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SeaFeud

Level Designer

Published on Steam!​

My Contributions

  • Level Designer

  • Designed and iterated track layout

  • Balanced power-up placement

  • Worked with Programmers to Implement Race Logic

Project Details

  • Made in Unreal Engine 5

  • Team Size: 50 Developers

  • Design Team Size: 18

  • Development Time: 200 Hours

  • Published on Steam

Introduction

SeaFeud is an underwater arcade kart racing game made in Unreal Engine 5. Players can race against computers or friends for up to 4 players at a time.

 

I was one of the three Level Designers working on the Night Fish-trict track. I designed the track layout, placed power-ups in strategic locations, and worked with the programming team to implement race logic and design the AI's spline path behavior.

Track Design

Designed and iterated the layout of the track.

AI Behavior

Designed the spline paths and behavior of the AI.

Balancing Power-Ups

Arranged Power-up Fish and Pick-up Items on the track for competitive play.

Overview of designing and iterating the Night Fish-trict track in 1 minute!

After deconstructing other racing game tracks, I was able to design a visually interesting layout, that had a progressive difficulty curve, and respected risk versus reward opportunities. 

Improving the sightline of the landmark asset and framing both paths.

Iterating the space for this section makes turns easier and offers more path options.

Increasing the value of the shortcut for the Zen Garden by simplifying the path.

Progressive Difficulty Design for the AI Behavior

I designed the AI behavior and the spline paths they would follow for the track. 

I created multiple paths that offered varying opportunities for the player and AI alike.

Figure 8  -  Difficulty: Easy

Core Path - The path the AI will prioritize most of the time (60% to take this path).

Risk/Reward Path - If the AI takes this path and is not bumped out of the way by other racers, it can use the speed boost ring to catch up or get further ahead.

Switching Path - Similar to the Core Path, except the AI will swap over to Risk/Reward Path leading into the next section.

Open Market  -  Difficulty: Medium

Core Path - The balanced path that is direct, but leaves the racer open to attacks from other racers. The AI will take this path about 50% of the time.

Risk Reward Path - If the racer succeeds in using the first speed boost ring and reaches the second speed boost ring without being knocked out of the way by other racers, the racer gains a huge speed bonus.

Risk Failed Path - If the racer fails to hit the first speed boost ring, they are knocked down to a slower and weaker path.

Escape Path - An optional path for the racer to escape from attacks or hazards placed ahead of them.

Zen Garden  -  Difficulty: Hard

Core Path - The safe path that offers a range of power-up pickups for the racer to access. AI racers will only take this path about 50% of the time. Otherwise, they prioritize the stronger Risk/Reward Path.

Risk/Reward Path - The racer must succeed in a sharp 90-degree turn without being disrupted by other racer attacks. If they do, this shortcut will place them ahead of other racers who took the Core Path at the same time.

Reconverge Path - AI on the path from the previous section converge and choose one of the two paths above.

For each section of the track, I placed both the Pick-up Items (one-time consumables) and the Power-Up Fish (changes the racers "kart" into a different fish). 

Each Pick-up/Power-Up or group was categorized as Easy, Medium, or Hard to either encourage using these items or to support the risk versus reward track layout.

Easy Pickups - Directly in the racer's path and placed in large quantities.

Medium Pickups - Slightly out of the racer's path and usually only one or two items.

Hard Pickups - Out of the player's ideal path and usually only a single item.

What Went Well

Communication with the Track Team

I worked hard to establish a respectful and cooperative environment with all designers on my team.

Dividing Tasks Effectively

Working with the designers to divide tasks and focusing on my specialty to incorporate race logic.

Working with Other Disciplines

I volunteered to be the technical designer for our design team and cooperated with the programmers throughout production. 

What Went Wrong

Lack of Communication with Leads

Sometimes I was too concerned with getting the work done and forgot to report issues to my lead.

Sub-Level Editing

Several designers would need to work on one level at once, but due to pipeline issues, only one person could access the level at a time.

Lack of Design Language

There was not a definite design language for the tracks, leading to each track feeling too different.

What I Learned

Respect the Pipeline

This helps the entire project stay organized and keeps the leads informed.

Playtest Early and Playtest Often

By playtesting my track with other developers, I could have caught some design issues earlier.

Communicate with Leads

Bringing up issues to the leads early mitigates risks and keeps everyone on schedule. 

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