Eucrasia
Eucrasia features an open world for the player to explore almost at leisure. To facilitate the narrative, and the player’s introduction to the world, the first stage of the game world is designed to funnel the player through a series of set pieces which gradually reveal more to the player before the world finally opens up for exploration. The soundscape of the game is designed to build into the emotional impact of each area, highlighting the desolation of the plague ridden village, or the harshness of nature in the open fields. While open, the game world is designed around three visual landmarks, allowing the player to always orient their position without the aid of an immersion breaking minimap.
Flow
The player is initially guided along the critical path for the level, as along this path they are introduced to the game world through sightlines and the village set piece. The player must go through these sections to progress, as the ridges and bridge act as a funnel guiding their progress. After the bridge the map opens up to allow for more open exploration, however the layout of the village continues to steer them towards the social hub, where the player can interact with NPCs and continue the storyline.
Sightlines
To increase the immersion of this game, the level was designed around three key landmarks the player could use to intuitively navigate the game world. These landmarks were selected for their prominence in seventeenth century England, as well as representing the three main concerns of the average person of the setting; their spiritual salvation, represented by the church, their earthly survival, represented by the windmill as the source of their food, and their place in a deeply stratified society, represented by the manor house from which the local lord determines their fates.
Greyboxing
Greyboxing allowed for the level design to be built around a series of sightlines which highlighted key points of interests used to facilitate both narrative and player navigation. In addition, game spaces could be easily adjusted to improve gameplay flow and aesthetics before environmental assets were placed.
