Crysis 2: Collapse
Alcatraz finds himself in a NY sewer system after a major earthquake. After emerging onto the streets above, Alcatraz must locate any surviving marines he can and fight off the Ceph invasion in the collapsing cityscape.
Tech
Crysis 2 SDK, Flowgraph visual scripting
Role
Level Designer
Platform
PC
Released
May 2021
Level Design Highlights
This is a single player level for the campaign of the FPS Crysis 2. The level focuses on visual composition techniques and interesting enemy combat encounters.
Visual Composition
Drawing from my thesis experience, I wanted to incorporate visual composition techniques into my level design. I used the "series of paintings" method I describe in the 'Design as Paintings' section, as well as the use of framing and negative space to both visually appeal to the player and to provide information and foreshadowing to the player as they navigate the level.
Catastrophic Beauty
The Crysis 2 designers described their visual style as "catastrophic beauty" - the chaos of the ruined cityscape of New York had an aspect of natural beauty to it. My goal in visual composition was to capture that same style. As the level progresses, the environment turns gradually from symmetric shapes and right angles to rugged terrain and chaotic paths.
Combat Spaces
One of my goals was to utilize the interesting combat and movement mechanics available to the Ceph enemies in Crysis 2. Every space with combat, particularly with Stalkers, I designed to provide unique movement methods and ways to surprise or flank the player.
I designed combat in stages in the Plaza and the final Intersection area. As I added new AI for the player to engage, I thought about what kind of cover the player might need and what different ways the player might choose to engage them. At each stage (when new enemies spawned or made themselves known) I placed new pieces of cover for the player to interact with, which led each area from their whitebox to their complete states.
Plaza Encounter
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Stage 1 - player arrives in combat area, brief moment before ceph appear
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Stage 2 - Ceph stalker climbs onto ambulance, becoming first target for player. Cover allows player to move forward.
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Stage 3 - Ceph grunt appears as player engages ceph stalker. Cover near the fountain provides one route of attack, while open tent in the top right provides another, safer route.
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Stage 4 - Wave of ceph drop pods arrive on and near the bridge. Cover provides several directions of attack, or player can jump into the fountain for a direct attack on the ceph in the rear, but with little protection.
Intersection Encounter
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Stage 1 - player arrives, engages ceph that are attacking marines
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Stage 2 - ceph counter attack begins, player can use HMG. Additional cover for ceph from HMG vantage point to limit overwhelming power of HMG.
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Stage 3 - Stalker ambush. Rapid movement designed to push player off of HMG position and retreat to cover with marines.
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Stage 4 - Ceph Heavy breaks through rear wall while standard ceph grunts arrive on opposite end of street, applying pressure from two directions. Retrieving HMG would be useful, but dangerous with little cover.
Enemy Movement, Combat Scripting
Another of my goals for this level was to create interesting AI encounters using Crysis 2's "Ceph" enemies who can utilize impressive and dynamic movement mechanics. Through the use of "smart objects" that provide animation and navigation details to AI who interact with them, I was able to create encounters with enemies that certainly felt as dynamic as they appear.
May 2021
I prioritized the use of Stalkers as they were able to make use of the most mobile types of smart objects and animations, and were naturally also the quickest to maneuver. While the "Grunts" provided more static or consistent fire, the Stalkers would flank or surprise the player and add pressure to the player to maneuver.
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Cinematic Scripting
My final goal for this project was to script one or two cinematic moments for the player. This ended up taking the form of two cinematics - one as a church tower falls towards the beginning of the level providing foreshadowing for a later area, and the other a narrative moment as a Marine truck is destroyed by a Ceph gunship.