BEHIND ENEMY LINES
A Third-person Experience
Summary
You are an Italian WWII soldier who wakes up after being knocked out on the battlefield, to discover the Nazis have advanced on the village you swore to protect. With your allies cornered, you must fight through enemy lines to save them.​
Goals
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Creating a Holistic Experience​
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Variation in Gameplay
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Building Tension
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Combat design
Project Breakdown
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Solo 8 Weeks halftime (4hours/day)​
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Created using Unreal Engine 5 and Blender
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All scripts created by me
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Marketplace assets/plugins used
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​Animations from ALS by Caleb Longmire
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Tank model by vmatthew
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Plane model by ThomasBeerens
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​Car model by Kesenkai
Trailer
Overview
4
3
5
7
2
6
8
1
9
1. Village Reveal
4. The Village
7. The Church
2. The Farm
5. Foreshadow
8. The Chase
3. The Tower
6. The Piazza
9. The Finale
Level Breakdown
ACT I
Establishing Shot
A grand vista is a great tool to both impress the player as well as giving them a clear picture of the environment. By immediately letting the player see the end goal, the state it is in, as well as the nazis marching towards it, I effectively convey what has happened, what is going to happen and where the player needs to go.
The Plane Crash
Building up to the plane crash I want to give it as much impact as possible. By lowering the tempo and concealing the end goal I want to put the player in a state of false safety and leading them forward with their own will to discover what is around the next corner.
The Tower
Dynamic environments create a more living and engaging player experience, forcing them to not only act but also to react to changing variables around them.
The entire tower section was originally never planned for. Merely a product of sudden inspiration: “What if a tower falls and you need to climb up through it”. When the plane whizzes by, it slightly grazes the tower, later triggering a chain reaction that grants the player a safe path into town.
ACT II
Entering The Town
Upon entering the town, the church is placed prominently to once again reinstate it as the players sole end goal. High up away from the enemies patrolling the courtyard the player has a safe spot to plan out their action. In contrast to the previous enemy encounter the player is now the hunter instead of the hunted and can choose whether to stealthily pass them by or go in guns blazing.
Tank Forshadowing
The tank is introduced as a Chekhov's gun, prompting them to stay on their toes. I want this to feel eerie and foreboding.
La Piazza
At the foot of the church the player’s allies are having their last stand against the enemy. I want the player to feel like they are fighting alongside their allies and grant them the power fantasy of sneaking behind enemy lines and picking them off one by one with their backs turned.
ACT III
Subverting Expectations
Upon reaching the end goal the level could realistically end. Having rescued the civilians inside the church from the threat outside, I want the player to feel proud, powerful, and truly safe for the first time, now being surrounded by friendly faces, letting their guard down. That feeling gets flipped on its head when Chekhov's gun fires and the Tank bursts through the wall blasting the player’s allies to shreds.
The Chase
The Tank chase is designed to be high pace with many twists and turns to make the player feel trapped and hunted separated from their new found friends. Firstly I want to prove to the player that the Tank is a real threat by showing its ferocity and destructive power. By letting the player escape the tanks line of sight I give them a moment to breathe and digest what just happened, before throwing back in the line of fire.
The Finale
I want the level to have a satisfying ending where the player is damaged, weak, and cornered with nowhere left to run, yet given one final chance to destroy the tank.
When creating scripted events, I believe it is important not to take away the player's control of their character. Games are an interactive medium where the player should feel fully immersed in the world for as long as possible. Instead of cutting to a cinematic that shows the player character blowing up the tank, I want the player to be the one firing the final bullet.
Production
Level Beats
I begin my design process by brainstorming and mapping out potential level beats and memorable moments. Writing down every idea, even those that may not be feasible, fills the page with possibilities. From there, I refine the concept by subtracting weaker ideas, keeping only the most exciting ones while considering the project’s scope. This process helps me start visualizing the level before any actual design work begins.
Gatering References
I research environments and gather reference pictures for inspiration. Collecting them in one place provides a strong visual overview.
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I study real-world locations, concept art, and game environments with a similar mood or architectural style. Using tools like Miro or PureRef, I can quickly access these references while blocking out the level. Instead of focusing on fine details, I analyze shapes, layouts, and spatial compositions that guide the blockout. A strong reference library ensures I never start with a blank canvas and always have something to draw from.
Paper Design
Sketching by hand is fast, flexible, and allows me to explore multiple ideas without committing to a specific design too early. It helps me focus on overall structure, flow, and spatial relationships rather than getting caught up in details.
Blockout
I constantly switch between drawing top-down layouts and blocking out in the engine. While drawing is quick and flexible, it is only when viewed from the player’s perspective that space, distances, and visibility truly come into focus.
To keep iteration fast, I make the blockout as rough as possible, focusing on playability rather than polish. My goal is to reach a minimal viable product as early as possible to allow for rapid testing and refinement.​​
Working with
Third-person Perspective
A great example paper design not showing the entire story is that some of my original top-down drawings were nearly mirrored to how the level later turned out. The player camera sits over the character’s right shoulder, meaning key information should be placed on the right side. Likewise, when walking along a wall, it should always be on the left to ensure proper camera collision. It was not until blocking out and playtesting where I instantly felt that the layout needed to be mirrored
Player Scripting
The player scripting and animation blueprint was created by me from scratch using animation assets from the ALS animation pack. I Researched using a motion matching system instead but deciding not to, due to it being less flexible and much more performance heavy, which wouldn't work for the amount of animated AI I was planning to have on screen at once.
AI Scripting
The AI was scripted using behavior trees and the EQS system for finding cover and line of sight. Other than that the AI is very simple with only two states: Patrolling or In Combat. The AI combat behavior is to always try to keep line of sigh on the attack target and stay with in a reasonable distance, only peaking when firing, switching cover, or pushing the player. The EQS quarries are quite sparse, sacrificing accuracy for performance, allowing for more large scale combat scenarios.
Playthrough
Reflections
If I were to redesign this level for an actual game, I would focus much more on pacing. The level is designed to serve more as a showcase of exciting moments and gameplay beats. Due to time constraints, I prioritized big action sequences, resulting in the level constantly being jam-packed with high-intensity gameplay. While there is plenty of gameplay variety, the pacing rarely slows down, which can be fatiguing for players. I would add more moments of calm, like exploring buildings for loot or solving simple traversal puzzles, to create better contrast and flow.
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I would also include more stealth sections. The player is meant to feel like they are deep in enemy territory, always on high alert. I wanted to create more moments where you sneak beneath or above patrolling enemies, making it feel like you’re being hunted. Although it was cut early in development, I had planned for a stealth section similar to the outskirts in The Last of Us when you leave the first quarantine zone. The player would have to sneak through deep trenches while enemy soldiers, wielding flashlights, search for survivors among fallen allies, executing any they find. That kind of tension would have added a lot to the experience.
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Closing thoughts on this project. This is my biggest and most ambitious project to date. I have poured blood, sweat, and tears into it, and seeing the final result, it was worth every second. I am incredibly happy to showcase something I am truly proud of. I love level design with all my heart, and having the opportunity to express my creativity in this way is something I will be forever grateful for.
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Thank you for reading!!!