• Background
• Gameplay intentions
• Verticality
• Team areas
• Counter-Terrorists paths
• Bomb site A
• Bomb site B
• Terrorists paths
• Bomb site A
• Bomb site B
• Choke points
• The different locations

Backgroud

In an expending village from the south of France, the charm of the surrounding hills and the sea is attracting more and more people who want to settle there.
In view of this constantly increasing demand, the construction of a housing estate was started on a plot of land that was still wild before that.
Under the pressure of the resident of the village, the construction have been stopped, but since few days, the worksite has been busy.
The inhabitants of the village no longer feeling listened to, a group of resistance fighters was formed, with the sole aim of putting an end to this construction site at all costs.

Gameplay intentions

The global idea was to make a small map to allow teams to do quick redirections and make the games more nervous. Also, with this characteristic, there is not a lot of long lines, which is encouraging to play with riffles (M4, AK-47, Famas, Galil) and make the AWP more difficult to pick.

Verticality

On this map we can gather four major different height (from 0 to 3). These variations are used to give an advantage to check a position, but also to give a feeling of progression, going up to reach an important position or rushing down / jumping into a scary fight.

Team areas

On the begining of the game we can split the map in two areas like this, where one is at the advantage of the anti-terrorists and another one of the terrorists team. These areas can evolve during the game.

Counter-Terrorists paths

Bomb site A

From their spawn, counter-terrorists have two direct ways to reach the bomb site A.

Bomb site B

From their spawn, counter-terrorists have only one direct way to reach the bomb site B.

Terrorists paths

Bomb site A

From their spawn, terrorists have three direct ways to reach the A site :

• Apartment A :
• By the scaffold
• By the heaven
• Passing by the middle, then through the connector

Bomb site B

From their spawn, terrorists have three direct ways to reach the B site :

• Passing by the middle, then the main. Once they control the main, then they have two choices :
• Passing directly by the short on the left of the main.
• Or by the boost on the right, a player can help an other one to reach this position, but it can also be reached alone by doing a technical jump, which is more difficult.
• Passing by the apartment B.

Choke points

The map contain three major conflict position, wich are on the mosts important area, and owning one of these positions can change the game.

The different locations

1 - Main

This is the main link between the middle and the bomb site B.

2 - Boost

From each side of the wall (from the main or bomb site B), a player can be boosted by another player to climb up and jump on the otherside. However from the main, a player can climb up on his own by doing a technical jump, which is more difficult and can require more time to execute.

3 - Danger

This is the link between the apartment B and the B site. Counter-terrorists can use it to have a long line to check the apartment.

4 - Z

The Z link the CT spawn and the B site.

5 - Connector

This is the quickest way to reach the A site from the middle.

6 - Appartment A

7 - Heaven

From the apartment A, terrorists can reach the A site by the door or by the heaven wich give a good vision on all the site and his main entrances.

8 - Window & Door

These are the two direct entrances on the A site from the CT spawn.

1. What is Hyenas
2. My general experience on Hyenas
3. Level Design
1. Hyenas's Level Design
2. My Work as Level Designer
4. NPC Encounter Design
1. Design
2. Tech

What is Hyenas

Hyenas is a new IP, a hero based multiplayer extraction shooter FPS, where 5 teams of 3 players are fighting against eachothers and NPCs in normal and zero gravity, making their way through large spaceships to steal ressources and be the first one to extract with all the loot.

My general experience on Hyenas

• Owning maps at different state of their development.
• Owning different gameplay systems.
• Owning NPC Encounter (Creation of a dedicated testing GYM, organizing colaboration meetings with the different design teams, creation of an iteration & testing process).
• Creation of a GYM to validate the character traversal metrics.
• Mentoring other Level Designers.
• Presentations to the Level Design & the wider project team.
• Production planning working closely with leads & producers.

Level Design

Hyenas's Level Design

Map Structure Breakdown

The game plays on large space ships that can be broken down into different types of spaces, that each have core design goals and pillars to achieve and support the flow of the game mode:

• Hubs are large open and memorabble spaces leading to camps. Hubs also support different gameplay systems like team spawns, special event and extractions.
• Camps are areas that can either contains supply crates or vault where the Hyenas can still loot and gear up. These camps are marked up with a variety of Engage and evade challenges giving oppotunity to players to choose their own play style.
• Transitions are areas connecting hubs between each others. There are two different types of transitions:
• Corridors: Tight small areas with interconnecting rooms.
• Service Cores: Large zero gravity spaces.

Spatial Types Design Goals

HUBs

Resonance
• This means that players remember HUBBs long after they've stopped playing the game.

Flow
• Teams should be able to make quick decisions about where they want to go in the HUB.
• HUBs should not confound player's objective in finding CAMPs, EXTRACTIONs and EVENTs.

Shared Space
• Multiple teams can exists within the same HUB without direct PvP engagement.

Skirmish
• Design supports more skirmish style combat where teams should be able to rotate, evade and disengage from fights easier than in other spaces.
• Player should find it hard to control HUB spaces.

Camps

Combat
• Camps have to support PvEvP combat, where players have to engage in combat with NPCs and players.
• Hyena's combbat is about rotation and spatial management; Camps have to communicate the best ways in which players can do these.

Variety
• No two camps are really the same, as each camps test players on a variety of challenges and spatial dressing.
• Camps are permutative, so each session presents a different curated mark up of Camp challenge to the players.

Systemic
• Camps are reactive to player's actions and should cascade into a series of outcomes. Players have to manage these to achieve their goals.
• Camps have opportunities for players to express their playstyle (Engage, Evade & Exploit) and specialist choices.

Transitions

Navigation
• Communicate Primary Path HUB to HUBB clearly.
• Allow for occasional Secondary Rotation, when clonflict and PvP breaks out.

Optimization
• Transitions are a technical solution that allows for HUB to HUB culling. (Two HUBs cannot be both visually loaded at the same time)

Pacing & Control
• Player teams should bbe able to control Transition spaces with abilities and strategy, to create chokepoints and "safe" spaces for secondary gameplay beats.
• Players can move into Transition spaces for 2nd gameplay beats, such as Respawning or getting basic survival pickups.
Primary Paths
• Primary paths lead players clearly from HUB to HUB.
• Players should not have to make decisions when traversing the primary path, as much as possible.
• Players make the decision to duck into Secondary or Tertiary path in a transiton.

Secondary Paths
• Secondary paths have to be clearly contrasted with the primary paths.
• Use elements such as smaller doors, vent, darker lighting, more maintenance style dressing to support the contrast of a Secondary path from a Primary path space.
• Secondary paths also allow for small combat rotations when fights break out in Transition spaces.

My Work as Level Designer - WIP

Map 1 - We Took Manhathan

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Map 2 - Hearth Vintage

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Map 4 - Not Revealed

NPC Encounter Design - WIP