SHARDS OF THE BANISHED

Shards of the Banished is a third-person combat-focused action game. It features a robust set of attacks, multiple enemy types, boss encounters, and an expansive fantasy world.

Level Designer

In production, half-time

Team

Summary

Shards of the Banised is a third-person combat-focused action game. A sickness has spread throughout the land. Crystals which possess a mysterious yet powerful energy pervade the land.

Play as a crownless king, dethroned by the denizens of his forsaken kingdom. Fight through the crystal corruption, restore the land to its former glory, and reclaim the throne.

Core Gameplay

COMBAT

Utilize a variety of combat mechanics to overcome your enemy.

TRAVERSAL
Climb, roll, dodge, and sprint you way through encounters. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.

Project Role

Level Designer

Created multiple level blockout iterations.
Built the first level of the game: The Cave.
Scheduled playtests and recorded feedback.
Collaborated with team to verify my vision aligned with theirs.
Added art assets to various parts of the level for final polish.

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9. PLAYER START

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13. Pre-Production

Research

I started by playing reference games and studying gameplay footage. This helped me get a better idea how to arrange the spaces in consideration of our design goals.

After getting a grasp on the combat feel and how it relates to the spaces, looked at specific examples of caves in souls-like games for reference.

Reference Material

I used PureRef to keep my personal references in one collection. The team had a shared moodboard as well.

My main goal was to get a grasp on the scale of the areas in the cave. Working on an organic environment was a challenge since they aren't clear metrics

Early sketch of the cave.

Pre-Alpha to Vertical Slice

Since I joined the team a couple months into development, my colleagues were very eager to test mechanics in a more cohesive space. Therefore, my first blockout was a rough exploration into a possible space to test our gameplay.

Player start

Enemy

Onboarding

Blockout

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SHARDS OF THE BANISHED
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Shards of the Banished is a third-person combat-focused game featuring multiple enemy types, bosses, a stat upgrade system, and a variety of melee combat abilities.

Role: Level Designer
Team Project Size: 22
Unreal Engine 5

PREPRODUCTION

Create and pitch design sketches
Align with team before creating in-engine blockouts
Conduct both internal and external playtests
Refine blockouts in response to feedback by colleagues and industry representatives
Place props throughout the level
Create and establish collaborative workflow using Unreal Engine's sublevel system
Close collaboration with artists in order to define the modular kit used to construct the level

ROLE

LEVEL FLOW

TECHNIQUES

WORKFLOW

THE SKETCH

THE LEVEL SKETCH

The sketch serves as my statement of intent. I've discovered that it helps communicate my design and gives me a chance to align my goals with those of the team.

THE BLOCKOUT

Modular kits are an essential part of my workflow. They help to provide a consistent scale throughout the level and make iteration quick and simple.

A simple before picture of what would become: The Construction Site, Gridlock, and Derailed.

At this stage, the player path was slightly unclear. I initially wanted to allow the player to explore a much larger area, believing that to be a meaningful decision.

However, the introduction of enemies encouraged me to create a more linear path, where pacing could be better controlled and player-decisions would have a richer context.

Additional elements such as the vehicles helped me guide the player between areas.

The more detailed structures are points of interest, and the player will be able to explore them.

Early versions had the player start the game facing a wall. There was a significant lack of meaningful information provided. Players would simply have to turn and look to the right to see the construction site and subway crash outside.

My solution was to immediately introduce relevant information to the player without requiring any additional inputs. Now, both the construction site and the subway crash are framed in the windows from the first moment of the game.

There is lack of leading lines, which I feel serve a nice supplementary function when reading an environment.

Lastly, beyond this space, the player is left without meaningful visual data to help them feel oriented in the overall space.

I provide a few leading lines for the player which point nicely to their goal. The support beams also block visual elements I felt were non-essential, while revealing just enough to help the player feel oriented in the level.

The framing of the ship, along with moving the brick pallet to the side strengthen the suggestion that their goal is ahead.

These details, which I intended to provide as a comfort to the player, enhance the unexpected fall they experience once they approach the planks.

Players fall and land in a room where one of the next areas is framed in the window.

To further strengthen this foreshadow, I extended a roof piece and added exterior walls. Additionally, the dual-pane window frame further divides the visual data, and helps to focus on critical elements.

Lastly, the brightly lit exterior against the dark interior provides a strong visual suggestion to the player that their next goal is outside.

What became Gridlock was a simple transition space. It lacked enemies, a clear path, and features a small sail boat. This boat was initially the end goal I wanted to show the player.

I continue to experiment with roof extensions and exterior walls to create a type of funnel.

The modest sailboat has been replaced by the USS Viking, a large Naval vessel.

The path is carved from a series of car wrecks. Not only does the player see their end goal landmark, the upcoming combat encounter is observed from a safe perspective. This allows players to plan their approach.

Initially, navigating the wreckage at Derailed lacked several elements to improve path variety. Furthermore, the lack of enemies meant the core gameplay wasn't fully represented.

I decided to iterate and playtest to see about possible solutions.

In consideration of the size and location of this area, I added enemies and a scripted event.

The enemy presence gives players a chance to further practice their combat or evasion skills in the largest encounter space so far.

The subway car serves as a unique platforming opportunity as well as a point of no return.

DOWNTOWN, ROUGH

DOWNTOWN, REFINED

THE OFFICE, ROUGH

THE OFFICE, REFINED

CONSTRUCTION SITE,
ROUGH

CONSTRUCTION SITE, REFINED

GRIDLOCK, ROUGH

GRIDLOCK, REFINED

DERAILED, ROUGH

DERAILED, REFINED

REFLECTIONS

This project was a fulfilling experience in iteration and playtesting. I conducted multiple daily playtests and leveraged feedback to cut and add elements as needed.

I also used this project to practice working on the grid, closely following metrics, and ensuring the level had consistent and believable scale.

The greatest challenge I faced was my tendency to add excessive elements to the level which did not hold up under scrutiny. It became easy to add more enemies or scripted events. However, feedback helped focus my design on details that directly and significantly contributed to the intended player experience.

Overall, I am happy with this level. The feedback and guidance I received from Tid Cooney was a defining moment in my level design career.

Matthew Williams Level Designer

SHARDS OF THE BANISHED

Level Designer

In production, half-time

Team

Summary

Core Gameplay

Project Role

Level Designer

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PLAYER START

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Pre-Production

Research

Reference Material

Pre-Alpha to Vertical Slice

Blockout

SHARDS OF THE BANISHED UNDER CONSTRUCTION

PREPRODUCTION

THE LEVEL SKETCH

THE BLOCKOUT

DOWNTOWN, ROUGH

DOWNTOWN, REFINED

THE OFFICE, ROUGH

THE OFFICE, REFINED

CONSTRUCTION SITE, ROUGH

CONSTRUCTION SITE, REFINED

GRIDLOCK, ROUGH

GRIDLOCK, REFINED

DERAILED, ROUGH

DERAILED, REFINED

REFLECTIONS

Matthew Williams
Level Designer

SHARDS OF THE BANISHED
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION SITE,
ROUGH