May 2021 - December 2022
HAGUENAU
LEVEL OVERVIEW
Platform: PC
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Team Size: 12 (Remote)
Duration: 11 months
Haguenau is the first map I created for Squad 44. The map is loosely based on the airfield that existed east of the city of Haguenau during WWII.
This level was designed with combined-arms battles in mind, with the main goal of having tougher capture points for the attackers. Though defenders have an advantage on this map, teamwork and coordination are still critical to success, as the attackers have plenty of opportunities for wide flanks around capture points.
Haguenau contains many diverse fighting environments, from open rolling hills, to flat airstrips, close-quarters trenches, and mountainside forests
RESPONSIBILITIES, AT A GLANCE
- Created a basic block-out for an idea of POI placement and flow.
- Created 2D block-out maps in Photoshop for exterior and interior planning.
- Sculpted and painted terrain using UE4's built-in terrain editing tools.
- Placed assets and set-dressed exterior and interior POIs.
- Collaborated with 3D Artists on environment art requirements.
- Worked alongside project leads and QA to design and meet expectations of flow, historical accuracy, and environmental composition.
- Designed a 2D map in Photoshop to be used as a player minimap for the level.
- Worked alongside project leads and QA to optimize the map.
- Researched WW2 era reference photos to concept parts of the map and maintain historical accuracy.
- Set up several gameplay layers using Post Scriptum's proprietary layer creation system.
ITERATIONS & PROBLEM SOLVING
PROBLEM
Attackers were not able to fully flank some outer capture points due to this cliffside. This made taking outer points almost impossible due to the defender's incredible advantage.
Green arrows represent vehicle and infantry entry points.
Red represents cliffs or forests.
SOLUTION
Remove the cliffside and open up the originally inaccessible area, thus giving attackers way more options when planning their assault.
PROBLEM
Too much clutter and debris around the no man's land pinch point, making it difficult for vehicles to traverse and caused visibility to be affected.
SOLUTION
Lessen clutter and scope for the area, giving the area a cleaner appearance while also making it easier for infantry and vehicles to navigate.
PROBLEM
Getting in and out of the airfield was difficult for infantry and vehicles due to limited entrances, making flanking untenable.
SOLUTION
Request broken fence pieces from our 3D Artist, Byron, to create large and small holes for infantry and/or vehicles to move through. Large broken sections of the fence were also marked on the player's minimaps with a bold 'X'.
PROBLEM
An attacker main (where the attackers spawn), is too close to their first capture point. This allows attackers to easily flank onto the last capture point before it's even active, making it difficult for defenders to win.
SOLUTION
Move the attacker main further away from the first capture point OR to a different angle from the capture point. This makes the battles feel more like a frontline instead of giving attackers infinite room to flank.
PROBLEM
The advantages between the defenders and attackers on no man's land were too asymmetrical, due to the flatness of the landscape and general lack of cover.
SOLUTION
Add a midway point with cliffs that breaks defender sightlines, allowing attackers a place to regroup for the next push into the main capture point. Attackers also have the ability to climb these cliffs, so there's no need to go all the way around.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
To preface, Squad 44 is an established title that requires consistent teamwork and coordination. Teams are broken down into squads, and each squad has a lead. Squad members can communicate with each other and squad leads can communicate with other squad leads. The goal is coordinate the defense or capture of various capture points on the map.
In this, I'll be discussing the Offensive gamemode, which sees players move from each capture point one at a time in a particular order, sort of like a frontline being pushed.
LAYOUT & CONSIDERATIONS
This was the first time I worked on a level for this style of game, so when deciding on the layout for Haguenau, there were a few things I wanted to consider.
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Which maps are the most and least popular? Why?
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How can players move around the map? Vehicles? Mantling?
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What are some important tactics players like to use? Do they flank? Do squads split up?
From these questions, I came to the conclusion that the preferred maps, typically, were much more open.
This is due to many factors, but the most important ones seemed to be:
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Lots of player choices and flanking opportunities.
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Easier for vehicles to navigate, and less frustrating.
The biggest draw of those maps, however, was usually due to lack of cover. This is one of the issues I wanted to solve in Haguenau.
GOALS
To recap, the main goals of Haguenau were:
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Having an open map with plenty of flanking opportunities.
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A map that's easy for vehicles to navigate.
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Provide cover for infantry outside of capture points.
Here, I'll be using the Bauernhof capture point as an example. This is the first capture point for the US Team on many Offensive gamemode layers.
There are many ways to approach this point and the paths to flank are usually simple to navigate. This theme is kept for every point on the map.
Every capture point is unique, of course, but Bauernhof lies at the bottom of a valley, challenging defenders to watch the ridgeline that surrounds them. Attackers, on the other hand, will need to push downwards to the point, putting themselves at risk of being easily targeted.
FLANKING
From Bauernhof, the next capture point is Innere Graben. Similar to the last point, Innere Graben has many flank positions. The difficulty of each one varies, but the choices for players are there if they're willing to take the risk.
Innere Graben is one of the main capture points of Haguenau and features a large no man's land in front of it. This section separates the attacker's encampments and the defender's encampments, so both teams need to be careful with approaching either side.
By design, defenders have a serious advantage on this point but need they'll need to be cautious of flanks.
NAVIGATION & COVER
I've combined these two goals as they coincide with one another.
To make vehicle navigation easier, I laid out forests in a way that made entry and exit points obvious at a glance. Entry and exit points also connect and weave together, making movement seamless without any major course corrections.
Cover, on a large scale, is created by breaking long sight lines. I achieved this by:
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Giving the landscape a rolling hill appearance, thus breaking long-range sightlines.
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Introducing dense forests that are difficult to see into from the outside.
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For flatter regions, the use of craters or trenches are used as a substitute.
Cover, on a smaller scale, is handled through a variety of props, buildings, and fences.
PROCESS
PRE-PRODUCTION
Haguenau was originally started by Byron, our 3D artist. I was brought on the team after the landscape and major capture point locations were determined.
How minor or major capture points were to be designed was to be determined by myself with some design direction given by the studio head, Romain.
ASSETS
Many of the major assets, such as hangars or buildings, were already planned and had greyboxes already created and placed by Byron.
However, if I needed any new assets, I would reach out our 3D artist team, Byron or Temka, and use real-world reference photos from WW2 to show what I wanted, answering any questions they may have about the needed asset.
Below are a few examples.
REFERENCE
RESULT
The assets I was looking for here were the wooden guard booth, checkpoint gate, and a building similar to the one in the back.
REFERENCE
RESULT
Here, I was looking to get a new bunker, similar to this design.
Assets that had interiors, such as multifloored buildings, were laid out on a 2D photo. Like above, if any questions would arise from the artists, I would answer and clarify.
Originally, shutters were planned to be attached to the buildings themselves. However, this changed to give us more control over what players could or couldn't shoot out of.
