The Price of Living
Creation Kit | Starfield
The Price of Living is a single-player Starfield level where the player is tasked with investigating an abandoned research facility outside of a remote town. The townspeople have reported that their local farm robots have gone berserk since the research facility went abandoned. They assume it has something to do with the facility and ask you to investigate further. The player must venture into the facility and fend off rogue robots to figure out why they have all gone haywire.
Technical Specification
Software: Starfield Creation Kit, Starfield
Platform: PC
Average Playtime: 15-20 Minutes
Play Here!
Design Goals
Circular Level Design & Reuse OF SPACE
Design open central areas for the player to flow through, creating multiple paths and openings within the same room. This allows the player to experience a sense of circular level design that centers around a central room.
CONVEYANCE & sightlines for navigation
Utilize clear conveyance tools to communicate to the player important information and sightlines to show where they must head to progress the level.
BRANCHING ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING
Utilize dynamically changing environmental design and art throughout a level to show a clear narrative and how it is changing based on the player’s choices.
Circular Level Design & Reuse OF SPACE
In aiming to design a circular level that utilizes a lot of smart reusage of space:
I created the interior section of the level to be designed as a building that has one central hub room that branches out to other rooms.
From there, I created hallways that connected these other branching rooms to create multiple paths to get from one area to another
I created an interconnected system of rooms where the player could navigate the space the way they wanted to.
CONVEYANCE & sightlines for navigation
Throughout the level:
I utilized windows and framing to create clear sightlines for the player to see both the results of their actions (in opening doors through hacking computers) and where they should be heading next to advance the quest.
Through this method, I was able to create a natural way of showing the player my intended path through the level without enforcing it on the player.
BRANCHING ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING
To create a branching narrative that affected my level’s environmental storytelling, I created a key decision point in my quest where the player was to choose where the narrative would go.
There were two options, and each option led to a unique ending that changed the level’s exterior area to match the player’s choice.
Through changing how the exterior area looks, the environment is telling the narrative on how the player’s decision has impacted the game world.
Post Mortem
What went well?
Reaching out to others for help and reacting to feedback promptly. I had some technical difficulties in developing my level and ran into many bugs during development. By reaching out to other peers, I was able to get many of the bugs fixed quickly.
I was also able to consistently review and implement feedback for my level from milestone to milestone.
What went wrong?
I had a lack of confidence in my base design for my level early on in the design process.
This led to a lot of self-doubt on whether this level could work and how I could make large-scale improvements that would feel satisfying to myself as a designer.
I didn’t come into the project with a clear enough understanding of what I wanted from it from the beginning.
WHAT I LEARNED.
I learned how important it is to set up clear goals and plans for myself early on in the design process.
In understanding what I, as a designer, want from my level, I can more clearly communicate those intended experiences to the player.