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Vanagandar
Roles
Level design, Scripter & Scrum master
Team size
8 people
Time
10 weeks, Fall/Winter 2023
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
CONTENT
Concept
Vanagandar is a Multiplayer Tactical shooter where players are put in a 5v5 match against each other. The goal is plant/defuse the bomb or take out the other team using strategy and communication.
The theme is set as if the Viking age never died and keep evolving to present time.
Contribution
Level Design
Level blockout, Level dressing, playtest & iterations
Scripter
Minimap & Utility stats
Scrum Master
Manage Jira, Plan sprints & Team management
Level Design
At the start of the project we were two level designers but later it switch over to me being solo level designer. This was because we needed to focus on other parts of the project. I still had someone to bounce ideas of on and ask for feedback.
Research
I started the project by talking with the other level designer about what we liked about similar games like CS-GO and Valorant.
After that we started looking for references and inspiration. I used Valorant and CS-GO layout since we were doing a similar game to them but also in game screen shots like the one from Mirage middle and Cacbe B site to get a sense of scale and verticality.
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Cache B site
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Mirage middle
Forge
Forge v1
Forge v2
ForgeV3
Forge v1
1/3
Drake
Drake v1
Drake v2
DrakeV3
Drake v1
1/3
Layout
The initial plan was to have two maps so me and the other level designer started sketching out two sepereate maps. Afterwards we handed the sketches over to each other and we made changes to the other ones map.
In the map called Forge I made the initial layout and in the map called Drake I made the changes and iterations after we switched.
When designing the layout and making the changes to the other map I always kept in mind how the games would be played out. I worked a lot with different paths to enter and escape routs but also angels and how wide doors were to not be able to see to much and have a to strong position.
Second blockout
After I got the blockout of Forge and we scraped the second map I looked over the blockout and iterated with my ideas.
1. Divided up areas with walls
1.1 Closed of long line of sights
1.2 Gave the level a better flow with seperating areas
1.3 Forced players to commit to fights in specific areas
2. More ways to enter & exit areas specifically sites
Blockouts
We did the same thing with the blockout as we did with the sketch. I blocked out Drake from the sketch and then handed it over to the other level designer. I got Forge from him and made changes to it.
After this though we realized we would not have time to finish the two maps so we scraped Drake and I become the only main level designer. I kept working on Forge as that was the one we liked the most and the best plan for visually.
Initial blockout
Dividing walls CT to A
Two entrances to A site from CT spawn compared to 1 before.
Dividing walls CT to B
narrowed Entrance from CT to B and added another entrance from CT to B & Mid.
Removed line of sight into T spawn
Extended back wall to remove line of sight from Mid straight into T spawn.
Dividing walls CT to A
Two entrances to A site from CT spawn compared to 1 before.
1/3
After the second version of the blockout the core mainloop was done and we were ready for feedback. We started playtesting with external people where I got tons more feedback and ideas and iterated.
Feedback & Iterations
First playtest
After the first playtest the feedback I got was:
1. Easily confused where you were.
2. To many corners
3. To much cover
4. Felt flat
To solve these issues I added elevation and uniqe covers to easier diffentiate the different areas of the map to help with orientation. I removed some corners and less turns but also removed some boxes which helped with to much cover and corners.
Before
Middle before from other side
Middle from window
A window was added to give another point of entry and exit but also for more mid control
Before
1/4
Before
Middle before from other side
Middle from window
A window was added to give another point of entry and exit but also for more mid control
Before
1/4
Final version
After a lot of internal playtest and a few changes here and there we had a playtest with external people where the level felt more complete but still missed some things. The feedback I got was
1. Defender heavy
2. A site hard to breach, only 1 point of entry
3. Middle was very exposed for both sides
I solved this by adding a vent to middle which leads into A site and which makes mid control more important because it connects the whole map. Site also became more centered and its own area to make it more focused.
Video of final version
Doubles
After playtesting a few times I realized that we needed a smaller map since the one we had was made for 5v5, so I made another one made for 2v2 or 3v3.
This map only has one site and fewer routes for the attackers to take but enough for them have options and be able to vary their approach each round.
(On the right you can see the level from sketch to blockout)
Doubles
2D layout
Doubles site
Bomb site
Doubles
Image of whole map
Doubles
2D layout
1/5
The level got cleaned up with less stuff on the floor for easier movement and buildings got added to block line of sight and lineups for grenades.
Scripting
While my main focus was on level design I helped the other designers with some blueprints. The thing I worked the most on was the minimap that is used in the game.
Minimap
Material
The minimap is a material of a top down image of the level paning when the player moves. The image of which map is used is set in a Data Table.
Player Icon
For the player I create a widget with a reference to the owning player which is centered on the minimap at all times and rotates with the player.
Friendly & Enemy icons
For the other players I create a Icon for everyone in the game already and when someone new joins. I take the location of the player and the location of everyone else and calculate their position on the map.
The only difference I do for enemies is I hide them until someone on the team has vision on them and then make them visible to everyones minimap.
Scrum Master
For this project I was also the Scrum master. I sprint planned with the PO, was in charge of stand ups each morning and made sure the team was doing well and worked together.
Stand ups
Every morning I held a stand up where each member would quickly go through what they did the day before and what they would do today.
After each week I also had a sprint review and sprint planing. Talking to the team to see what they thought we should do and were missing but also how the last sprint went.
Team management
One part of the scrum master role in this project was team management and motivating the team. That part of the role was very easy since everyone motivated each other and it was a passion project for everyone. Lastly this was a relative short project of only 10 weeks.
What I Learned
This project was my favorite to work on so far for many reasons one of them was all the new things I tried and learned.
Multiplayer feedback
Working with a multiplayer game showed me that playtesting often is even more important. Getting a new set of eyes and seeing the game from all perspectives, from friendlies and enemies
Balancing
This one ties into the previous one, but since it is not PVE and single player anymore there is a lot more balancing and finetuning. Getting feedback and adjusting small things. One change can make it so you need to change multiple things.
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