Echo Point Nova
Level Designer
FPS, Open World, Movement Shooter, Exploration, Boss Fights, Optional Co-Op
Released September 24th, 2024
I worked with Greylock Studio on the launch version of Echo Point Nova and am currently working on post-launch content.
As one of two level designers, I was responsible for creating a portion of the zones in the open world in between major combat zones, as well as two of the four major bosses.
I also assisted in adjustments to existing zones and testing.
Find the game on Steam here.
Speed Zones
In order to bridge space between major combat zones, speed zones exist as fast, exciting, and largely linear movement challenges. They sometimes included small skirmishes and collectables, but, for pacing reasons, were always less intense than major combat zones.
Player movement abilities include horizontal wall riding, vertical wall riding, double/triple jumping, grappling, vertical wind boosts, and a number of other ways to influence radically variable movement speeds. The speed variability of EPN is more comparable to something like Source Engine Bunny Hopping than traditional platforming that may cap movement speeds.
All movement abilities were considered when designing, though difficulty on speed zones are tuned so that low skill players can still complete them with whatever in-game abilities they should have unlocked at the given moment. The inverse to this is that high skill players get a sense of empowerment when they move fast enough to zoom past platforms that low skill players may depend on (Which is also true in the aforementioned bunny hopping).
Due to players' extreme movement capabilities, any deliberately designed platforming can be skipped if the player has enough momentum. Agility orbs, the most common collectable, were placed in speed zones as rewards for precise parkour, as a means of encouraging players to engage in the platforming challenges.
Certain visual motifs are established through repetition in order to suggest certain movement options to players, such as ramped terrain for boarding off of or glowing poles to suggest grappling (even though the player can grapple any surface).
To accommodate player freedom in the open world, each speed zone was designed to be interesting to move through from whatever direction. In scenarios with significant height differences, platforms that suggest usage for one particular direction are sometimes used, such as ones that encourage the player to both ride on top of, or grapple the bottom of.
Minor Combat Zones
In addition to speed zones, minor combat zones exist to provide small combat vignettes and offer opportunities for rewards. Unlike the major combat zones, which function similarly to DOOM gore nests, minor combat zones each feature a small squad of enemies that are already spawned by the time players arrive.
While major combat zones reward weapons or perks upon completion, minor combat zones reward the player with cosmetic items, which additionally reward the player with "perk points" that increase the cap on how many perks they can equip at once.
Minor combat zones are often blended seamlessly with speed zones, with the player entering them at high speed. Since players benefit from maintaining this speed in combat, the shapes of these combat spaces were often constructed to "catch" a player in it without taking their speed, such as the pictured shape of the wall in Rook.
Due to the importance of player movement in EPN, combat zones are designed in circular shapes without dead ends in order to allow players to have a quick exit whenever they enter a space with an enemy.
Combat zones are also shaped to provide players with opportunities to utilize movement abilities, such as exciting walls to ride on or bars to swing from, both of which are often paired with large gaps, overlooking a fall into the clouds below.
Elevation is frequently used to encourage players to be moving on all axes during combat as they pick off enemies. Enemies such as snipers, surfers, and jetpacks also take advantage of elevation changes in their movement.
Though both can be acquired from killing enemies, combat zones feature arena-shooter style health and ammo pickups on the ground. Health pickups were placed in lines along clearly visible movement paths such as bridges, as players are likely to search for them more frantically, while ammo is snugged in corners.
Volcano Climb and Lizard Boss
EPN features several boss fights, which are themselves large, moving structures that the player moves around and within, similar to Shadow of the Colossus or Breath of the Wild. Victory is achieved by damaging a number of weak points distributed throughout its body. A number of turrets and enemies dot the length of each boss, sending a hail of projectiles at players
The Lizard Boss, the third in the game, resides inside a massive volcano. Players reach it through a speed zone that ends in a climb where they bounce between boost platforms. Though it requires some precision, this climb is designed to build tension as the players ascend the intimidatingly large volcano in order to reach a boss that they know is there.
The Lizard walks along the circular wall of the volcano. In order to board or even reboard it, players can either plummet onto it from above or grapple across floating heaps of molten rock that fill the center of the arena, allowing players to get from one side to another without slowly riding along the walls.
The Lizard's shape and weak point placement are designed to create exciting moments like diving in through the mouth, shooting out the eye weak points and jumping through, and frantically grasping at the beast's swinging legs to reach weak points on them.
Space Climb and Space Station Final Boss
Once players collect all primary objectives, they place them on pedestals, causing islands to rise from below and create a long path between them and the space station that has been visible in the sky for the entire game.
This space climb is a large vertical speed path. As players get higher, gravity gets weaker until they're nearly floating as they grapple between asteroids.
The climb acts as a medley of previous areas, cycling through the various aesthetic styles and biomes that the player has experienced, in order.
It acts as a sort of victory-lap to celebrate players reaching the end of the game and as such is designed to be easier. It's also intended to be easier because it is much longer than other speed zones, and therefor failure or loss of momentum risks being more annoying here than in others.
The Space Station boss follows most of the same rules as the Lizard Boss, except that individual pieces of it will dissipate when the related weak points are destroyed.
This is also the largest boss and features more interiors than the other to give players the sense of running around the inside of a machine and destroying it from the inside.
Once all weak points are destroyed, the last of the boss fades away and the player slowly glides down back to the planet as the credits roll.
Lava Navigation Zones
I worked on several zones that focused on exploration in lava covered environments, encouraging careful platforming and usage of the ice ability that allows players to freeze lava terrain both for walking and grappling.
Agility orbs and hat collectibles were placed as rewards for fully exploring the nooks and crannies of this area.
The first of these areas, Thermal Shock, acts as a tutorial for the ice ability and is located at the most natural point of connection to the lava biome.
Thermal Shock explores various ways to use the ice ability and gradually gets more difficult with each example, before launching the player upwards into the lava biome.