Broforce

Description of the project

Creation of a Broforce map focusing on the two main aspects of the game: fighting and exploration.

Three Towers

Requirements

Difficulty: first tier of the game
Vertical level design aspects
Make a map that would fit the game design, but a bit more focused on exploration

Intentions

Multiple paths
Hidden paths
Create some more difficult arenas that can either be approched with brute force or by using the environement
Reward exploration

Fast Walkthrough - 1 minutes 30 seconds

Average Walkthrough - 3 to 10 minutes

Side View

A. Alternate Path 1 - Fighting Above

B. Alternate Paths 2 - Explorating Under

Section 1 - The Entrance Tower

Starting Point

Ending Point

Starting Point

Ending Point

Alternate Passages

Alternate Ending Point

The enemy's difficulty on the main path warms up the player to fight more
A large starting area lets the player getting ready to play
Many explosive barrels or propane tanks (it's random in the engine) are placed to help the player fight
There are three hidden paths where the player can easly dig to move underground. Theses paths are marked with traped rocks and empty spaces
A checkpoint and a zipline mark the end of the section

Section 2 - The Storage Tower

The enemies become more challenging
Many explosive barrels or propane tanks (some are random in the engine) are placed to help the player fight
There are three hidden paths where the player can easly dig to move underground. Theses paths are marked with traped rocks and empty spaces
A checkpoint is placed underground next to a life/character to help the explorers progress
A checkpoint and a zipline mark the end of the section

Alternate Path 1 - Fighting Above (will be explained later)

Starting Point

Ending Point

Alternate Passages

Alternate Ending Point

Section 3 - The Boss's Tower

Alternate Path 2 - Exploring Under (will be explained later)

The enemies become even more challenging and numerous
Many explosive barrels or propane tanks (some are random in the engine) are placed to help the player fight
There are three hidden paths where the player can easly dig to move underground. Theses paths are marked with traped rocks and empty spaces
A checkpoint and a Pure Evil mark the end of the level

Starting Point

Ending Point

Alternate Starting Point

Alternate Passages

Alternate Path 1 - Fighting Above

Section 2 contains an atlernative path leading to a life/character as a reward for the players who want some more challenging fights to go through
Many explosive barrels or propane tanks (some are random in the engine) are placed to help the player fight
One of them ( ) can help the player or be a trap, according to the player's playstyle
The path leads back to the ending checkpoint of section 2

Alternate Paths 2 - Explorating Under

All of the sections contain paths to dig and explore
Section 3 contains an atlernative path leading to a life/character and possibly some bonuses (its random in the engine) as rewards for the players who want to do some exploration
There are three ways to enter this path:
- Enter by the alternate ending of section 2
- Go through the ground of the storage room over the hidden passage
- Go outside on the right side of the tower and drop into the passage
A checkpoint is placed underground at the begining of the path to help the explorers to progress
The player can use the propane tanks to go up the way.
If the player fails using the propane tanks or dies, he can either climb the walls of the passage to get to the top, or he can climb the right side of the section 3 tower via the hole
A checkpoint is placed at the end of the path to help the player's progression
At the end of the path, a zipline brigns the player back to the fights of section 3

Ameliorations I'd like to make

I would have liked to be able to control the spawning of the explosive barrels. When you place one in the editor, it's easy to make sure that it will be a propane tank, but it's impossible to make sure it will be a simple exploding barrel. It can make a huge impact on the design and gameplay.

Challenges and solutions

It was challenging to make a map for this type of level design. It's not the kind of game I'm used to play. But I played it to learn its game design and make a level in the style of Broforce.
One of the most difficult things to do for this gameplay is to make the difficulty right. Another is to make sure structures of the walls are thick enough to witstend the destruction of the map without making a layout where the player doesn't see where he goes.
To complete this map, I played the map a lot, made a few playtests, and made multiple small iterations of it.