AMANDA MEGAN SWIGER
Level Designer
Current Projects
Tools
Unreal Engine 4
Maya
Logic Pro X
FL Studio
Reaper
Audacity
Asset Packs
Advanced Magic FX 13, Fantasy Environment, FX Variety Pack, Hoverboard, KY Magic Effects 03, Lazy God Ray, Lost Island, Mayan Temple Stater Set, Monument Obelisks, Paragon Props, Pirate Island,
Stylized Desert, VFX Toolkit V1
Level Design Partners
Nathan Kight
Jarrett Rhodes
Adria Llerena (Lighting)
I am a level designer and the sound designer at Axolotl Productions. Currently, we are working on our game Izcalli of the Wind, a slipstream-riding hoverboard game.
When we began planning the levels of the game, each level designer was asked to come up with three different bare bones designs that would test the player's array of skills. At the time, we had expected the entire game to take place indoors, so many of our designs were imagined in more confined spaces. We then thought about having the player go inside and outside of the ruins that would make up our world. Finally, we settled on keeping the entire world outdoors, adapting our ideas from being inside to outside.
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The above sketch was the design I decided to build, using the slipstreams as power supplies as well as transportation. The idea behind this design was that there were going to be slipstreams that worked and did not work, and it was up to the player to draw energy from working slipstreams to place it into the faulty ones. The design evolved to exclude the use of buttons, but the general idea was kept intact.
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The design layout was approved with functionality still being determined, and I received the green-light to start building the space. In Maya, I built a very basic path before putting into Unreal Engine 4.
Proxies were placed in for the slipstreams as long strips about the width needed to allow the player to stay on the slipstream while also needling with the potential threat of falling off.
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At the very end of the action block, I wanted the player to jump on geothermal vents that would taken them to the goal. The basic idea was approved, and I began to expand on the action block.
I began to wonder what it would be like to add in spirals and physics, using momentum to carry the player to the different platforms. To maximize my understanding of how to implement this idea into something that felt fun to ride on, I turned to the best examples: roller coasters. After watching a few hours of roller coaster POV videos and getting the time to go to Disney World, I came back with some notes that could help make the level more engaging. As a result, the level transformed.
This was the end result for my action block: a second path, another spiral, and a double-helix.
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Unfortunately, this action block was cut, but I did have a lot of fun making it. It also spurred the idea for the next action block.
The next action block I was tasked to make takes a simpler approach and acts a proof of concept: is it possible to make the player go upside-down?
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To prepare testing this idea, I created a proxy wall in Maya that would give the player the verticality needed to go upside-down. There are places where the player can rest if they wish.
Construction of this wall took only 15 minutes, including pieces that would prevent the player from flying off the map. A slipstream was placed leading to the wall and up on it to help the player get started and get them to stick to the wall's curvature via simulated centrifugal force.
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The idea half-worked: as long as the player maintains speed, they can achieve a 180-degree vertical turn. If left uninterrupted, the player can be flung off. Dropping speed helps to prevent that.
With the Wall in-editor, I constructed the first half of the level around it. There was not much of a plan for this one, only the desire to test this proof of concept while applying my roller coaster notes. I was not happy with just have the first section, and I wanted to make the space a little more involved. I added a drifting section with turret enemies. While more compact than the first action block, I enjoyed making this one even more because my hypothesis had been supported. This level was also cut.
After this action block was created, I moved onto set dressing our main island, specifically the architectural ruins areas. This is my current task in addition to sound design. I replaced the white box structures of the Landing (starting area) and the Conduit (main area). Because white-boxes were on different sub-levels and for the leads' purposes, I did not delete the proxies. Below are examples of the Landing and the Conduit in the midst of the first pass of set dressing.
After the lighting scenario and other decisions were made, the game now takes place at night. While I have been moved to detail set dressing on top of sound design, I was asked to create a transition area that would lead to the final trial of the game. The proof of concept has been implemented, albeit scoped down, and set dressed. The wall here has a different curvature than my proxy wall, but it works and provides a larger challenge to the player. The same principles were applied.
I also made fireflies to place into the Drifting Challenge in the forest. While purely for aesthetic, I also thought that fireflies could be useful to help guide the player through the area in addition to the crystal lights created by the lighting artist. I used this video to create them.
Below is a GIF of the fireflies. Because the player will be moving very fast, I scaled the fireflies up so that they would be visible.
Level Recreation: Hoth
Tools
Unreal Engine 4
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Partners
Jake Edelen
Asset Packs
Landscape Mountains
Good Sky
Assets provided by Jake Edelen
I am working on a second project that focuses on remaking older games in newer technology. I am working with Jake Edelen on his passion project and have been asked to recreate Hoth in Unreal Engine 4. I compiled a number of references from real life to concept art to best create the level from arcade to a 3D environment including the Battle of Hoth and Jake Edelen's VR demo.
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Below is the paper sketch and the digital sketch of the environment, including the flight path based on this playthrough and encounters with the enemies in the arcade version.
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After gaining approval on the sketch, I started to sculpt the landscape in Unreal Engine 4. Below is a first pass at the landscape as well as testing what asset mountains would look like in the background.
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This is an ongoing project, so progress will be slow. I am very excited to be working on this level, especially because I get to recreate an older level in newer technology.
Level Recreation: Wutai
Tools
Maya
Unreal Engine 4
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Asset Packs
Landscape Mountains
Good Sky
Dynamic Combat System Pack
I am also beginning planning on recreating Wutai Village from Final Fantasy VII in Unreal Engine 4. Inspiration has come from Final Fantasy VII ReMake, and it is a goal and dream to be able to work on a level for the game. As such, as I plan and develop the level, I will add my progress under this project.