Aliens Dark Descent
Introduction
Aliens Dark Descent is a Tactical in realtime taking place in the Alien franchise, made by Tindalos Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive.
I worked as a level designer for a bit more one year on this project, that was made on Unreal Engine 4.
Level 03: "The Refinery"
For the first floor, I wanted to have a linear golden path to facilitate the guiding. and I hade some little rooms where the player can explore to find resources.
To give the feeling the infestation is growing, the player will not find any aliens at the beginning but they arrive as they go along (the spawn points, in red, are activating when the player is near them)​​​
​The interest of the second floor is mainly narrative. This is where the player learns about the "Guardian" and the location of the containers he is looking for. To keep a good pace, the dialogue sequences are separated by action sequences like ambushes.​
​​​In the basement, Marlow (the main antagonist) and the Praetorian (a mini-boss) are introduced, so the level design is adapted to present them all.
The Praetorian is an enemy who sneaks into the darkness, calls other aliens for help, and harasses the player. The room is full of dark zones where the Praetorian can hide and flee, as well as ventilation openings with aliens inside that respond to the Praetorian's calls for help.
To present Marlow as the main antagonist, the player is trapped in a room with numerous aliens around him. This is the end of the level, so the pacing is the highest of the level to create a climax.
Level 05: “Pioneer Station”
For this floor, I had to take the same floor than the tutorial. To give the feeling the aliens took the control of the floor, the paths are blocked and force him to take a longer path. This is also the introduction of the Androids. To show their behaviour there are some of them on the golden path. They are in tight corridors so they can easily reach the player and show how they fight.
The floor ends with the fight against the Queen. My intentions for this fight was to force the player to use his environment to avoid and kill the enemies. The Queen is the main threat, and the android's job is to force the player to constantly move.
To help him to beat the enmies, he can use the oil puddles.
By setting them on fire he can block ways to slow down the enemies.
Level 06: “Atmospheric processor 27”
The Queen's room is full of electric traps that hurts any entity who walks inside. Warriors (a kind of aliens who can tackle the marines) spawn and can immobilize the marines in the electric traps. The Queen can be immobilize with a grenade in the electric traps to deal lots of damages.
Level 11: “The Refinery”
For the level 11, I retook some sequences my coworkers did.
This defense is the last of the game so it must be epic. The renforcement of the APC (the vehicle) gives fire support to the marines, so the player has the sensation he is fighting against many enemies but the difficulty is easy.