Day: July 10, 2019

Changes to the Multiplayer Level Designs

I have been playing a multiplayer shooter game called Apex Legends for a while now and I was so excited when the season 2 was announced back in the day. I was expecting to be pleased with the amount of upgrades and new features, but I’ve never imagine changes to the actual level that was already in a game. I don’t think I’ve seen something similar before (but I may be uninformed) and I found it really intriguing as an environment artist.

Apex Legends Season 2 – Battle Charge Launch Trailer

From the main trailer of the 2nd season the players can spot the differences immediately. The huge dinosaur/dragon creature that was before roaming in the background have now been placed in the centre of the map allowing players to walk around it. To be hones, it was my main focus, as I’m planning to have a similar huge dinosaur in a centre of my own map. It’s not a huge connection, but worth checking out the animations and other technical aspects of having such a central focus point in an environment.

The dragon-like creatures are now placed in cages around the level for the players to interact with. This is also an interesting addition to the environment itself – the interactivity. It’s usually mostly based on the interactions between characters or NPCs (which in this case is also true), but it adds a lot to the mood and general play-ability of a level.

Those changes are the most visible at first, but there are many more changes to the environment in general. Several areas have been redesigned as some landmarks have been destroyed, the new ones have been added. I don’t think it’s usual for such games to change their environments on such a scale. It’s very interesting from both point of views (player and developer) and have inspired me to try something similar in the future. I may pick my old work (or maybe someone else’s with a permission), and partly redesign it. This can be an interesting future project.

Apex Legends, 27 Jun 2019, [online video] ‘Apex Legends Season 2 – Battle Charge Launch Trailer’, Availiable at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThSKocfe5QE [Accessed: 10 Jul. 2019]