• Where is the player?
  • The player is inside an off-limits modern urban city block
• What do they encounter?
  • Main path
  • Enemies
  • Optional paths
  • Unlockable shortcuts
  • Items
  • Boss enemy
• What does the player do?
  • The player explores the level
  • The player finds items
  • The player fights and defeats enemies
  • The player unlocks a save point
  • The player unlocks shortcuts that lead back to a central save point
  • The player dies and returns to the save point
• What is the player’s goal?
  • The player wants to reach a smoking high rise building where an explosion has occurred
  • The player wants to unlock a shortcut to the central save point
• How should the player feel?
  • The player should feel increasingly competent with the game’s combat mechanics
  • The player should feel challenged in a fair way by the enemies
  • The player should feel like they are slowly but steadily making progress
  • When unlocking the shortcut, the player should feel a sense of achievement and relief
• What kind of progression does the level contain?
  • Onboarding for the main mechanics
  • Killing enemies to get past them
  • Unlocking a save point
  • Unlocking one shortcut to the save point
  • Reaching the smoking high rise
  • Defeating the final boss

The first level will contain all gameplay segments up until the first boss of the game.

Including challenges, the level should aim to be around 20 minutes, and should represent what the “level loop” looks like: Introduction > building difficulty > shortcut unlock > mastery > boss battle.

Level Synopsis

Kris (Player Character) jumps a chain-link fence into an alleyway, where it becomes clear her objective is the smoking RSNL tower. The alley acts as an onboarding section, teaching basic movement and combat before the player drops down into the central courtyard. This courtyard acts as a hub, with a save point and a locked gate leading to the tower. From here, the player can choose to either climb up a ladder onto the rooftops for a tactical advantage or directly go into a three-story parking garage. Both paths converge inside the garage, where a group of strong enemies awaits them. The exit from the garage opens a shortcut back into the courtyard, unlocking the aforementioned gate. This leads to the tower plaza, where a final action setpiece puzzle takes place before they enter the tower elevator, and face the boss on the ruined top floor.

Choices and reasoning

1. Alley: The alley is a linear section which introduces horizontal movement, verticality via stairs, and a few low-stakes combat encounters. The smoking tower is visible ahead, and Kris’ dialogue adds a sense of urgency. Hidden (shiny) items reward exploration and teach the player that secrets exist off the main path. A one-way drop into the courtyard gates off the tutorial section.

2. Courtyard: The courtyard is a safe, open hub. After noticing the save point in the middle, the player notices the locked gate to the RSNL tower which provides a long-term objective. The player must choose between climbing to the rooftops or heading to the parking garage where strong enemies are waiting, offering different approaches to the challenge.

3. Rooftops: This path rewards players who choose exploration and verticality.The combat on the rooftops is all about positioning. At the end, a ladder can be dropped down as a shortcut into the courtyard, rewarding thorough exploration and making the player feel clever for bypassing this segment on future runs. From here the player can drop into the top floor of the parking garage.

4. Parking Garage: The garage can be approached from both the ground floor, which is faster but forces a dangerous encounter with ranged enemies positioned above, and from the rooftops, which allows the player take them out first. At the top floor, a switch opens the door on the bottom floor required to progress. The exit unlocks the main courtyard gate from the other side, a shortcut.

5. RSNL Tower Plaza: This area functions as a final challenge before facing the boss. The player needs to destroy a turret by detonating an explosive next to it. To do this, the player needs to block the turrets vision with a movable object to activate the lever connected to the explosive, which is guarded by a ranged enemy. Once the turret is destroyed it stays down after death.

6. RSNL Tower Arena: The boss arena is circular and allows for a straight forward fight with the boss. There are no obstructions, the entire area is dedicated to the fight. The level ends immediately upon defeating the boss.

Criteria of success