Short cinematic sequence where the player has to navigate a zombie outbrake until he reaches a safe spot.
Giving subtle directions inside the game world instead of obvious ones directly to the player.
Photo reference
Top down layout
Full level
General layout with all of the blocks placed to simulate a dense city (helped by darkness and fog).
Zoom on playable space
Detail of playable areas
Player route and blocked paths
Dark Green: Ground floor playable area
Light Green: Rooftop playable area
Red: Starting (right) and finishing (left) points
Green: Player path (walking)
Yellow: Player path (jumping or using stairs/ladders)
Purple: Blocked path from the beginning
Red: Path suddenly blocked as the player approaches
Focal points
AI placement
Reasoning for the AI placement
Group 1: Civilians next to the player at the start that will flee, giving the player a direction to follow.
Group 2: Zombies spawned after the player starts the route to pressure the player into advancing further.
Group 3: Mix of zombies and civilians spawned when the player approaches the first crossing to block the path to the left and pressure the player to go to the right. The civilians flee before the zombies.
Group 4: Mix of zombies and fighters blocking the first crossing with a fight, which ends with a big explosion.
Group 5: Zombies in the alleys which force the player to keep moving forward and not rest.
Group 6: Zombies in the last rooftop which block the way forward and force the player to use the wooden planks to jump to safety.
Subtle player guidance
Color code indicating the type of guidance:
Yellow: Light or lit elements.
Blue: Civilians fleeing.
Purple: Blockedpath.
Red: Zombies approaching.
Green: Player path.
Environment storytelling
City center
The buildings of the level show a typical US east coast city center. It seems to be a bit run down.
Outbrake destruction
The debris and destruction laying around show that the outbrake has provoked the collapse of this area