top of page

I Am Not AI

Level Designer

I Am Not AI is an arcade-style beat-em-up where you play as a gladiatorial robot fighting waves of robotic enemies in a massive arena trying to get the highest score possible!

My Goals for this level design project were:

  • Create a style guide and central theme to build off of

  • Design an arena that blends old Greek architectural colosseums with sci-fi and vaporwave themes

I Am Not AI Start Screen.png

Workflow

Defining Our Style

Arena Inspiration.png

Going into this project I had a strong idea of what I wanted to accomplish and made sure to start the project off right. Rather than trying to define the core of this project as it was in development, I chose to create a board where I would develop the foundation of what this project would be at its core.

In this board I gathered many things like:

  • Architectural references for the arena

  • A style guide to create clear rules for how the arena should be designed

  • 2D sketches to draw out all of the possibilities for the arena layout

This board helped me continue to keep the project within scope, eliminating ideas that didn't but also helped me stay on track and iterate on how the arena complimented the themes surrounding the game. 

2D Sketches.png

First Iteration to Second Iteration

I created a first rough draft for what the first level that heavily stuck with the greek themes and layout of the Colosseum in Rome. Before I finalized this design I had a large sample of people look over the locale and give me their thoughts on it. Many said things like this:

  • "It looks good but, I don't see how this relates to robots"

  • "The layout works well, it's very simple but it doesn't carry that scifi aesthetic"

  • "I feel like its clashing with the characters in the game. I don't get why were here"​

It was clear that there was a disconnect between the level itself and the overall aesthetic and themes I was trying to evoke. That's when I added onto my own level inspirations by looking into BattleBots Arenas and seeing what makes that arena feel so good.

Arena Inspiration.png

These changes allowed me to match the theming of my game to help fully immerse players within the level. After some more reviews that were more positive about these changes I continued to work on the lighting and colors of the arena for that final touch that would tie everything together.

This iteration process taught me a lot about how iteration can look different when your intended goal is much different than "how does the player interact with the level. This project gave me the opportunity to look more at how the environment around them immerses the player when there's not a lot to interact with.

Colosseum Design 2_edited.jpg

BattleBots arenas are more boxy, they feature a multitude of stage hazards and are lit by these bright high contrast colors that make it feel massive. These were the elements I strived to incorporate in my design.  These were all the changes I made for the second version of this level:

  • Sharper layout of the arena

  • Larger complex sharp objects to line the corners of the arena

  • Rework pillars to be used as obstacles the player can use to dodge projectiles

Colosseum Design V2 1_edited.jpg

The Results

Colosseum Final Design 1.png

Many who have playtested and seen the level have loved it so far and say that it's been a really good touch that ties the experience together. And this project is coming out soon! I had a lot of fun working on this in my spare time and hope to continue learning of all the ways iteration must change around the players needs and the identity of the game. 

Colosseum Final Design 3.png
Colosseum Final Design 2.png
bottom of page