Operation Golden Arrow
(Ue5)
Description: The player becomes a stealth operative as they are tasked with infiltrating a terrorist leader’s mansion to stop a bioweapon from being launched, all while navigating stealth obstacles on the way. They must intercept the truck delivering a Hardware Authentication Module first before entering the mansion and finding the captain’s quarters where the bioweapon launch command is being initiated. They have the choice of being loud or stealthy at the cost of higher enemy presence.
Tone: Dark, mysterious, stealthy, covert, serious
Gameplay: Stealth, action, platforming, tactical strategizing, gun-play
Game Inspirations: Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid
The Process
Research
My very first step was immersing myself in multiple forms of media to get inspired and craft my level’s concept, mood, and structure. I did deep dives into games like Metal Gear Solid V and Splinter Cell: Blacklist to study how they merged engaging narrative scenarios with intense stealth-action gameplay.
Since I knew I wanted to have my level based around a mansion infiltration, I picked levels in these games that involved tactfully planning an operation where the objective is inside the mansion. I found it very interesting how these 2 games approached the scenario differently – Splinter Cell is much more linear and has many more cutscene beats to make it feel more cinematic, while MGSV has fewer cutscenes and emphasizes player freedom because of its open-world focus.
Media Study
Beat Sheet
Top Down Map
I also studied other media like the movie 1917 because I wanted to harness multiple inspirations. I specifically wanted to emulate the “flare scene” from that movie because of its extremely dramatic lighting and high level of tension.
This scene had a very interesting dynamic of the flares constantly shooting through the air while the protagonist flees the scene, creating a feeling of rising and falling tension every time the flare flies overhead. Light and shadow are incredible communicators of tension and potential threat, so I knew I wanted to bring this element into my level.
Iteration 1: Setting the scene
As I started building my 2D Map in 3D, I noticed that I would need to adjust the spacing of certain structures and paths to accommodate my specific player controller’s metrics. Spaces that didn’t seem too open in 2D felt very open in 3D. Elevation changes were also something I needed to address when building in 3D more than in my 2D Map.
Figuring out player metrics of what was a low mantle vs. high mantle vs. vault, for example, helped me in figuring out how I should build player paths to accommodate player navigation. Using simple blocks to represent big structures was a good method for figuring out details like how tall I wanted my mansion to be, how big guard tents were, and how much positive space versus negative space should be present.
Iteration 2: Narrative
In this iteration, I started to communicate the narrative importance and threat level of the mansion by raising it much higher and adding verticality to the overall layout. I took a multi-layered design approach where the terrain steps up as the player approaches the Mansion, which does a couple things: Increases the tension of approaching the mansion, and creates much more interesting player pathing on the way there.
I made sure to include narrative text throughout the level that highlights important beats such as the main objective (the mansion) and side objectives (i.e. Kill the Captain, Find the CIA Asset’s Intel Files, Free the Prisoners).
I built out the guard tents and the enemy checkpoint to ensure the correct metrics and gives spaces for the guards to roam around in/around while they patrol.
I moved the truck event much closer to the player’s entry point into the mansion approach section to highly increase the chances of the player harnessing that opportunity for infiltration. I did this while also expecting players to potentially forgo the opportunity and explore other opportunities nearby.
