First Comes Love, Then Come Zombies
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Highlights
Level Aesthetics, Comedy Writing
Commentary Video
Contents
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Quick Summary
My Dying Light mod, "First Comes Love, Then Come Zombies" demonstrates my ability to produce an appealing level with great gameplay. It features combat with explosions, traps, area control, and melee weapons. I put my sketch comedy writing skills to use and pushed my visual aesthetics further than they had gone before.
Development Timeline
Week 1
Week 2
Weeks 3-5
Weeks 6-7
Weeks 8-10
Level Design Document
Whitebox
Initial Gameplay
Gameplay Complete
Aesthetics & Launch
Drafted up maps for interior and exterior world space.
Implemented world geometry and mission sequences.
Includes combat encounters and placeholder dialogue.
Combat, parkour, narrative script, lighting, decoration.
Expanded gameplay possibilities in the interior cathedral.
Refined and polished the gameplay throughout.
Nighttime lighting, decorative props, decals, particles, music & sound effects.
Level Design Goals
Design Goal #1: Maximize aesthetics, accounting for the time-of-day system.
Shadows & the Path of the Sun
My design doc's overview map took height & cardinal directions into consideration to minimize looming shadows, no matter the time of day.
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Nighttime Lighting Pass
I peppered the level with after-dark lighting so it could be played as a stealth mission.
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Design Goal #2: Entertain the player with situational comedy.
Zombie Apocalypse Wedding
I challenged myself to write an entire wedding ceremony laced with comedic moments.
The theory of comedy proved helpful.
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Grounded Character, Crazy Characters
Bride and groom Abdullah & Zhanna have odd reasoning, motivations, and vocal quirks.
The wedding minister Nuri functions as the voice of reason.
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Theory of the Game
Each character has to want something, which causes them to interact with the others.
Those interactions give rise to a game, and that game has to be engaging for each character.
"Our celestial bodies keep bumping into each other. Baby, you're my stardust."
"We can't bail out ... it would be rude to the guests."
Postmortem
What Went Well
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I made sure early on that I had the mod kit pieces to create the world space I dreamt of.
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I leaned into my proficiencies and past successes with comedy and romance.
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I expanded the gameplay in the climax sequence midstream and refined it to a level of polish, verifying that playtesters and audiences watching it on a stream thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Jumping into the editor without much documentation, I discovered features and functions to build the level.
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I treated lighting as a core design consideration for visuals and referred to resources on cinematography.
What Went Wrong
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The player didn't have enough of a goal in the climax sequence at first. So I added gameplay midstream which posed technical risks I hadn't mitigated in preproduction.
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While linear flow made for a great sequence of narrative beats, the movement constraints used to achieve it were an exception to Dying Light's typical parkour style.
What Was Learned
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"Photography is always about the light, no matter what the subject." - National Geographic, Dawn to Dark
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3-point lighting can make characters and scenes pop, although it's less important once the action starts.
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Each scene should push not just plot but also gameplay forward, especially in an action-adventure game. Giving the player a weapon, for example, can help justify a brief scene.
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Shadow casting lights can be worth the extra performance cost since shadows add depth to a scene.
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I found the fun in certain gameplay interactions, like explosions with lots of enemies in a small space.
Photo Gallery
