Cuhlecain's Tomb

SUMMARY: Cuhlecain’s Tomb is a dungeon, built in the Elder Scrolls Creation Kit, off of the design ideas portrayed in the Elder Scrolls Online to display my ability to develop content that is sound in both design and narrative of a given world.

PLATFORM: PC / Elder Scrolls Creation Kit

DATE: September 2016 – November 2016, 60 hours.

ROLE: Sole Developer

INTENT STATEMENT: With this project, I will develop a level that will identify a piece of narrative that has not been told in the Elder Scrolls lore and develop it through visual and story based design, while upholding the design philosophy within Elder Scrolls Online.

GENERAL GAMEPLAY DESCRIPTION

The level plays in a controlled pace, with combat being sprinkled into the experience, rather then dominating it. Combat is paced so that players have the option to either take their time, or speed through the dungeon. While it is paced, it is not easy or intentionally forgiving, as players will be encounter more enemies the further they dive into the dungeon. The level is developed so that players can either make their own interpretation of what occurred through the visual design progression of the level, or through the books that have been curated especially for this dungeon.

CONTRIBUTION DESCRIPTION:

While the actual mechanics and systems had already been completed, this was not an issue due to the type of project it was. I began development with a general idea of how I wanted the level to feel in size and length, so I decided it would be best to develop for either a cave or catacomb. After a few searches, I found my subject in Cuhlecain, a key figure in the Elder Scrolls universe that had little information written about him besides one book in-game.

Original Sketch

This was my original sketch for the level. Originally, I wanted it to be much more structured, but ended up going for a more organic look to fit the vision.

Level Design Document

This was the further development of my original sketches for the project.

Beginning build

This was at the very beginning of my level's blockout. The finished product ended up being very different, the second room in particular.

Custom Architecture

I wasn't able to always use the existing architecture for my level, and at times had to work around the existing pieces.

With my idea firmly in hand, I began to make simple level mockups. While I was using the design principles for Elder Scrolls Online, I could have made the decision that this dungeon would be a disconnected cell in the game, however I decided this would be a poor decision. Part of developing content, in my mind, is having a wholly connected experience and to disregard the outer portion of the content would be disrespectful to it. So, due to the way Skyrim handles agriculture, I needed to determine the location for the level based on the little narrative knowledge I had to work with before I could begin development on the level. I chose Falkreath for its narrative connection and its graveyard being a key part to the village. As the dungeon would be rather large in scale, I needed to build it so that the entrance area of the tomb would make sense. I lodged a large entrance into the side of a cliff near the graveyard, as it made logical sense and did not disrupt the design of the world as other solutions would have.

75% complete

This was the 3/4 mark for my level blockout. This image holds many of the aspects of the sketch i made when I began the level, which would slowly fall as I began to clutter the spaces with enemies and items.

First Pass Finished

This was the completed version of my first pass. I ended up cutting down many of the hallways, and often entirely reworking them. You may notice 2 hallways leading nowhere. This was done intentionally, as I hadn't figured out Cuhlecain's chambers yet.

Final Map

This was the final map layout for the level.

Ambush difficulties

One of the things that I spent at least a week working around was the way to make the ambushes work. Eventually they functioned how they should, but it was difficult being halted in the design process.

Development of the level began by building out the framework of the dungeon. Upon starting, I realized that several pieces did not exist that I needed to make my vision a reality, so I took existing pieces within the engine, retooled them and imported them as new meshes. I had to do this several times, as I wanted my dungeon to have a unique feel, and felt that make new meshes entirely would likely lead to issues with the modularity of the pieces, and they likely would not fit well within the aesthetic of the game.

First Room complete

This was the first room I completed cluttering, and I wanted to use it to set the tone for what would come. Similar to Elder Scrolls Online, I wanted lighting to represent importance and significance.

Learning a bit more

By this point, I had cluttered three rooms. I was beginning to understand how I could turn smaller spaces in to impact pieces, though I still was working on the ability to clutter the middle of rooms

Establishing a pattern

This is probably my favorite room I worked on. It demonstrates not only the fall of Cuhlecain and his life, but also begins to establish the idea that there are always outside forces pushing in, signified by the statuesque heads.

Power and the Fall

If the last room was my favorite, this was my most impacting piece. The 4 heads return but this time, much closer together. In the background, a throne is disrepair collecting dust. From a narrative perspective, we are seeing how the outside forces have come close enough to kill, and how Cuhlecain never quite reached the throne.

Once I had blocked out the level as I wanted it, I began cluttering and writing down the narrative I had developed into books in-game. Cluttering was a long process, as I felt that the narrative of the level should be conveyed both in the books that I had written for the level, but also through visual design with the level. I wanted to show that while there had been in effort to build a grand tomb for this Emperor, that it fell by the wayside as war raged on between the living, and was eventually forgotten. Every item that I placed, I considered not only the design and function of it, but also the way it would be perceived by the player and the meaning they might associate with it.

Ethan Moore

Senior Game Designer

Cuhlecain's Tomb