∴Life is Strange: True Colors∴

Overview

  Life Is Strange: True Colors is the 3rd main game in the series and the fifth installment of the Life Is Strange franchise. Unlike previous entries that have been released episodically over a period of time, all 5 chapters were released on September 9th, 2021. It won “Best Storytelling” at the 2021 Golden Joystick Awards and “Games for Impact” at the 2021 Game Awards. The story focuses on a new protagonist named Alex Chen who travels to Haven Springs to live with her estranged brother Gabe. As one of the returning two Level Designers, I collaborated with every department at Deck Nine on over 20 Levels/scenes throughout the game and helped create many unique gameplay experiences that were tied to the new Empathy power.
I also worked on a bonus DLC episode for this title.

Game Info

Developer: Deck Nine Games
Genre: Narrative Adventure
Publisher: Square Enix
Game Engine: Unreal 4
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Stadia
Team Size: Around 85
Release Date: Sept. 10, 2021

Tools Used

-Unreal Engine 4
-Autodesk Maya
-Microsoft Office
-Jira Issue Tracker
-Confluence
-Perforce
-Photoshop
-Draw.io Diagrams
-Playwrite
-Storyteller

General

• Created 2D layouts and 3D Greybox levels
• Prototyped early versions of full scenes to iterate on functionality, flow, and progression
• Taking Levels from concepts to Final Polish
• Set up Config Files so that correct levels load for each scene in Unreal/Story Teller
• Helped manage the scene structure/order
• Designed puzzles and iterated on them
• Built navmesh, camera colliders, and interact points for level functionality
• Set up NPC idles and related functionality
• Playtested other scenes and provided feedback for other level designers/departments
• Fixed a wide variety of game logic and content bugs across the entire game
• Narrative Design Experience while updating conditionals in Playwrite
• Collaborated with Narrative, Environment, Cinematic Artists, Production, and other departments to achieve the project goals

Documentation

• Creating and maintaining Level Design Docs for all of my scenes across the game
• Made pitch docs for adding narrative storytelling, additional content, and unique gameplay moments
• Updated progress documents for various game features and power moments
• Tracked my solutions for bug tickets and wrote bugs for other departments
• Provided feedback coworker’s tickets
• Wrote, reviewed, and implemented hints and objectives to help give players direction

Research

• Researched systems, features, and gameplay within the original Life is Strange, Life is Strange 2, and Captain Spirit
• Identified moments in our scripts that did not line up with previous chapters and helped the writers come up with solutions

My Levels

Chapter 1: “Side A” – First Day on the Job (Black Lantern Bar) –

    The first major scene in the bar involves filling in for your brother Gabe and helping out his boss Jed. This level is intended to give the player proper introductions to the rest of the story’s main cast that haven’t had a proper encounter with Alex yet. The space, NPCs, triggers, and tasks were intentionally designed to spread out the wide variety of character interactions, choices, and plot developments to different sections of the map. We knew the Black Lantern was going to be a frequently visited location, so I also tried to plan ahead and block out other spaces that could be used for different scenarios in future episodes. Each task initially given to the player also chains into a variety of additional content and bonus goals if the player decides to engage with them. Talking to Diane and Duckie allows you to deliver their order to Jed, but also starts a side quest to eventually head back upstairs to Gabe’s apartment and find a missing bottle of wine. When talking to Steph, she will properly introduce herself and challenges Alex to a unique gameplay moment where she must correctly guess the jukebox song she’s thinking of; loser takes a shot. Cleaning off the dirty table results in a minor power moment with Mac, and a major decision to tell Riley what happened upstairs. Leaving the back room also prompts Officer Pike to arrive and additional interactions with him and Jed to become available. After all the original tasks are complete, Gabe returns to the Bar and asking Alex to join him on the roof. The scene ends with Jed letting her head upstairs after giving different voice lines of varied approval based on how the player progressed through the tasks and the choices that they made. (1:07:21 – 1:34:44)

Chapter 2: “Lanterns” – Tracking Down Mac (Main Street/Lethe Flower Shop) –

    This entry is basically a two-for-one, but both are technically part of the same major checkpoint. The main pedestrian road in Haven Springs functions as a sort of hub space in multiple episodes, linking up many of the shops that the player can travel to over the course of the game. I was in charge of the episode 2 and 4 versions and the main design goal I had was to lean into the impact of Alex’s presence and player choice over time. I helped generate a wide variety of interactions, triggers, side quests, and other content, trying to fill every nook and cranny to push the player to explore the massive town area, but still have elements and hints that directed the player to critical path moments so that they would be able to progress the story when desired. The main objective of this large scene in chapter 2 is to track down Mac and get him to confess what he has been hiding about the mining company.

    Going into the Flower Shop results in Eleanor mentioning that Mac left recently, but is still nearby somewhere. Before Alex can leave, she senses a deep fear in Eleanor. Fully utilizing her power, after some investigation, Alex learns that Eleanor has an memory loss condition. She fears of what will happen if Riley finds out and that it might put her shop out of business. During this scene, we get some of my favorite visuals I suggested to the environment and VFX team. To show her state of mind, the world outside of the shop’s windows turns white and cloudy, while the shop itself begins to fall apart, with everyday objects behaving in bizarre ways, such as signs having scrambled letters. Using objects around the shop, the player must puzzle out what Eleanor was doing earlier in the day. After finding the correct object sequence, reality returns to normal, as Eleanor will remember that an order of flowers was paid for by Jed. The scene ends when Alex returns to Main Street hub, but the player must make an important choice of whether or not to remind Eleanor that Gabe is dead, resulting in multiple outcomes later in the game. (25:20 – 36:15)

Chapter 3: “Monster or Mortal” – Mother’s Dilemma (The Dispensary) –

    Alex arrives at the Silver Dragon Dispensary, where she finds Charlotte in the back-room art studio. She explains that Ethan is grateful for the LARP and Alex’s help in it, but that he has already left with his father. Alex notices something slightly off about her reactions but pressing Charlotte about it causes her to abruptly lashes out at Alex, emitting a red anger aura. To help, Alex utilizes her power where she is taken to a dark and moody version of the art studio, where she sees Charlotte working away on an unfinished sculpture. I used an old level design trick for the power section of this scene, using a nearly identical room underneath the normal version of it to allow for the necessary lighting and VFX for the emotional moment, reactions, and quick swaps between cinematic cameras. While examining various art objects scattered about the studio, the player learns that each represents how Charlotte is angry with Alex, Ryan, and even Gabe for his death. During this, the center sculpture breaks away in chunks, resembling Gabe, Ryan, and Alex herself in the statue. Ultimately, the last art piece reveals that Charlotte actually blames her son Ethan for Gabe’s death and that she hates him for it. After Ethan appears in the middle sculpture, she smashes the statue, ending the power moment. Despite understanding the situation now, Alex still fails to reason with Charlotte again. Alex ponders if she can use her ability to somehow take the anger away from Charlotte, but is that a good idea? The player must make this major decision to take away Charlotte’s rage or respect her wishes and leave. The scene ends shortly after either way, but whatever the player chooses has a lasting impact on Charlotte and other potential consequences for the remainder of the game. (1:39:05 – 1:50:40)