyond the wall.
You can see that the trees are thick and packed together. The diffused lighting and fog allowed me to build up the trees and create shapes along the horizon line, highlight the shape of their leaves.
Reintroduction of possible danger - meeting the Cranes
This graveyard, alike the allotment scene in the field, breaks up the foreground and adds depth and story to the scene. At this point, the player can suddenly hear the stomping of a Crane bot in the background, so my goal is increase the expectation of danger and tension for the player.
This is the narrative beat we were building up to - where the player sees and hears the Cranes for the first time. I left a small clearing to better frame this cinematic moment.
Here, I used a post processing volume to create a bokeh effect; I wanted the player to feel like they were being suddenly watched by the Crane.
Landscape diversity - verticality & breaking up the player's path
I love how in Inside, the player's path upon the ground is broken up by fallen logs or vantage points. It adds some diversity along the landscape and can act as a transition between scenes.
In the below shots, the boy has to walk across a log, and upon reaching the end of his path, can see where he''s going next thanks to the vantage point above the trucks.
To echo these design choices, I added a log to the Outskirts and a cliff point at the end of the level - for verticality, to stop the player from going back, and to introduce the next level.
Additionally, between these two scenes, I brought forward a Crane so the player could walk underneath, yes to show off the character modelling, but to also build upon that danger and tension. This was also a good point to make it even clearer what the Cranes job was in the forest, felling trees. I did this with the placement of the trunk, logs and the angle of the chainsaw and claw towards the camera.
This transitional space shows a Crane in the distance mid-job, and the player's next destination.
Conclusion - composition and verticality
+ I believe what I did well was my composition. I was very attentive to creating layers to the scene, like a shadow box with layers of paper. In each shot, there is an interesting element in the foreground or background, as I aimed to bring depth to the forest.
- Next time, I'd like to improve the verticality and navigation. To be more efficient, I chose to reuse the blockout landscape, and whilst it works just fine, it didn't take in account any navigation changes. More moments like the log, or vantage points of the next scene would have helped to break up the ground and path for the player.
