Preface:
I'm posting this here now as I'm working on my portfolio, but this work is actually from about two years ago. It was an exercise in understanding the intersection between architecture and level design. As an added exercise I formatted the analysis as a Level Design Document so I could learn more about proper formatting and best practices. Without further ado...
The Museum
Story:
Synopsis:
The Museum is the 3rd level of Sifu. On the protagonist’s quest for vengeance, we see him cut through a swathe of museum security to confront one of his master’s slayers: Kuroki. As we make our way through the level, we can explore (and destroy) the exhibits we come across, fighting museum security, and a few martial artists who trained under Sean (the previous target).
We learn as we fight through her exhibit by studying the art, that Kuroki had a twin sister who died in an accident that she blames herself for. By the second half of the level, things start to get weird. The environment shifts around you, it’s hard to tell what’s a building and what’s becoming water. There’s a point where you fight a mini boss in what appears to be an ocean current but could equally be a well decorated art exhibit.
Finally, you reach Kuroki, who stands in a snowy Japanese garden, after her first phase, the area shifts and turns into an arena surrounded by stormy waves, and it’s there that you take your revenge.
Environment, Setting, and Objects:
The Museum is a very modern building. It’s created by a modern artist, and thus has a very modernist style. It has very clean lines, white tile, minimalizes using angled planes, and hosts simple but elegant glasswork. It also takes inspiration from the ocean. It uses lots of deep blues in its construction, and the flowy-round form of the architecture exudes water, like a moving current. A very prominent feature of the building is its central atrium, which you visit a few times over the course of the level, each time at a different floor. It’s a cylindrical room, very large. And hosts a massive art-piece that serves as the entrance to the second half of the level.
Reference:
Environment:
Deep blues and flowy, curvy lines show movement.
River in the snow, does life imitate art?
Rain in the arena.
Soft blue glows in dream sequence, gates inspire power and direction.
Setting:
Museum key art
Concept art for The Kunai Room
Shape language concepts, horizontal lines inspire waterfalls. Horizontal lines often curvy, imitating a current.
Ocean Room, extremely organic structure.
Center Atrium
Erlich Leandro’s Swimming Pool Illusion inspires similar aesthetics.
Inspired by NYC Aquarium
Characters:
Kuroki concept art.
Kuroki in snow arena.
Kuroki in deep sea arena.
Diagrams:
Flow Diagram:
Beat Diagram:
Architectural Analysis Diagrams:
Point of Importance:
This hallway comes right before a camera switch that turns the game into a 2D sides scroller. The painted hallway submerges the player in a deep blue, which continues to consume the player as the level becomes more organic in nature, creating an almost psychedelic experience.
Offering a View:
This atrium serves as a recurring space as you climb your way to the top of the museum, though the centerpiece isn’t very noticeable unless the player is looking for it. That is, until they reach the top floor, and the art-piece stretches from the floor plane to the admittedly high ceiling plane, giving a much-needed sense of importance to the view. The closer you get to the back of the atrium, the view changes. Bringing the waterfall into focus which adds a new element to the art piece
Clustered Composition:
A clustered composition is when the elements of a space are clustered, it can make the space feel disorganized and eclectic, it can also be used to make everything seem more organic. Forests, reefs, and other natural environments create clustered spaces just by growing. The artists at Sloclap use a clustered composition to denote this chaotic and organic feeling underwater Exhibit feel like a real environment while still being enclosed in an architectural structure with ceiling, floor, and wall planes.
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