Back in 2007 I was doing level design tests for a company where I applied for a job. This is the first one. I had 8 hours to finish it after receiving the email. While it didn’t get me the job, I hope it’s still an interesting read.

Design exercise #1: The Killed.

Task description

Scenario

You are working on a videogame sequel to John Woo & Chow Yun Fat’s The Killer, aptly named The Killed. The game is a linear shooter that is all about the gradual but uneasy alliance between a cop and a killer.
It should not be constant run and gun, nor complete tactical. Ideally it mixes over the top Hong Kong gunfight elements with time for camaraderie, exploration, and cinematics. The game has amazing set pieces, cinematic story, extensive character acting by Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee, companion AI, high octane shooting, and extensive use of physics.
In the game, you can play as either the cop or the killer. Whichever you choose, you’ll have the other character accompany you as an AI. The game will be built for this sort of cooperative play from the ground up.

Task

Within the bounds of making this cinematic buddy shooter, you have been tasked to create an environment that is one complete level or area for this game. The level will be book-ended with cinematics so don’t worry about how the level connects to other areas. Design this area with the assumption that it will be built roughly to spec with more input from you down the road during production. Imagine 10-20 minutes of gameplay.

Map format

Include a 2D map of the level with detail in a legend or key. A single image in plan view (top down) is preferable. Other views are optional. If there are multiple floors or overlapping spaces, put those layers side by side.

Doc format

The document that is more level brief or level concept than finished level design document and should be about 2-3 pages long. Imagine that you are going to take this document in to pitch at a design meeting. Prepare something that could illustrate the map and your ideas. It should be able to speak for you to sell others on your ideas. But, is not the final blue print (with all details) for building the level. The document should give a sense of the overall gameflow or level progression. Keep brevity and clarity as priorities.
At the end of the document please include a paragraph or two outlining your thinking and giving insight into your design choices.

My solution

Premise

Years after their encounter, Ah Jong and Li Ying live retired far from Hong Kong and each other. One day strangers charge their apartments and kidnap them. When they regain consciousness, they found themselves in the toilet of an airport, with bandages on their chest and a letter. In the letter someone called “Mrs. Wong” explains that she can not forget what our heroes did to her. She is going to die soon, so she took care of almost all loose ends in her life, only one thing is left to finish: the cop and the killer. Mrs. Wong will hunt them down, to repay what she is owe to them.
To make things more interesting, she bound the two man together: two small gadgets were surgically attached to their heart. If they move away from each other more than a 75 meters, or one of them dies, the devices blow their hearts up. When they approach the edge of this range, arrhythmia starts as a warning. She advices to move constantly to make the hunt more enjoyable.

As soon as Mickey Mouse and Dumbo leaves the toilet, henchmen try to kill them, so they start to run. After looking up some old friends they acquire weapons and try to reveal the identity of Mrs. Wong. Their only lead is a rumor about a guy called Mr. Akimbo who sells drugs, and might be connected to Mrs. Wong. He is used to do business in the botanic garden. Our heroes lose the hunters during a car chase, and hurry there.

Legend

Gray values show surface height.
(1.): Office buildings
(2.): Entrance
(3.): Glasshouses
(4.): Restaurant
(5.): Pier
(6.): Hot-dog stands
(7.): Info cabin
(8.): Gift shops

The botanical garden

The sun is setting and the botanical garden is about to close. The mission is to get to the far side of the peninsula and wait for Mr. Akimbo, who will arrive to the pier by boat. His buyers are already in the garden (approximately 6 of them), and they must be eliminated. Using their case full of money, Ying could pose as the buyer, and wait for the right moment to disarm and interrogate Mr. Akimbo. Ying will look for the buyers in the crowd who wear dark suit and sunglasses.
Jong will cover his partner with a sniper rifle from the top of the glasshouses on the west side. (The setting sun behind him makes him practically invisible.) His weapon is modified in a way that he can mark targets for Dumbo (with the secondary fire button). Each marked person will show up on the cop’s PDA for 1 second. Keeping the marking on someone helps Ying finding him. A hiding place can also be suggested using this method. The marking can be continuous, while firing and reloading the weapon takes about 2 seconds.

Playing as Ah Jong

Ying starts to wonder around in the garden. The player must follow him on the rooftops to keep close enough. (Using ladders and scaffolding to progress.) Sometimes Dumbo - using their radio - says that he might saw a buyer in a certain location, and asks for confirmation. The player must zoom in on the suspect to decide if he is a target. If so, he can either be marked for the AI or killed instantly. Killing an innocent NPC is ill-advised. All buyers must be eliminated in a given (but not too tight) time frame. One of them has the briefcase with the money, that should be acquired as well. The garden’s security is trying to herd people out, so Ying must avoid them. If the player sees security personnel nearby, he/she must target a proper hiding place for the AI.
When all buyers are dead a cut scene shows as the dealer arrives to the pier (with 5 bodyguards), where Ying waits for them. They start to do business when Dumbo give the sign to Jong who starts to kill the bodyguards. After a quick firefight, Ying interrogates the dealer, who tells about a business woman who might be the one our heroes are after. Unfortunately he knows nothing specific, just that the woman has a private box on the racecourse.
The conversation is interrupted by an SUV blasting through the bushes: the hunters have found the odd couple, so a firefight begins. While Mr. Akimbo is alive, he shoots both Ying and the hunters with his two automatic pistols, equipped with laser targeting devices. The goal now is to leave the botanical garden alive.
It’s twilight now, so Ying depends on Jong and his night vision scope. The player must quickly decide what to do when an enemy is approaching Ying: the attacker can be marked, but since the marking lasts only for a second or so, it only effective on persons near Dumbo. The marking reticule can be kept on someone but that means that other enemies might not get detected. Firing the gun kills instantly, but needs 2 seconds to reload. The guys must fight their way back to the entrance. Ying moves in the shadows, avoiding the puddles of light under the streetlights. He relies on entirely on Jong to show enemies to him. (As seen in the movie “The long kiss goodnight".)
4 other SUV’s arrive now and then, carrying more enemies. The cars can be destroyed by targeting the wheels or the driver. The reinforcements (at least some of them) only die if the car tips over on the landscape, or falls into the water. Cars tend to smash hot-dog stands and rubbish cans. At the entrance, firing security guards are added to the mix, but they should not be killed. They are only after the hunters destroying the garden and know nothing about our heroes.
After reaching the parking lot, a cut scene shows as Ying gets a car waits for Jong to get it. Unfortunately more hunters appear, so Ying must start driving, without his partner. Jong steals a motorbike, and follows the car.

Playing as Li Ying

Jong will give directions to the player where to look for the buyers. Marked targets appear on the HUD. The buyers should be killed in a quiet fashion, from up close (using the “silenced gun to the back” move), to prevent panic amongst civilians. The AI won’t kill more than 2 enemies. Security personnel must be avoided, so the AI will warn the player about the number and directions of such NPCs.
After the interrogation scene the player gets back the controls behind cover. The visibility is limited in the dark, but lights should be avoided because enemies can target easier a well lit person. On the HUD marked hunters show up. The player can guess their route even after the mark has disappeared: enemies are moving slowly in the dark from cover to cover, and make different kind of noises. It helps if the player moves through areas where Mickey Mouse can provide cover fire.

Interactions

Most of the map can be destroyed: glasshouses, the restaurant, the speedboat, abandoned hot-dog stand, rubbish cans, streetlights, information cabins, gift shops.

Comments on the design

Binding the heroes (Ying and Yang) together has a symbolic meaning: one can not exist without the other. (In spite of that the original movie portrayed them like twins with the only difference of one having a badge.) This restriction also makes possible a few interesting puzzles, especially if switching between heroes in-game is allowed. I tried to add a twist to the usual shooting sequence. Not too progressive, so the average player won’t be scared away, but different enough to provide a fresh experience. The botanical garden seemed to be a good choice because it is in contrast with the concrete jungle of Hong Kong where the other scenes might be located. Also here the player can break glasshouses and jump on petunias without consequences.

Zoltan Erdôkövy, 2007-04-26