Mihir Srivastava
Level Design
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Verticality Principles: Five Principles and their Effect on Combat and
Critical Path in Multiplayer First-Person Shooter Design
My thesis dealt with how elevation movement as a core design feature, and
shooter (FPS) games can influence these vertical movement mechanics.
changes in multiplayer first-person
combat situations and critical path. I
divided elevation into five key principles: With verticality becoming increasingly
weapon placement, vertical combat to discover and define a ruleset for
vertical flow, vertical landmarks, vertical
advantages, and vertical combat
disadvantages.
The goal of the project was to understand
each principle’s effects on the player’s
important in FPS games, I wanted
implementing elevation. Along with this, I
wanted to demonstrate the considerations
required when designing a player
experience with verticality.
moment-to-moment gameplay experience The project began in August 2018 and
demonstrates each principle together in this period, I measured and defined the
and to develop a fully playable artifact that
a multiplayer map. My final artifact was
developed in Unreal Tournament 4 and is
titled “Project 13.”
This topic stemmed from my fascination
of multiplayer FPS design and my love
for playing competitive multiplayer FPS
games. The games I enjoy feature vertical
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each map is designed to incorporate
LEVEL DESIGN
concluded in May 2019. Throughout
metrics for Unreal Tournament 4 and
its weapons, defined five principles of
verticality, designed and implemented
my own custom map showcasing the
principles, developed a supporting paper
for the artifact and my research, and
verified my design methods through
playtesting.