Cyberpunk LD

Level Design Exercice

Cyberpunk 2077

Made in 5 days

Unreal Engine

The Challenges

The choice of the type of activity was a struggle. At first I was interested in making an encounter for a quest. However, I realized that to produce something original and consistent, I needed to create parts of the quest. I wanted to focus on the creation of an encounter as it is the simple way to showcase my understanding of cyberpunk level design. So I decided to work on a GIG.

The format of the GIG have specificities that I had to take into account. Compare to a quest, GIGs are often locations in the world that can be played from different approaches.

There are also different types of GIGs according to the objective, which are different from quests that are, most of the time, narrative-based.

This is why I decided to work on a “SOS Merc needed” type of GIG. It gives me the opportunity to create a level that could be engaged with in different ways.

Cyberpunk level design seems to be created to focus on different paths for players that will suit them according to their character build and playstyle. The level will need to support different playstyles. The focus was also on designing combat spaces with different level ingredients and archetypes of enemies.

The Stealth path

For the stealth path, the challenge for players is to find the perfect way to reach the objective without being detected.

Players will have to observe the patrol of the enemies to act accordingly.

They can use hacking to deal with specific situations, multiple objects are placed in the level, and the player could interact with them to distract the enemies.

Since the position of the objective is unknown, the stealth path is challenging due to the choices of path players must make. Every choice has consequences that can put players in difficult situations, potentially wasting time and extending their effort.

The final challenge is to leave the place with Dan’s body on their shoulder without being noticed.

Attributes door

Basic door

Locked door

Walls

Cover/Block

Enemy

Enemy patrol

Objective/Dan

The Tech path

For the tech path, the challenge is situational. It is the special tech attributes that gives players the opportunity to open this path. It presents the advantage for players to explore a new part of the level. It is shorter but not less challenging and allows players to discover an new part of the level's lore. It also link to the other paths.

To balance it, players will not have many options, and they will have to deal with enemies that they can't work around. This is where the challenge lies.

Attributes door

Basic door

Locked door

Walls

Cover/Block

Enemy

Enemy patrol

Objective/Dan

Graphic References

Focusing on cyberpunk level design and manage the different playstyles Defining intentions and references Defining metrics and creating gameplay ingredients Creating 3D layout in Unreal Engine 4 Creating documentation

Work Highlights

Location : Sewage treatment plant at Santo Domingo

Time of the day : It’s GIG so players can decide to do the mission at any time of the day

Objectives : Players have to find Dan Pedroza and liberate him from the scavengers.

Characters : V, Scavengers, Dan Pedroza, Muamar Reyes

Players abilities : Players can use all the game mechanics from Cyberpunk.

Ambiance / Flavor : Clammy and dirty, one would even say sloppy. Scavengers use the place as a squat. It’s organised but careless.

________________________________________

Story : V received a call from Muamar Reyes who explains the situation.

There is a sewage treatment facility in Santo Domingo near the river, between Arroyo and Vista Del Rey.

Some people are responsible for maintaining these facilities, but few actually do it, it's just fake jobs.

Dan Pedroza is one of these men, he disappeared after wanting to come back to work like an honest man.

His devoted wife pays us to find him and bring him back alive.

The problem is that several scavengers are squatting on the premises. it's already not looking good for Mr Pedroza…

Narrative details : These kinds of facilities have been abandoned for several years, as the problem of sewage disposal in Night City was unmanageable.

The scavengers use this facility to pass bodies more easily. In fact, in the last room of the place, There is a mechanical system to measure the water quality from water coming directly from the pipe. They rebuilt the system to grab bodies that they deliver through there.

My intentions were as follows :

Players can choose different ways to go through the encounter.
It’s totally dependent on their playstyles and attributes.

Players have to find the way to reach their objective. It is not obvious.

All the elements of the space can be used by players but also by the enemies

The environment is created to be consistent with the Cyberpunk 2077 universe

Ingredients and Metrics

As it was supposed to be a level from Cyberpunk with the game mechanics of it. I wanted to create and place the different gameplay elements usually used to be « hackable » in different ways.

They are placeholders only, but they can give an idea of what I would have wanted in terms of placement.

Level's overview

The biggest challenge players will have to face is the placement of the objective.

With some exceptions, players will not be able to reach the objective straight. They will have to explore the level and find the different ways to unlock their way to Dan.

Actually, Dan is in a room that Scavengers used as a cold room and he is still alive. The only entry to this room is locked.

Players are likely to reach the entry without knowing that it is locked.

The only alternative is to reach the control room at the higher level, and unlocked all the doors of the facility.

The fact that they don’t have the information at the beginning will force players to navigate the entire level to finally arrive at the solution.

The second challenge consists of the different paths that players can take. The choice is usually made by players' playstyles and attributes, but here, the choice must be made at the beginning of the encounter.

The different paths are :

The stealth path
The combat path
The Tech path

They all are represented by a different colours on the layout, and They all have different challenges.

The combat path

For the combat path, players’ challenges will be on the choice of covers and their placement. They must find good lines of sight to deal with their enemies. They also must deal with the structure of the facility which puts them at a disadvantage, requiring them to shoot enemies from a lower level.

Upon entering the facility, this path gives players several options: