Tomb Raider: Tomb Puzzle
Details
• Made with Unreal Engine 4.26 / 5
• Based upon the game "Tomb Raider"
• Made with assets from
My Work
• Level Design
• Scripting
About
The project was based on the "Tomb Raider" tomb sequences, these are often linear and facilitate a more direct level design approach. I chose to work on a linear project after working on my more open "Mirrors Edge" level.
Planning
My approach to planning this project was to base it around "Tomb Raider" and analyze the game's tomb areas and their general layout and puzzle approach.
Level Design
The philosophy was based on light leading the player around the dark caves. I wanted to work with the perception of level space by making small areas darker and bigger areas lighter to give important areas in the level a different tone.
Iterations
The level evolvement started from the planning stage and continued until the level was done.
The biggest change from the initial idea was the second puzzle that got cut from the final level, this was done to decrease the project scope because the puzzle was faulty in its design and would've taken more time to fix than to redesign the area which I did.
Layout
My approach to the level was to make a linear level layout to reflect the same type of design as in the real game.
The general approach was to keep the play space small and cramped until the player enters a bigger and more important area of the map where the map opens up and lets the player move and solve puzzles more freely.
Puzzle One
Puzzle Two
Puzzles One
The puzzle is structured so the player needs to higher one of the platforms to continue the level, this is done by launching a barrel from a ramp that needs to get higher for the barrel to hit the platform completing the puzzle.
This lets the player explore the puzzle first by trial and visual error and then figure out the puzzle pieces one by one and execute the puzzle correctly learning the way each thing works by visual confirmation.
Puzzles Two
The second puzzle is more open and lets the player figure it out more independently. The puzzle is based on getting from one side of the hole to the other.
This is done by destroying the first seen option of getting over, to then force the player to look around to find a back-end area where the answer lies, to solve the puzzle by dragging down another rock from the roof plugging the gap.
Scripting Showcase
In this showcase, I show the prototyped player mechanics I made for this project. I made these prototypes to get a good idea of how the real game environment would have been traversed.
Wall Climb
The wall climbing mechanic is based on the "Tomb Raider" climbing mechanic that exists in the game.
Ledge Climb
The ledge climb mechanic is based around the "Tomb Raider" ledge mechanic.
Final Thoughts
This project's main goal was to work on the level puzzle design and to improve my workflow when it comes to linear level design. I accomplished the main goal of delivering a moody cave level based around puzzle solving.
