Stealth Ops
A Third Person Stealth Experience
Introduction
In this level, I aimed to create a third person stealth experience set in a Avatar (the one with the blue people) inspired world. Where colonizers have invaded and the player is fighting back against the invasion.
The goal for the player is to infiltrate the military compound and retreive a powerful artefact whilst safely escaping. The intention behind the level was to challenge myself in creating an intresting and immersive stealth gameplay while refining my level design fundementals.
Project Details
- Developed over 4 weeks time
- Engine: Unreal Engine 5
- Blender
- Level Design
- Infiltration/Stealth Design
- Jakub.W
Overview
Level Walkthrough
1. Intro
2. Compound Entrance
3. Stealth Encounter
4. Second Floor
5. Goal
6. Escape
Development
Pre-Production
For this project, I wanted to return to the fundamentals that first drew me to level design, such as composition, navigation, and lighting. This inspired me to create a stealth level, as these elements fit well within that type of experience. The goal was to build a well-structured level that offers a slight challenge, and is clear to navigate.
ACT 1
Iteration Process
I realized that my initial vision wouldn’t be worth pursuing and would most likely result in a lower quality level. After deciding to iterate, it became much clearer which elements I wanted to build the level around: movement ,gameplay and player pathing. I aimed to maintain a consistent steatlh experience while gradually increasing combat intensity, creating a sense of tension and release toward the end of the level
I wanted to give the player a good amount of preparation before they proceeded into the level. The vista at the beginning, provides an overview of the level and the longterm goal. The watchtower on the left of the compound entrance is positioned help the player navigate as well as giving the player a safe space before engaing enemies. The first floor has more spread out enemies to give room for longer stealth gameplay and to give the player a balanced advantage.
Retain Gameplay Style & Elevate Tempo
ACT 2
As the player approaches the second floor, I wanted to increase the pace, requiring them to engage and eliminate more NPCs while maintaining stealth to survive. This also became a balancing challenge, as earlier iterations of the second floor were much larger and didn’t support this vision, taking up unnecessary space. By scaling it down, I could focus more clearly on the intended pacing and more precisely place enemies and player refuges.
As mentioned earlier, tension and release was a key factor in this level. How the intervals between them became tighter with progression. The second floor is the final section where this is applied.
With its short and compact spacing, the feedback I got was that the experience was just as intended. By limiting player choice, I could guide the player directly and encourage specific decisions to progress. However, even with few choices, I still placed full and mid cover and key points such as T-junctions early on to maintain a sense of control and allow for planning before moving forward.
Retreival & Escape
ACT 3
In the final room, I wanted to give the player a clear sense of reward after a long stretch of stealth gameplay. The space is relatively large, with the gem centrally framed to make the objective clear. The platform holding the gem also leads directly to the escape route.
As the player leaves the compound, they return to a similar natural, forested environment as in the beginning, ending at a boat that takes them to safety and concludes the level. I deliberately chose not to include any NPCs here and kept the space open with easy access to the exit to enhance the player’s sense of relief and reward.
Problems
After extensive playtesting, I learned that the amount of enemies was to high, which increased the difficulty. It was also pointed out that the golden path was not well highlighted, making navigation less intuitive. Since I established a strong workflow early on it made it possible for me to reach a playable state quickly. In addition to the feedback, I was then able to iterate with an clearer and more focused direction for improving the level’s quality.
Solutions
For the enemies, I first reviewed the enitre level and significantly reduced the amount, then reworked their placement and path. This helped balance the difficulty and encouraged stealth movement to create more moment to moment based interactions and letting the player proceed without excessive fear.
To improve navigation, different design methods were applied such as repeated light sources to create a sense of structured movement and maintain a steady flow through composition. Additional lights were also placed to highlight key focal points and leading lines in order to draw the players attention toward the intended path.
Reflections
This project has been both enlightening and challenging. It helped me develop a stronger understanding of level design fundamentals, while also pushing me to be more decisive in the choices made during development.
I set out to create a structured stealth level with difficulty that scaled over time. I believe I acheived this by refining key fundamentals such as composition, navigation, and lighting, and by realizing how much can be accomplished with a solid understanding of them.
With more time, I would improve the visual quality to better immerse the player and make the setting clearer. I would also consider slightly expanding the level by adding specific events, such as an alarm sequence or a backtracking section with more combat, to further develop the combat design
Ahab.ibrahim@hotmail.com
I am part of The Game Assembly’s internship program. As per the agreement between the Games Industry and The Game Assembly, neither student nor company may be in contact with one another regarding internships before April 15th. Any internship offers can be made on 27th of April, at the earliest.