Experimenting with the shape of the level.
The Maze final concept - birds-eye perspective.
The pictures above present how I came up with the shape of the maze I would design. Starting off with the basic labyrinth layout, which ends in the centre. I knew I wanted to create something more than a standard labyrinth, what is just a lot of walls that restrict people movement inside of it - I was desperate to create a structure that would stand out, and would be something more than just a layout of the level.
There are high walls to distinct it from the landscape, and they get higher the closer the player gets to the centre. On each of the Maze corners are high pillars with busts of the game "Boss". It is possible for the player to climb on one of them next to the entrance, so she can see all the structure from above. There would be smoke coming out from the centre of the Maze.
The player will be guided through the level - all the characters, events and most of the assets would appear on the way to the centre. When the player wanders off the correct route, the maze would get significantly darker and there would be more blood and vines on the walls.
On the scheme below is the level layout with the player's route and events that would happen inside the game placed. The red line presents the way to centre in search for the dog, the blue one represents the escape of the player and the dog to the hole in the wall, where the game ends. I used this layout when working in Unreal Engine.
