Maliki Poison of the Past:
level design

Credits:

Developed by Blue Banshee Games

Creative director: Maliki

CEO: Etienne Jacquemain

Producer: Maël Guérin

Game designers: Clément Gastaldo, Aurélien Lubecki

Level design - generalities

The synopsis had already set the basis of the levels the player would cross:

Level 1 (Childhood): Countryside in the 80’s -> in charge of the second half of the level, a northern France village
Level 2 (Adolescence): Town in the 90’s -> in charge of the first half of the level, mixing oldtown elements (cathedral, old towers) with modern sections.
Level 3 (Becoming an adult): Paris in the 2000’s -> in charge of the second half of the level, comprising night district Pigalle and Montmartre cemetery.
Level 4 (Re(birth)): Alps in the 40’s -> in charge of all the level

Beforehand, I proposed general guidelines for all levels, interfacing narrative and level design. What do we want to convey for each of these very different times / locations? What kind of progression does the player follow ?

Creating Level 4

I had in charge the whole design of Level 4, last level of the game, comprising the following sections:
The first section contains a snowy forest, leading to a plateau and a frozen lake, ending with a small cave with a bossfight.
The second section is an alpine village, ending with a bossfight in an isolated house.
The chapter is very important narratively, as the player will discover the origin of the antagonist of the game, Poison.

Level and environmental storytelling

The player has been used to explore the timeline chronologically: 80s, 90s, 2000s. For this level, I wanted to maintain as long as possible a strong sense of mystery about the place and date of the level. Are we far in the past, before mankind ? In the future, after a triumph of Poison ?

I asked the level artists to minimize the occurrence of man-made elements, and I chose not to have any humanoid antagonists (nor NPCs) in the first part of the level. I also proposed puzzle drafts integrating more natural elements than Poison-based, unlike other levels: it was important to indicate a weaker presence of Poison. We also agreed with the game’s composer to have no music (except a light music for combat) in the first subsection of the level. At the end of the first section, the player finally meets a human, living outside the village, and learns about the current era and location.

I also wanted to add a few elements connecting this level and the first one, to come full circle on several points. Both are the only levels comprising nature sections, both start with a forest and end with a village. One is the supposed starting point of the game’s timeline (1980s), the second is the actual one (1940s). So I asked to reuse some of the puzzle elements (trunks to take down / to float on), variants of Level 1’s enemies (mushrooms, sheeps…) and I mirrored the progression for the village part (finding three villagers to unlock the level boss area).

Finally, it was important to me to evoke the theme of ascension, towards truth and deliverance. Each subzone is higher than the previous one, and a river crosses the map as a continuous landmark. Even Jules’ house (containing the level boss, the origin of Poison) is higher than the rest of the village.

General level structure (first section)

A: the player follows a riverpath in a snowy forest, strongly reminding them the beginning of the first level.

B: a crevasse hints at a mountain-like location. This change of topography also allows other puzzles and circulation.

C: a wide frozen plateau where the player do not know where to go, and follows a path in the fog while being ambushed by wolf-like enemies.

D: A small cave, leading to a first boss (ice golem).

E: a frozen lake, with space for a last big puzzle, before reaching the ermit’s house and ending the first half of the level.

The second part of the level mainly comprises the alpine village, and the path leading to it.

Progression and circulation

I wanted to mix a linear progression with a sense of owning the level (creating shortcuts, finding optional content (loot, strong enemies), identifying landmarks…).

Section C was the trickiest and I don’t think the mechanic I chose (a fog stops you from moving if you go beyond the limits) brings something really interesting to the level. Nonetheless, the music appearance (no music till this point) and the changes of level art and enemies bring novelty and interest to the player’s experience.

I decided to extend the small cave D into a more complex cave network connecting both parts of the level: it breaks the level’s linearity and adds shortcuts and optional content.

The village is a non-linear section (reminding the village of level 1) where the protagonists collect pieces of information (as well as shovels!) before finding their missing friend Becky and the level boss. This section is really intertwined with the cave network.

To finish, a section of the forest is only accessible after level completion, as well as subsections of the cave network.

A

B

C1

C2

D

C3

E

F

Here is a zoomed-out image of the general layout for the first part of the level.

Section C is split in three parts:
- C1: main part of the foggy plateau
- C2: crevasse puzzle leading to the cave
- C3: optional part of the plateau with stronger enemies, leading to a piece of equipment.
Section D layout (cave) is not shown here
Section E comprises another cave access (North), that will enventually connect both parts of the level.
Section F is a bonus section only explorable when the whole level is completed.

Maliki Poison of the Past: level design