Level Design & Level Art composition (Area 4: The old land)
Game pitch
Set out on a foraging adventure to restore your childhood home after a devastating storm! Help the community find harmony in nature! Learn real-world techniques to identify wild flora and fungi, cure plant blindness, cook tasty recipes and master herbal remedies in this cozy, sustainable life sim.
Level Overview
Project Details
Area 4 is the most opened area of the game composed with an old farm and windmills, a light broadleaf forest and old fields
Open world level on unreal 5.3 Focus on nature authenticity and navigation 4 seasons with different vegetation Mix narration, progression and replayability for areas
2D Topdown Level Design
Area 4
Multiple iterations where made for this results, they are found here:
Different version of Area4
Steps of production
First 2D Iteration
Plant distribution
Undetailed overview
Detailed part
3D Sculpting
Details of vegetation
What I learned
Natural authenticity
In order to create these spaces, forests and natural aspects of the game, I made a lot of research from the type of each plants, it's proximity with other areas, water, elevation, wildlife and climate change
Navigation and POI
It is important to guide the player using vegetation and terrain but remain naturally accurate. Guiding the player to foregeable zones and Points Of Interst is important to not loose or bore them. Especially since this is a farming game where players go multiple times to the same regions
Stealth / Direct Fight
In the game, environment tells a lot about the region. The game takes places after a huge storm and players will be able to unlock areas and activities with time. Showing them options and the damage of nature in the map helps with immersion. There are multiple seasons in the game which means that the map's visuals change over time and structures are upgraded