Axl Eration

Summary

Axl Eration is a speedrun-focused First Person Shooter. The goal of the game is to finish the levels in the shortest possible time. The player can jump, slide and jump-slide to find the fastest possible way to the exit. The story of the game is vague on purpose because we wanted the gameplay to be the absolute focus of the game.

The Team

  • Me (Level Designer)

  • Joshua Alexander Ravn Christiansen (Level Designer)

  • Nina Claudia Slowik Sas (Graphical Artist)

  • Johannes Bengtsson (Graphical Artist)

  • Clara Lindblad Åman (Graphical Artist)

  • Sebastian Szymanski (Programmer)

  • Axel Szelag (Programmer)

  • Albin Nilsson (Programmer)

  • Hampus Siversson (Programmer)

  • Jacob Reimer (Programmer)

  • John Behrens (Technical Artist)

  • Nils Svenningsen (Technical Artist)

Specifications

  • First Person Shooter

  • Created in 10 weeks half-time

My Contributions

  • Level Design

  • Game Design

  • Propping

  • Lighting

  • Playtesting

Design Philosophy

Our reference game for this project was Doom 2016. We wanted the speed and energy from that, and took inspiration from the speed in that game. But because we had a more linear design in our game we wanted a slide to reward fast-thinking players, so that they could optimize their run. 

We had two different types of levels; Arenas and Hallways. At the start of the project we wanted two of each type of level, but we had to cut one level, so we landed on two hallways and one arena. 

The Hallways were linear levels where the player was chased by a deadly laser-wall that kills upon touching it. The player must traverse forward fast and at the same time avoid enemies and shoot buttons that activate doors. These were the levels that were our unique selling point and they got the most love. 

The Arena was as one could imagine, a arena. The player had to clear the level of Teleporter-enemies to open the exit-door. The level was round with four rooms. The player could clear the rooms any order they wanted, to find the most optimal route for the fastest time.

Hallway Level - Early Greybox

Arena Level - Early Greybox

Working as a team

I had the responsibility of two levels; the first and second level. Because of the double amount of work needed, I got help with propping and lighting from Johannes Bengtsson. Together we discussed what we imagined for the levels so that we could have a shared vision for the mood and environment we wanted from the levels.

Picture of the different stages of our progress. From Mock-up to Gold-version.

Closing Thoughts

We had a couple of bumps through the road, but I think we managed to get a good and unique game that we all can be proud of. Our work-process could be improved a whole lot and that is what I will take with me for my future projects.