Carter Greene
© Carter Greene 2023

LEVEL DESIGN

I oversaw the development process for all 16+ of our game’s unique battle maps. My work included concept sketching, blocking out in-engine, scripting with Blueprints, and arranging final art assets.

My original concept sketch for a kitchen-themed level, which was originally envisioned as a Clean of the Hill map.

The battle map, Island, as it now appears in-game.

CONCEPTING

As our game was centered around household cleaning robots, we wanted each map to embody familiar domestic spaces where objects that you commonly find in those settings have been repurposed as makeshift obstacles for players to engage with, as if someone had literally converted their home into a battle arena.


When brainstorming, I often took inspiration from rooms and elements found around my own house, which helped the environments I designed feel more true-to-life. It was a lot of fun coming up with different ways to weaponize everyday appliances as stage hazards.

Many maps began as concept sketches I made such as the one of Island pictured above. Some, like Playpen and Hardhat Zone (shown here), sprang forth from test levels other programmers and I had used to experiment with game systems, which we would reimagine to fit a specific theme.


Others still began as concepts created by other team members, like Aquarium and Factory. In such cases I typically provided creative oversight as a design consultant, offering critique and assisting with level and blueprint construction as needed. More information about my level scripting process can be found on my Technical Design page.

Given the amount of maps we were scoping for, it was important to me that each level had its own unique elements that distinguished it from the rest in both gameplay and aesthetics. I tried to include as many hidden interactable mechanics as I could to encourage players to fully explore each setting and use the environment to their advantage.


For each level, I also had to take into account how the space would look from the players' isometric camera perspective, which presented unique design challenges. For instance, I had to be very thoughtful with my use of tall set-pieces as it was easy for them to obscure parts of the level from view. This impacted how I designed for verticality. Some level ideas, like Bedroom, were left on the cutting room floor for this reason.



AQUARIUM – This level was concepted by our 2D artist, Daniel Douros. I scripted the broken tank/flooding mechanic, placed environmental set-pieces, added sequences for background elements like the fish and drowned Broombot, and applied the final lighting pass.

CLASSIC DINER – This ended up being one of our most visually distinct maps, due in no small part to our 3D artist Adam Gaddis. This was another map with a lot of hidden details that I loved implementing, like how the background music skips if you run into the jukebox, or how you’ll get a butcher’s knife thrown your way if you dwell too close to the kitchen.

KINDERGARTEN – This level gets the “Most Improved” award. In our alpha version, it was emblematic of issues we were having with Clean of the Hill map design. Later in development I gave the map a complete overhaul, designing for verticality with scalable set-pieces. Giving the map a top and bottom lane in this manner improved complexity tremendously.

FINE DINING – This was the first real map that I tried to create, and it stayed all the way to the end. It’s a very simple layout, with one platform in the middle, assorted obstacles on top, and a kill-box below. One of my favorite details is that the countertop from Island is off-screen, and can be seen if you dash off towards the edge of the level.

ATTIC – This was the final level I developed myself before our game’s release. It was particularly challenging to design for, as there needed to be a certain amount a clutter for the space to feel authentic and I wanted those elements to be useful in gameplay as well.

FACTORY – This map was originally concepted by our 2D artist, Daniel Douros, who developed the treadmill and breakable boxes blueprints. My role largely involved setting the level layout and arranging background elements like the storage shelf pictured here.

ISLAND – This is another one of our earliest maps. Originally, there was no flooding at the bottom of the map, but I wanted to add it in later in development to help contextualize the floor as a kill-zone and give the level as a whole more character.

BOILER ROOM – This level began as a concept called “Dark Basement” by our 2D artist Daniel Douros, which I fleshed out into the level seen here. It features a reactive central boiler that changes the level when players hit red valves hidden throughout the map. I include a detailed breakdown of the level further down on this page.

BASEMENT – This level was originally the alpha map for our Clean of the Hill mode. Well into the project, I decided to give the map a massive overhaul so that it would play better with our improved movement system. I also added elements like the Pool Table for that extra level of interactivity.

HOME GYM – If I could choose any map that I wish I had time to redesign, it would be this one. It has some fun set-pieces like the trampoline and crushing dumbbells, but it’s a little flat structurally and lacks the visual flair that the rest of our maps have. I still think its layout is different enough from the other COTH maps to make it worth playing on!

POOL – This map was an idea our team had since the beginning of development, but one that we couldn’t execute until our movement system was finalized much later on. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I especially love the blowup flamingo in the middle that bounces you away with a “BOING!”

SEWER – This map was developed alongside Boiler Room as part of a free content update. It was originally concepted by our lead producer, Gabriel Rickabaugh, and much of the scripting work was handled by programmers Daniel Douros and Nathan Garreau. I did, however, implement the flooding sequences and concepted the Sewer Monster mechanic.

BATHROOM – This map is one of my favorites, and not just because I enjoy potty humor. I am particularly proud of the interactive set-pieces I was able to implement, like the hidden nook behind the openable cabinet door, the slamming toilet seat, the sink that you can flood, and of course the potty-putter on the ground.

HARDHAT ZONE – This was one of the first maps that we finished, and it began as a test map called “High Ground.” The level continuously evolved throughout the project’s lifespan as I constantly found myself going back to add more things to it, namely ignitable oil slicks and visual details.

PLAYPEN – This level was repurposed from our original test map, and is meant to be a simplistic playing field with minimal hazards. There isn’t very much for me to say about it other than that it is technically the very first map we made.

GARDEN – This was probably the most difficult battle map to get right, especially when I was working out metrics on it. The level is surrounded on all sides by a tall white fence that obscures the camera view, which made me far more cognizant of where to place important level elements. I did hide an easter egg for players who manage to escape.

A gallery of all 16 of our game’s main levels (not including a few secret ones you can find)!

DESIGNING FOR MULTIPLAYER

As a competitive game intended for party settings, I strived to design our game for a broad appeal. I often considered the motivations of various player types when designing play spaces – particularly the four defined in Richard Bartle’s taxonomy as outlined below. Each game system was made with one or more of these motivations in mind.

FIGHTERS – Players focused on competition and combat often seek to creatively use level elements to gain the upper hand. I wanted to reward players who thought outside the box by including hazards in the environment that could be employed to take opponents out en masse. Examples I implemented include:

–  igniting oil slicks with explosions

–  electrifying water puddles by hitting breaker boxes

–  pushing boxes off a ledge to crush enemies below

–  knocking over cups filled with sharp objects that can fall onto unsuspecting opponents

EXPLORERS – I wanted to reward players who went out of their way to find hidden elements throughout the level. In Clean of the Hill mode for instance, there are dust deposits in nearly every nook and cranny, and especially large caches are found in hard-to-reach areas. Many of our combat levels also have out-of-bounds secrets for players who like to bend the rules, some of which are tied to Steam achievements. Examples I implemented include:

–  a speeding car that runs you over if you escape the Garden

–  a playable Pool table that you need to platform up to in Basement

–  a hidden power-up balloon behind an openable cabinet in Bathroom

–  a hint for finding the secret developer level hidden in the background of Playpen

ACHIEVERS – Our integration with Steam achievements incentivizes special interactions that engage with the level design. For instance, one of our achievements requires players to pull off a triple-ricochet bullet kill, encouraging players to analyze level structure to find the best place to pull it off. Our Clean of the Hill maps are another good example, as strategic platforming challenges and clever environmental manipulation are essential for accessing larger dust deposits and power-ups, catering to players who demonstrate mastery in movement and exploration.

SOCIALIZERS – Our game is built entirely around a competitive social experience – Broombot it at its best when players are shouting and laughing with one another and one of my biggest design goals was to facilitate these moments of unexpected hilarity through unique gameplay mechanics and personality. Having seen player reactions at events like PAX East 2023, I can happily say that we were very successful in this regard.

A collage of icons from achievements I concepted.

(2D art by Daniel Douros)

LEVEL BREAKDOWN: BOILER ROOM

Rather than discuss my level design process across all maps, I would like to highlight a single map and talk about its production.


Boiler Room is a Clean of the Hill and Oddbot map released with our game’s third free content update.

This level best exemplifies how my development style evolved overtime on this project.

CONCEPT AND LAYOUT

My level design process begins with identifying and documenting ideas for mechanics and set-pieces, outlining their affordances, and then building small-scale interactions to explore how those elements can work in tandem. I then piece these interactions together to develop a full map layout. This phase happens before any work is done in-engine.


For Boiler Room, my goal was to offer players a wider set of traversal and map rotation options than our previous maps. Such a level would align nicely with the launch of our new Oddbot mode, which places emphasis on mobility and quick escapes.


Another unique concept we wanted to implement was having the level's layout change progressively during the match. This and the steam pipe mechanic were the main gameplay elements that I preserved from our team's original idea for the level.


To empower player agency, I designed these changes to occur when players interact with valves hidden throughout the level. Turning each valve will cause the central boiler, and level itself, to grow more unstable.


DESIGNING FOR MOBILITY

After settling on the level’s general structure, I moved to Unreal Engine to begin scripting blueprints based on my design specifications. With player mobility being emphasized so heavily, I needed to include enough negative space in the layout for players to properly navigate and react at high speeds.

The final layout I eventually settled on (shown above) utilizes a stairstep structure, with player spawns on the low-ground and an upper lane that can only be accessed via platforming or air duct passageways. Structuring the level this way not only provided a sense of verticality but also ensured foreground elements weren’t obscured by the map’s upper lanes, circumventing any issues with our isometric camera perspective.


I still wanted to keep players attentive to their surroundings when rotating through the map at max velocity, so I broke up the more spacious areas with hazards to avoid such as the mousetraps, which latch onto the Broombot and apply a temporary slowing debuff.


Pipes, oil slicks, and steam plumes provided additional natural obstacles for players to maneuver around. When the boiler goes into meltdown, all steam plumes additionally ignite to become lethal fire traps. This further discouraged careless movement.

BLUEPRINTING

Our level’s metrics were heavily dependent on the amount of mobility provided by certain mechanics, so developing functional prototypes for these elements as early as possible was crucial to getting a sense of how much spacing to include in my level design.


When scripting these features, I often had to account for how each system would work in tandem with others I introduced, requiring extensive testing and problem solving. The boiler’s meltdown mechanic in particular was concepted to spark many chain reactions at once, as steam plumes that became fire traps could ignite oil slicks or detonate explosive barrels in their radius. This necessitated communication and troubleshooting between many different blueprints.


As this map was intended for a post-development update, I had limited time to work on it compared to levels I had developed early in the project’s lifespan. I often had to devise efficient and expedient solutions for implementing certain mechanics. However, thanks to the hard work of our project engineers throughout development, I had an extensive library of pre-existing systems I could utilize to implement my ideas. The air duct passages, for instance, repurposes code from the Teleport power-up.

A video demonstration of my blueprint scripting work on Boiler Room. Integration of these new systems was seamless thanks to developer tools created by our programmers.

AESTHETICS PASS

The color scheme of the level’s dim basement setting played a crucial role during the art pass. Carefully incorporated splashes of red and orange contrast nicely against the gray tones of the walls and floor, creating an inherent design language that draws attention to interactable level elements such as valves, explosive barrels, and flames.


After replacing all blockout assets with new meshes from our art team, I conducted a final lighting pass to infuse more life into the environment. Spotlights aimed at the ground further break up the negative space, while darkening the overall skylight helped the flames from the central boiler stand out prominently.


Finally, I gathered sound assets and implemented them with my functional blueprints. After playtesting and iterating as needed, Boiler Room was ready to be released as part of our third free content update.

Boiler Room as it appears in the current version of the game!

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