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SPACE STATION
A Sci-Fi puzzle adventure
DESCRIPTION
Space station is a joint project I worked on with Senior Level Designer Luis Brito as a way to create a nice portfolio piece together and for me to learn a bunch along the way.
The game takes place on a space station where a rogue AI has taken control. The player is then tasked with shutting down the AI and solving puzzles along the way. It is an inspired combination of Portal and Dead Space.
ABOUT THE LEVEL
Developed over: 2 months sporadically
Software: Unreal Engine 5, Blender, Gravit
Inspired by: Portal & Dead Space
Co-developed with Luis Brito
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND PUZZLE DESIGN
Concepting Puzzle Design
When coming up with the puzzles for the game we started out pitching and concepting different ideas to eachother. I then got to designing and concepting the layout on paper before going into implementation and testing. After that we playtested the puzzles and adjusted them for difficulty, layout and overall design.
Designing a layout for the puzzles
Designing the layouts and actual rooms where the puzzles would be placed was a challenge since we wanted the spaces to fit into the narrative of the level but also be able to fit in the puzzles we've created. A mix of what rooms would actually fit into a space ship and what puzzles a room like that could have made up the design results.
First Overview and Puzzle Concepts
Final result
Iteration & Process
Iteration is a crucial part of game development and we did not neglect that here. We had many discussions and feedback sessions where we talked about our work and helped each other improve different aspects of it. Below are some examples of my iterations and what it ultimately gave to the spaces I created.
Before
After
When reviewing my design for the Pipe Maintenance room and the puzzle I had created we realized that we needed to introduce the player to a puzzle mechanic that would show up later in the level. What we then did was test out different ways of using this mechanic in a simple but puzzling way to let the player know that this is something they can do. It ended with the design on the right where the main focus of the puzzle is that the player can freeze the water to create a pillar that they can use to get up higher than before.
Before
After
The design of the Robotics lab was supposed to be a platforming section where the player had to navigate through moving lasers to get to the next room. The initial design created for this section was very big and open which didn't really fit into the rest of the space station where the rooms were a lot smaller. We also realized that the time it would take to get the lasers right outweighed the time we had spent on other designs and we instead decided to make the room smaller, less open and use it as a narrative and traversal section letting the player take a breath before entering the boss room which was next.
PUZZLE DESIGN
Pipe Maintenance Room
The pipe maintenance room introduces the player to the water freezing mechanic which is integral in later puzzles. The player is faced with freezing steam blocking the main path and they have to find a way to turn on the liquid flowing through the pipes so that it freezes the water to create pillars. The player can then use those pillars to navigate through the level.
Robotics Lab
In the robotics lab the player is shown a flying drone that looks at them. While following this drone the floor beneath them collapses and they are forced to crawl through vents to reach the robotics lab. There they are faced with deadly lasers that block the players path and they need to find a way around and above to reach another vent duct that gets them further into the station.
AI Core
The final "boss" of the space station is the AI itself and 4 encompassing puzzles they need to solve. In order to get the AI core to cool down by being lowered into liquid nitrogen the player needs to deactivate clamps that are holding the core in place. To do this they need to detach power to them by removing fuel canisters scattered across the room. This is where the puzzles come in.
Each canister (except for the first one) has a puzzle attached to it. All of them combining the puzzle mechanics the player has learnt previously.
The first puzzle tasks the player with finding a water puddle by removing a movable box. After which they will turn a valve to create a pillar, then use that pillar to get into a vent and eventually reach the fuel canister.
The second puzzle involves a security camera and a door. When the player approaches the door the camera sees the player and locks the door. The player then have to find a way to disable the camera so that they can pass. They do this by first finding a valve, attaching it to a nearby pipe. Then after activated the pipe freezing steam with come out of a hole freezing the camera in place and allowing the player to continue to the canister.
The third puzzle tasks the player with finding fuel for an elevator that has run out. Next to the elevator is an empty fuel canister attached to the elevator. The player then has to detach it, go to a fueling station, fill it up and then attach it again. This gives power to the elevator which the player can use to get to the final canister.
POST-MORTEM
This was the first portfolio piece that I've done together with someone else and I was lucky enough to do it with a very talented senior designer, Luis Brito. Working with Luis has taught me a lot about level and puzzle design. It has given me more knowledge about how to deal with narrative design when creating levels and how to make it all feel and look good together.
Given more time with the project I would probably iron out some of the kinks in the scripting and overall design of the rooms. These are minor things though since I believe that holistically we've done a good job of creating a believable and cool setting while also incorporating fun puzzle mechanics.
Overall the project was super fun to work on and I am very thankful to Luis for all the knowledge and expertise he shared during the journey.
SHOWREEL
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