Project Analysis
With The Fabryka I used my gained experience from my previous 2 Dead By Daylight maps and aimed to construct a level that more accurately matches the Dead By Daylight gameplay flow.
The map officially released on September 23rd 2022 after over a month of development.
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Further below you can read about some of the design decisions that went into crafting this level.
TITLE
THE FABRYKA
ENGINE
UE4
TEAM SIZE
1
DURATION
AUG 2022 - SEP 2022
GAMEPLAY VIDEO
RESPONSIBILITIES
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Designed and built the environment in Unreal Engine 4.
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Iterated and changed elements based on player feedback.
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Designed the environment to fit into the gameplay flow of Dead By Daylight.
MAP OVERVIEW
DESIGN DISCUSSION
When I begin designing a level, I first conceptualize a general theme/narrative, collate references and then construct a series of objectives based around it and the game it's designed for. With The Fabryka I wanted a disjointed, moody environment in a post apocalyptic world and my objectives partially reflect that. Additionally I wanted to build upon feedback and lessons learnt from my previous 2 Dead By Daylight maps to craft my best level yet.
I wanted design a level that truly embraces the diversity in gameplay Dead By Daylight has and I believe these objectives set out achieve that vision:
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Design a map that contains traditional Dead By Daylight design elements such as "high wall" tiles.
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Design a map that balances horizontal and vertical mobility.
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Implement well-received design changes from previous maps.
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Create balanced loops across the map, with engaging outplay opportunities from both the survivor & killer.
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Ensure the diverse playstyles of Dead By Daylight can all be utilized.
These objectives are in addition to previously discussed objectives from prior maps such as "The Red District" and "The Encampment".
"Design a map that contains traditional Dead By Daylight design elements such as "high wall" tiles."
Embracing diverse playstyles
In my previous map "The Red District", due to the dense urban environment it was designed in, the map featured no traditional high-wall loops for survivors and killers. This resulted in ranged killers being considerably stronger due to their inherent ability to injure survivors over walls. Killers that relied on "mindgames" were often left with little counter play to survivors.
In The Fabryka I made the intentional decision to implement tall wall tiles to better suit a game with such a diverse roster of characters and abilities. Combining this with a variety of "short wall" structures means both ranged, and basic attack killers can have a more fun experience depending on their movement choices.
"Design a map that balances horizontal and vertical mobility."
Verticality creates new gameplay opportunity
With The Fabryka I really aimed to make the map as vertical as possible, adding to the original vision of a disjointed environment as the player constantly changes in elevation.
The increased verticality of the map also opens up new gameplay opportunities for players. Perks such as balanced landing become incredibly useful tools on this map, ranged killers gain a wider view and killers such as blight have more of the environment to utilize. One of the biggest pieces of feedback from "The Red District" was the map was too flat, so I made sure to amp up the verticality here without it feeling obtrusive like in "The Encampment". In that map, the verticality was too gradual, and it resulted in killers like Doctor having a reduced playspace.
(You might also notice the literal signposting here)
Adding more movement options horizontally
An objective with this map was to implement more debris and obstructions in the map across larger, and smaller paths. I believe this resulted in players feeling like they have more agency over their movement, not just walking around an empty plane like "The Red District".
Adding extra debris around the map also served to give more opportunity to survivors to dodge projectiles and certain killer powers, while also allowing killers like The Blight to further utilize their heavy environment based abilities.
"Implement well-received design changes from previous maps"
Flipping established gameplay mechanics.
Expanding upon a previously well-received basement rework. I aimed to make the basement even more of an integral part of the level. Instead of being an easy place to stand still, secure kills and being challenging to reach for killer; The new (new) basement acts as a more dynamic part of the level.
With this new basement, killers can easily reach the hooks and place survivors in less than ideal situations, while also reducing the effectiveness of multi-person camping and giving survivors slightly more tools to escape from a deadly basement situation. I believe these changes will ultimately make the basement a more engaging and challenging area for both killers and survivors.
Redesigning an iconic structure
The Shack is an iconic Dead By Daylight structure. It features an "L" wall with a strong vault opportunity for survivors, and a "god" pallet. In this rework I wanted to elevate the structure by removing the god pallet and giving both killers and survivors more opportunity to mindgame.
In line with the design approach and objectives of this map, the shack also receives verticality. This allows killers to potentially drop down on an unaware survivor running the structure, and also give survivors that equal chance to escape upstairs and use perks such as balanced landing! (For those unaware, balanced landing gives players a speed boost for dropping from a height)
FINAL TRAILER
This map was an amazing chance to listen to player feedback and design a balanced level that more accurately matches prior Dead By Daylight maps.
Notes and Additional Information:
This is a custom map and is not representative of work by Behaviour Interactive. I do not claim to be an employee of Behaviour Interactive. Some assets used in this map are owned by Behaviour Interactive and I do not claim to have created or modelled any of the assets shown on this map.