Ghost Level | Diebold Design

Project Overview

After a seance goes wrong, your mother is captured by spirits and only you can save her. Seal all vengeful ghosts using the enchanted spirit jar, and rescue your mother from the clutches of a terrifying phantom.

Contributions:

Gameplay Design Lead
- Mechanics, Enemy-types, etc.
Designed Level 3 (of 3)
Designed & Modeled Enemy assets
Programmer

Team Size: 3 Students

(class project)

'Spirit Catcher' Level 3 Walkthrough

(The 3rd and final level)

'Spirit Catcher' Level Design

(project information in this section may be present in others as well if relevant)

Note: Website still under construction. This page will be expanded with more diagrams, gifs, and text

Game Overview:

In this game you must navigate 3 levels as you track down your kidnapped mother, capturing all phantoms within your spirit jar to reverse the evil unleashed by a failed seance. These spirits have different behaviors depending on their type, and will deplete the player's health if they're not careful and don't account for the Jar's recharge-time between captures. The player hunts ghosts within 3 nonlinear maps (the house, the graveyard, then the catacombs) before progressing to the exit. 1 collectible is hidden within each level, which alters the ending if all found.

Level 3 Overview:

I designed the Catacombs, which was the third and final level. Given it's theming, the map is structured to be relatively open-ended but in a more claustrophobic way than the other levels through narrow branching-corridor style design, evoking a feeling of being lost in the Catacombs. Its design is much more harrowing than previous levels, with Chaser Ghosts emerging from holes in the wall (often while the player would be distracted with other challenges), Patrol Ghosts and Shooter Ghosts working in tandem to split the player's focus, and platforming challenges over bottomless pits to clear. The level demands observation of the player's surroundings to both survive and utilize the alternate paths that can make progression easier--along with locating the story collectible.

Overall Level Layout:

Level Flow:

Level Breakdown:

The is comprised of 6 interconnected sections that each have a distinct challenge of their own to overcome...

Section 1:

Players descend the stairway into the Catacombs
At the bottom they see a column in the center of a room, and a Patrol Ghost passing back and forth in front of the hallway ahead of them.
- This ghost is a diversion since a Chaser Ghost is in the hallway (hidden by the collum on entry) to the right, and will sneak up on the player if they don't look over their shoulder.
After dispatching both, the player has the choice of taking the path ahead (Section 2), or to the right (section 3)
- Whichever path taken here provides an advantage in completing the other in how they connect to it

Section 2 pt. 1:

The player enters a room with a raised square in the middle, Patrol Ghosts circling around it and on top of it, and a Chaser Ghost waiting to engage within a divot in the wall.
- This introduces the idea of Chaser Ghosts waiting within divots to spring out
To the right of the cube is another divot, this time hidden, with a Chaser inside
- The player may need to run around the cube when evading the Chaser if still reloading their jar from catching the Patrol. This triggers the hidden Chaser to intensify this event
The player must platform onto a low box, then onto the raised cube to reach the 2nd Patrol atop it
- Introducing platforming to players who chose this path first
From here the player can jump to a raised narrow tunnel highlighted by a torch

Section 2 pt. 2:

The player stares down a Chaser Ghost at the end of a long, short and narrow hallway, and they both charge at eachother
- The player must capture the Ghost since evasion around it isnt possible here, building tension towards their collision
Now the player thinks they've cleared the tunnel of enemies, only to be surprised by a hidden divot with a Chaser tucked away at the end of the hall
- The close proximity where the player learns of this enemy makes it almost a jump-scare

Section 3:

The player platforms up a few steps to enter the section
- This prepares the player for platforming over bottomless pits, which the next portion uses as its primary threat
On a catwalk, the player must avoid projectiles from 2 shooter ghosts while keeping on the narrow path
- The first on the right is dealt with in isolation
- The second across from a patrol ghost moving in a square, so the player must avoid (or defeat) the patrol to get to the shooter, all while not falling from the path. This is a steep escalation from the prior shooter challenge

Section 2 & 3 Connection:

Sections 2 and 3 are two paths the player must choose to complete first after section 1. If the player is observant, they will notice that the ends of each path connect via platforming. Using this to connection to complete the alternate section backwards will nullify the challenge they would otherwise endure
- Completing section 2 backwards means the Chaser Ghost ambush is clearly visible from the outset. Along with this, completing Section 2 part 1 is easiest when shooting down from above on ghosts that would otherwise be a threat
- Completing section 1 backwards means the second Shooter Ghost-- the most difficult to obstacle in this path-- can't shoot you from its low vantage point. Taking out this obstacle makes the Patrol Ghost its paired with an easy task as well

End Goal Tease:

The player will likely encounter the final door before being able to enter it by having defeated all ghosts, either by the end of Section 1, the connective path between it and 2, or the end of Section 4 which loops back around
- Seeing this distinct structure before it can be used gives the player a long-term objective that the short-term level victories build toward

Section 4:

The player must navigate 3 Patrol Ghosts each on their own strip of platform, while being fired upon by a Shooter Ghost
- This is a combination of the previous challenges-- platforming, avoiding patrols, and avoiding projectiles
This daunting task may prove too distracting for players that they don't notice the Chaser Ghost tucked away in a nook at its beginning
- This nook is actually a secret path to a collectible, revealed in a later path if the player misses it now
The avoidance of slow-moving projectiles in between Patrol Ghosts is meant to elicit a Matrix-style feeling of competency when completed successfully

Optional Ring Collectable:

The player can view the ring by walking to the lantern-lit corner next to the last Shooter Ghost they defeated, where they'll see it across a large gap
The play can then surmise that the bright divot the Chaser Ghost came emerged from was a hidden platforming segment leading to this ring
- The ring is only needed for the best ending, not to complete the game, so its placed to be hidden enough to feel rewarding to observant players

Part 5:

The final part is designed to be the most high-octane of the level, first leading the player up a dark flight of stairs. The player can see a visible Chaser nook in the wall, with the "thomp" sound of multiple Chasers nearby. Naturally, they might assume that the Chasers are in the divot
When dropping to confront the Chasers, they find only one, and soon realize (likely through taking damage) that the many Chasers were under the stairs the player just jumped down from.
- Some players may have been skeptical that so many Chasers would be in 1 small divot, and they'll likely notice the trick before it causes them to take damage.
Unable to take them all at once, the player flees, rounding a corner that contains another Chaser leaving its divot to pursue the player
- This set-piece is modeled after cinematic chase sequences in horror/thriller movies
The player finally reaches safety if they can jump onto a cylindrical platform where the Chasers can no longer pursue
- From here capturing them all is easy
This platform leads up onto a ledge looking down on the final door, a room the player likely encountered earlier but without having completed the mission objective
- If needed, the player can return to old sections or sections they hadn't touched since the map loops back around here.

The 2 red circles with legs are fast-moving 'Crabs' that patrol their platform
The large red rectangle is a 'Crusher' that crashes down when the player enters under it. Killing one turns it into a moving platform that moves along its vertical path
The red enemy spitting projectiles is a 'Shooter' that continuously lobs left-to-right projectiles

The red rectangle is a horizontal 'Crusher'

Section 1--

The player must get rid of a barrier wall using a Blue Button below it, then ascend to where the barrier was by defeating a Crusher enemy (turning it into a moving cloud platform)
- The necessity of this Button may not be obvious until confronted with the barrier blocking their path
Then a platforming challenge ensues as the player jumps over projectiles spat by the 'shooter' enemy to defeat them
- The player moving to the left immediately illustrates how this level isn't a simple right-to-left progression

Section 2--

The player is then confronted with a 2 part puzzle. Step 1 is to destroy the barrier blocking the crushers path using the Blue Button
- The button is a the end of a tunnel guarded by Crabs
Next the player must go back and jump over a couple floating instakill spikes (represented by X's) to summon the Crusher. After the crusher hits the spikes, the player must quickly platform back up to jump on it before it leaves
- This challenge requires the player first figure out the solution, then execute it quickly
Now a cloud platform takes the player along the Crusher's old path, into the firing line of a shooter they must now avoid while on the platform before defeating.
- There's a checkpoint flag after this obstacle

Section 3--

The player must again bait a crusher to defeat it while its down, giving them a platorm up
This platform takes them into the firing-line of a shooter, however a ledge to the right means the player can rest their before timing an assession between it's blasts.
After defeating the shooter, there is a checkpoint flag next to the final Gold barrier below the player
- Gold barriers require the gold button to destroy, which can only be activated after all enemies are defeated
A challenge of multiple Crabs all running over intant-kill spikes must be overcome
- The sand projectiles are good for stopping crabs over safe ground, making landing on them easier
A checkpoint is located before a horizontal crusher that must be baited to reach the gold button via its cloud platform transformation
- The gold button is in view of its barrier, so the player sees the effect it has
Finally the player backtracks to where the barrier was, drops down the long hole into a tunnel leading to the portal out of the nightmare