Story

The fort on the island has been occupied by the evil Lich for a long time. The royal army, having acquired a new artillery ballista, tried to recapture the fort to no avail. As a convict, you have been sent on a lonely suicide mission to an this island. Your goal is to defeat the evil creature, but you decide how you will do it.

Bubble Chart

Fort_Garoth_BubbleChart

Landmark

The fort, which can be seen from several points around the island, serves as a landmark, to remind the player of his or her quest. Later in the level, it also serves as a main location which can be approached in a holistic way.

First Encounter

I wanted to introduce the first enemy in a relatively safe environment, giving the player time to get familiar with the controls.

The enemy is designed to be passive and vulnerable to allow opportunities for stealthing. If you did not choose to silently defeat the first opponent, the enemies to the right will start running towards you, putting you in a worse position by the cliff. 

Bait

After the first encounter, the player is guided by a light to a box that is a trap. Right after you open it, a shooter will start shooting at you from behind. If we react fast enough, we can hide by the wall.

Soft Gate

Running along the path to the archer, the player has to jump off the bridge, and is prevented from returning and forced to fight against several enemies.

Curiosity

Through natural branching, In this case, the path allows us to return to the start without losing a life. The player can explore the rest of the level behind or return to the bonfire.

Foreshadow

I created an optional path where, an attentive player can notice an opponent lurking behind a stone. To award perseverance. I deliberately placed the item at the end where the other enemy is looking at. Players often want to quickly get a reward when they see one, so in their eagerness they try to attack the opponent from behind, falling into a trap.

Slowing down the Beat

After a fight, the player can take a longer path to rest. Guided up the cliff and crossing the bridge, he is able to spot a cave with a bonfire and a non-hostile NPC. After lighting the bonfire, the player can feel safe by mapping the path he traveled. As he goes up, the path shows him the boat where he started his adventure and the path that will lead him to the castle.

12.01.2022 - Update

20.01.2022 - Update

Fort Garoth - work in progress

ABOUT PROJECT
Fort Garoth is a personal project that I've dedicated to learn Unreal Engine 5. The level is focused on creating a holistic experience, inspired by Souls-like games. For me the main goals were familiarizing myself with the Unreal Engine tools, finding the right workflow and learning the basics of scripting using Blueprints. The creation of a combat system has not been a part of my considerations. I have been working on it this project for 2 weeks on half time (4 hours/day). Note: This is a work in progress and it is still in its early stages.