Malin Wong "Laboratory" UT3 map level design

Art Corinne Boman
Level Design and lightning Malin Wong

Link to pak file if you want to play it.

"Laboratory" is a catch the flag map made for Unreal Tournament 3 (community). The setting is an underground lab, where something seems to have went horribly wrong. The map is mirrored, so both teams have the same preconditions, even though the teams swap side halftime.

A = Spawn 1

B = Flag

C = Sideroom 2

D = Spawn 2

E = Elevator

F = Elevator up

G = Killingfloor, focal point

H = Upper part of side path

I = Lower, sneaky part of side path

J = Elevator room

Design intentions:

- Works for different playstyles

- The killing floor is the focal point

- Work together within your team

This map is designed for both sneaky plays and quick pace combat. The large “killing floor” area is filled with possible cover and and there’s at least 4 paths to get over the killing floor, but you will probably need to work together with your teammates and form strategies to get there. 

I wanted alot of action, especially around the focal point, which is why I went with a smaller map with a slight bottleneck for the action around the killing floor (G).    

Topdown view of the map in “Lit” mode, showing the two floors and the possible routes to go over the killing floor.

Design intentions:

- Many possible routes.

- Anyone can play…

- Strategizing opportunities.

Anyone can play this map, however for maximum winrate it's probably better to form a game plan, meaning that more advanced players have the opportunity to strategize in multiple ways here. For example, the flagbase room. 

Design intentions:

- Classic comp (2 defenders, 1 midlaner & 2 attackers)

- Teamwork & strategy

- Purposeful spacial design

The way it’s built makes it hard for defenders in the classical team composition (2,1,2) to successfully defend the flagbase without teamwork and strategy. Everything in this room is placed purposefully, for example the shape of the room doesn’t have harsh edges and corners in which you can camp. 

With some exceptions:

However, if you choose to camp there it won’t really do you any good… for example, if you stand on the balcony in the corner above:

You will need to listen for the elevator that gives a sound que from behind when someone is approaching from that direction. Standing on the balcony, or camping in the other spots, you are not going to be able to have view over all the entrances.

Design intentions:

- Listen for sound cues

- No full vision

- Strategize

The composition of this room also makes it, like I mentioned, hard for 2 people to defend if they’re not working together well or have some sort of strategy, since it's built in a way that 2 people can never have full vision over all the entrances at once. This makes it easier for the attackers to, as a reward for successfully bashing or sneaking across the killing floor, grab the flag! I wanted to create a map that was going to be filled with a lot of action, so that's why the map is relatively small aswell as rewarding for the attackers.

There are 5 entry points to the flag room, which might sound like a lot, but this is to minimize the risk of someone from the defending side just camping entrances and preventing the attackers from even having a chance.

Design intentions:

- Hard to defend

- Rewarding for the attackers

- Minimize predictability

The 5 entries also originate from 3 separate “main” paths, the two on the sides and the one in the middle. The ones on the side then split up in order for the attackers to choose a path and not feel trapped, as well as making the gameplay less predictable for the defenders.

In order for the players to never feel trapped the paths into the flagbase are never longer than 2000 units (4 standard walls) in length before providing some sort of way off the path, in case you need an escape route.

Design intentions: "Forced" path max 2000 units, break off, escape!

And of course, not without cover for the player.

Something I’ve tried to use a lot in the level are guiding walls and lines. The way the level is built you never have to stop and make a sharp turn with the use of your keyboard when making it to the flagbase, you can just follow the walls and move your mouse. I wanted the level to have a natural flow, and seemlessly guide the player forward by using angled walls etc. 

Examples:

I also tried using leading/guiding lines by entrances and doorways, so the player would instantly know where the path continues. 

These are some examples, showing both sides of the same door:

There is also leading/guiding lines across the level to hint the player where to go, especially around corners where you can’t see the entrance. Notice also how all the entrances have similar shapes. This is for the player to subconsciously remember that this shape resembles somewhere you can go through. The way I built the light also focuses a lot on entrances and doors. There is always contrast in the light to visualize the exits and entrances easier for the player.

Design intentions:

- Consistent shape language to communicate with your subconcious mind

- Visualizing with light, contrasts

This picture represents how the lines on the wall as well as the symbols above entrances show the player to the exits or different paths. The lines on the wall suddently cut off as there’s a door, and the lines help emphasize this.

The lines also bend down into a sort of arrow formation to show, together with the red flag icon, that it’s an entrance to the flag base.

All exit signs lead out to the “killing floor”. This is to prevent players from feeling lost and loosing their sense of direction, as the map should not have much of a learning curve before being playable.

Design intentions:

- Guiding lines

- Signs to show where the routes lead

(Easy navigation)

The unlit example of the killing floor showing pipes on the walls going downwards - indicating that the floor does this aswell for the sneaky path, making it easier to spot from the side if you're not exiting your base in front of it.

Possible routes along with heatmaps from one teams perspective, from spawn. This does not show, however, the underlying paths, since it's a topdown picture and there's multiple levels. 

The colors represent the heat (pacing) in colors, and red is where the highest tempo and threat is, while orange is more tension.

The threat is mostly because of the openness on the killing floor. This picture also shows some routes you can take on the side, one of which is playfully dashing/parkouring between the tanks.

This picture represents the openness on the killing floor vs the "closed"-ness around spawn, where there's less enemies and calmer areas for better pacing.

Here's a video of one of my classmates playing the map for the first time. This was during early blockout, and I ended up polishing some spacing and height of objects, but the layout mostly remained the same.

Because we forgot to start the recording, they start from spawn at 0:40.

Thank you for reading!