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Izanagi and Izanami is a top-down shooter based on ancient Japanese mythology. 

I took a unit on level design during my second year at university. I had a solo project and a group project. In the group project shown here, I was tasked with creating the second level of the game.  

We had to use tile sets when developing the game, this meant we had to be creative and thoughtful when designing the tile sets and the overall levels. 

level design draft.png

I drafted a lot of different designs to fit the theme and overall gameplay style we were going for and ended with this as my final draft. Level 2 was an indoor level with labyrinth-type features and a Japanese castle style. 

Lights on level design A2.png

Top-down view of the level with game lights on.

The design of level 2 had to change after we ran into problems with file sizes, GIT hub wouldn't allow us to move files across it if they were too large which means our original level drafts had to change a little. This led to me coming up with a more linear design but also showcasing what could have been branching and confusing pathways.

Top-down view of the level with Unity lighting on 

no lights level design A2.png

While I was the only one working on the second level for the majority of the time, it also meant I had to design the style of the tile sets. I looked at a lot of references from old Japanese castles and tried to depict them to the best of my ability. While designing the levels I also wanted to add verticality; making the level feel more dynamic and breaking the pace of just moving through floors while shooting and dodging the enemies and traps. 

vertical level design.png

Team members: James Ellem, Will Hughes and Freya Sambain

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