Map12 Sketch 3 (Patreon)

More sketching progress. I have three layers of working on a map, the first being the architectural and urban layout in which I determine the context, placement and scale of the level's rooms.
Since this level is centered around a Cultist mansion, there's of course the main house in the middle (in this image you can see the upper floor and cellar overlapped with the main floor in different colors). Then, there is a series of connected spaces around it, which need to fall into a realistic or authentic hierarchy and placement logic.

The second level design layer is the story telling one. This one I mostly develop in tandem with the first part in the back of my head, and usually directs things like clusters of rooms, aesthetics and some of the puzzles surrounding them. In this case, the mansion will be the center of conflict involving the house masters, their servants and the Demons (that's as far as I'm spoiling it).

The third design layer is that of gameplay and engine optimization, which involves fitting the player's course into this defined space, including blocks, keys, obstacles and so on (and of course, a visual configuration of the space that doesn't overload the performance). This is what I'm going to work on for the last sketch, so stay tuned.

Also, enjoy the new year's day!