In this blog post I'm going to be taking a look at a level from the game "The Last Of Us", to analyse some various techniques the developer's are using in the level's design. Specifically, I'll be looking at how the player is guided through the level, how the level is paced, and how its combat sections are handled.
Walking Through The Woods
The level begins with a calm traversal segment, walking through the woods with Ellie. This section consists mostly of a straightforward path, with occasional optional detours the player can take to find extra supplies.
Even with a mostly linear path, the game still uses a few techniques to help guide the player.
To start with, the very beginning of the segment features a water tower in the distance, acting as a landmark or "weenie". Almost every level in The Last Of Us uses this technique, and this level makes repeated use of it. This way, the player always has a goal in sight to orient themselves and work towards.
Something I found interesting about this particular level is how the sun is positioned to aid with this sense of direction. The player's goal is always generally in the direction of the sun, so even when landmarks are not visible it can act as a guide.
For example in this segment, the sun breaks through gaps in the trees to highlight the path forward.
At one point the path splits between the main route and an optional one. The developers use a few techniques to direct the player specifically to the main route. One of these is movement, in the form of a bird flying off to the left. The movement alone is enough to grab the player's attention, but the direction of the movement also helps guide the player to the left.
Another technique is the creation of leading lines with some logs, again pointing towards the left. If the player does continue down this path, the water tower landmark becomes visible again, confirming that the player is progressing in the right direction.
The Plank Puzzle
The first area the player arrives at presents a basic platforming puzzle, involving the use of a plank to bridge an otherwise uncross-able gap between two small buildings. The reason the player has to take this path is due to the main gate being locked.
The game uses a few techniques to establish this, initially implying the gate can be opened with the use of a UI interaction element. A lead designer at Naughty Dog described this type of affordance as an "Explicit affordance" (Schatz, 2017), one that breaks from the realism of a game to point something out to the player.
By attracting the player to the gate and directly showing them that it is locked, it suggests that the player's goal is still to get to the over side, but that they must find an alternate route to get there. If the gate couldn't be interacted with, the player might interpret it as an entirely blocked off location, and not the intended path of the level.
The plank used for the puzzle is propped against the back wall, so the player will naturally be looking toward it as they walk down this path. Compositionally, there aren't any other objects against the wall or around it, letting it stand out more. And as with other interactable objects, when close enough a UI element appears.
The small building here has a small ventilation unit on the wall initially facing the player. Its height is just shorter than Joel's and has a completely flat surface, acting as an affordance to be climbed onto, and from there onto the building's roof. As described in Emilia Schatz's article, this would be an example of an "Inferred affordance", one that the player intuitively understands based on the game's mechanics. The Last Of Us regularly has the player climbing onto ledges so the player should be familiar enough with the mechanic to recognize this affordance.
The building's doors and windows are also entirely boarded up, acting as a denied affordance of being entered. The player should know from a distance that they can't enter.
Additionally, there is also a use of luring with mechanics. If the player climbs onto the roof of the building before finding the plank, a weapon pickup is lying next to the ledge. At this point of the game this is a new type of weapon being introduced, so it is being placed in the player's only path forward. By being placed on the ledge facing the plank, the player is once again being directed to notice the plank.
The second roof is completely level with the first and uses the same material, making it clear that it affords walking on to just like the first roof.
The gap between roofs is also metrically large enough to be obviously not jumpable, if not at first sight then at least after a single attempt.
On the roof the game also establishes the player's next landmark in the distance, the smoke next to the church bell tower. The sun is positioned to silhouette the church and also attract the player's attention in that direction.
Through the Town
With the next landmark / weenie established, the player will most likely begin to traverse in that direction. Fairly soon they are met with an impassable wall, a barbed wire fence. The barbed wire acts as a "negating affordance" due to its shape language. Sharp, irregular shapes "evoke a sense of danger and imbalance" (Schatz, 2017) and thus denies the affordance of climbing over them.
The player is instead directed to the main path with an opening in another fence. This is actually a technique outlined in a talk given by Naughty Dog's David Shaver (GDC 2018), with the idea being that openings generally pique the player's curiosity. From certain angles, this particular opening also functions as a link to an unseen space.
Through the gate, the level leads into a larger exploration segment, and begins to ramp up the difficulty / intensity with the placement of some isolated enemies. They are stationary until provoked and can be easily avoided with stealth, but are usually guarding additional resources / rewards. The placement of these enemies also presents a good opportunity for the player to try out their newly acquired weapon before being thrown into a more difficult encounter.
Earlier in the game it has been established that certain ledges can be boosted up to with help from an NPC. The yellow bar above the gate is both attention-grabbing and acts as a reminder of this ability.
It's also made clear that the gate is climbable by the absence of the barbed-wire that tops the rest of the fence. In contrast to the sharp, irregular bar top of the gate is an unbroken horizontal line
The segment continues into the main-street of the town, and continues to use similar techniques. There are a lot of optional areas to explore here, so I'll skip forward a bit.
One thing I will mention though is another example of enemy placement. The player eventually acquires a bow and arrow weapon in the level, and shortly after will come across an enemy in their path. This enemy is stationary and placed within a lowered section of the roof, allowing the player to test out their new weapon without any risk to themselves. The bow works quite differently to the weapons the player is used to, so it makes sense to give the player this time to become familiar with it.
Caught In A Trap
After progressing through more of the town, Joel and Ellie eventually come to an abandoned garage. Upon entering, Joel is caught in a trap, hanging him upside down from the ceiling. Before Ellie can get him down, nearby clickers (zombies) come running toward the building.
In this short segment, the player has to shoot a horde of enemies while upside down. The building has multiple openings for them to come through, forcing the player to shift their focus around the room.
After being helped down and saved by another NPC, Bill, the level transitions into an intense chase. NPCs like Bill and Ellie lead the player forward with movement and dialogue and many number of enemies chase the player, further indicating which direction to go.
Here the level purposefully misdirects the player to heighten the tension and desperation of the situation. With the threat of multiple enemies chasing them and with the use of leading lines, the player is directed forward, only to be met with a dead end.
The developers have also placed multiple trucks along this path at particular angles to create a "pinching" effect. This was another technique mentioned in David Shaver's GDC talk. The pinching helps funnel the player down a certain path, which in this case, leads to the intended dead end.
The game then quickly pushes the player back from this area, with the threat of multiple enemies dropping down. Dialogue from Bill also tells the player to move back.
This entire section is almost entirely made up of tight corridors, ensuring the player doesn't get lost and have the chase lose its tension.
Bill leads the player into a nearby building, where the player is forced to deal with enemies rather than evade them. This is achieved by having enemies enter the room from the only exit, that the player would otherwise be heading towards.
This exit is highlighted with the use of contrasting colour and lighting, with the warm sunlight standing out in the otherwise dimly lit room.
Additional Notes
The level continues on for much longer after this, with countless more examples of previously mentioned techniques. Rather than go through the rest of it piece by piece, I'll list a few examples I noticed.
Landmarks continue to be utilised, with a school building being immediately established as the next goal once the player has reached the church. The time of day has also shifted at this point, allowing the sun to align with the school. This is especially useful here as the school building is quite low compared with previous landmarks and not always visible over walls.
Later parts of the level have much more emphasis on combat sections. Here the difficulty is raised by placing a larger number of roaming enemies at different points of each area, making it much tougher for the player to mentally keep track of each one's movement.
In darker areas such as the school itself, contrasting colours are again used to attract the player, like using a warm orange light at the end of a dark hallway.
Conclusion
There are many more sections of the level I could talk about, but I feel this has shown the variety of techniques used to guide the player through the level. Frequent use of affordances, landmarks, compositional techniques and more make the path forward clear without sacrificing the realism of the setting.
Enemies placement is used to achieve different goals in each area, ranging from weapon tutorials, to influencing the player's own movement, or creating tense encounters.
Finally, the pacing of the level is controlled by alternating between sections of exploration, platforming puzzles and unique enemy encounters.
References
GDC (2018) Level Design Workshop: Blockmesh and Lighting Tips. 17 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09r1B9cVEQY (Accessed 28th October 2021).
Schatz, E. (2017) 'Defining Environment Language for Video Games', 80 Level, 27 June. Available at: https://80.lv/articles/defining-environment-language-for-video-games/ (Accessed 28 October 2021).