My name is Sixten. I’m one of the artists working on Ground Zero and I’m here to talk about the art of the train level.
So what makes the train level so unique compared to other levels in Ground Zero?
Since the train level is a more cramped space than the areas in other levels, we focused more of our attention on materials and textures. Another key difference compared is that the train is moving, which presented unique challenges.
In terms of design, the train is mainly inspired by the Orient Express, but with some inspiration from late 1800s architecture. So in short, the train is made up, but we did take inspiration from many different real-world places! We wanted to achieve an “upper class” and old feeling environment! Levels set in claustrophobic trains or on the subway were commonplace in classic survival horror games, so that’s the vibe we were going for. In particular, the train level in Resident Evil 0 was a great source of inspiration!
The train level in Resident Evil 0.
The train is constantly moving, which as you can imagine presents an unique challenge in a prerendered game. Also, since the train is moving quite fast, designing the world around the train would involve a lot of work. To combat these problems, the train isn’t actually moving, rather the world around it is. So we built the environment in chunks that move past the train and will give the illusion of the train moving.
The prototype of the world moving outside of the train.
The finalised view from the train window.
Another big challenge with creating a level like this is the cramped and linear design you naturally get from a train. There’s not much room to move around and kite enemies, so combat is a lot harder to get right. There’s also less you can do artistically with a restricted and linear space like this. Because of this, we had to make sure that the level wasn't too long, that it feels just right. And that the train feels interesting all the way through!
There are a lot of other things we included that help with this, which I won’t go into much here to avoid spoilers, you will have to play the game and find out what they are yourself 😉
As I mentioned earlier, from a design perspective, the train’s look is inspired by the Orient express and late 1800s architecture, with lots of wooden panels and a more “upper class” feel, which makes it stylistically quite different from other levels.
The train has also been less affected by the events in Ground Zero compared to other areas in the game like Gamcheon, since it has mostly been dormant.
On a personal note, I think my favorite aspect of this level is that the cramped space and linear design allowed us to really focus on a smaller area, which in turn led to us making a really unique area! It’s not just art related either. I think the design work as a whole on the train is really strong, where the cramped area and difficulty of kiting enemies becomes one of the level’s strong suits!
Until next time,
- Sixten
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2340130/Ground_Zero/
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