The goal was to create a short Witcher-inspired level centered around a monster hunt. The focus is on exploration, light puzzle-solving and environmental storytelling.
GOALS
- Witcher-style level with a strong atmospheric and narrative focus
- Player-driven pacing
- Light puzzle-solving
- Approximately 10-15 minutes of playtime
GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
- Core theme: Monster hunt and puzzle
- Setting: Foggy, abandoned village with a chapel and crypt, no lights due to the villagers leaving the area, The windows and doors have been barred shut – a few have been opened by force as can be seen by broken wood pieces (breadcrumbing the players into the houses)
Main mechanics:
- Witcher senses
- Crafting
- Combat encounter
- Potion usage
- Monster: Leshy and crow companions
GAMEPLAY BEATS
App-roach ;)
- Player arrives on horseback or on foot
- Crows scatter as you near a corpse – initiating Witcher senses and hinting at a Leshy
- The village layout shows a distant chapel and crypt as a prominent landmark
Village exploration and puzzle
- The Witcher trail leads to the crypt entrance which is blocked by cursed roots. The puzzle is to open the crypt
- Exploring the village will give you hints to the monster and how to get through the roots (Craft firebombs to open the crypt) Gerald comments on claw marks and trails that it is a Leshy
- Ingredients are scattered around for crafting the bombs
- Optional side paths with lore and loot in the houses (it rewards the player to check the whole area)
The boss fight
- The boss fight takes place in the crypt which is relatively big to dodge the Leshy’s attacks. It also needs to be big enough for the Leshy teleport spell
- The player can already see another path blocked by roots behind the Leshy
- After entering the crypt, the Leshy spawns and blocks the entrance behind you with falling stones or roots
Post-battle and exit
- After the Leshy is dead the area is cleansed – the light changes and the fog lifts
- All the cursed roots retract, opening a new path up to the chapel. A loot stash and exit can be found there
- The player leaves through the chapel ruins and is now on top of the hill. It grants the player with a now more beautiful vista of the village from above.
Top-down layout sketch
Unreal Blockout
Initial layout of the buildings with very primitive shapes
Top-down layout
I focused on a good composition when entering the area. The trees and buildings frame the landmark (the chapel and crypt entrance) and do not interupt the sightline.
Crypt layout with pillars for dodging and an already visible blocked exit
Chapel and crypt blockout
Final Blockout
Village top down
Due to the lack of villagers in the town there are little to no lights in the area. The effect is a dark crypt where you need to drink a cat potion to see (This is represented by the white point lights)
Crypt exit from a top-down view
The corpse with the crows. This is the beginning of the Witcher sense trail marked with the red line
What to do next with this project:
Next i would like to implement this level design in the REDkit mod editor. This way i can have a playable demo of this level and test its effectiveness.
