LD of a campaign inspired by Left 4 Dead 2

In a zombie apocalyptic world, you play as a survivor team who begins in an Icebreaker ship but it appears that the crew has been infected.

The team must leave the ship fast and cross the snow desert that separate them from a polar base.

Once they get in the base, they begin to see infection sign meaning the base is no longer safe for them, they must escape.

They decide to flee with a snow vehicle so they reach the hangar to prepare the truck by packing resources and fuel.

If they succeed, they can escape in the snow lands and survive another day...

Watch here

ABOUT :

Developed in 6 weeks (from preprod to post prod)
Made in UE4
Skin taken from mixamo
Assets used taken from Epic store

Inspired by :

Left 4 Dead 2
World War Z
Resident Evil 5 / Revelation
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
We Were Here Together
The Thing

Here is an overview of the pre-production of the whole campaign, Chapter 1, 2 and 3.

Overview of Chapter 1 Level Design, players start on the boat and make their way to the Polar Base.

Overview of Chapter 2 Level Design, players start at the main entrance of the base, they need to reach the hangar to flee with a snowtruck.

Separated view of the 3 levels (Lvl 1 / 2 / -1)

Overview of Chapter 3, players start in the hangar, they must refill the truck and put it into launch position in order to use it.

The Challenge :

The goal of this project was to create a complete campaign that could fit in Left 4 dead 2, I'm a big fan of this game and I really wanted to make something worthy of it.

During pre-production, I decided to make a 3 chapters campaign like "The Passing" campaign, short but enough, my time was limited and since the start, I knew I would only have time for one chapter, the 2 others wouldn't go further pre-production.

I also had to create "coop" action to emphazise the cooperation during the chapter but I had a constraint, a coop action had to be doable alone in case 3 players died before the action in order to avoid a "Soft lock" possibility for the last player.

Pre-Production :

My work begun with some research, I was looking for ideas for my campaign, following the L4D2 type:

-Chap 1: Short

-Chap 2/3 (depending of the campaign): Long with lots of fight

-Last chap: Escape with an event.

Here are the ideas I had, the last one "Polar Base", is the one I chose.

Why this choice ?

The Polar Base Idea is, in my opinion, the best campaign idea with the most potential.

Apart of being original, there’s many possibilities with things like snow or blizzard and an icebreaker boat.

The first chapter put the players under pressure because they’re trap in a giant iron can and they must escape in the cold snow desert while fighting waves of infected.

The second chapter contrast with the first one, there’s more open space and “puzzle” in the base, this map is slower than the boat, they can explore it.

The last one is a big wide snowy open area with various actions to do in order to win.

In conclusion, I chose this idea because to me, it was the best option I could take.

Chapter 1: The Icebreaker

The first chapter takes place in an IceBreaker Ship, I took inspiration on the Yamal, a russian nuclear icebreaker ship, to make my own level.

Players start in the cabin, they need to get out of the ship to reach the base.

This chapter ends with a run phase in a snowstorm, players have to search for the lights of the base to find their way.

Chapter 2: The Polar Base

The second chapter takes place in a Polar base, based on scientific research station.

Players have just reach the station main entrance but they quickly understand that the station is infested.

They must escape by reaching the hangar to flee with a snow truck.

Chapter 3: The Hangar

The third chapter takes place in the base hangar.

Players need to restock and refuel a snow truck while fighting waves of infected.

This map shapes is more like an arena unlike the 2 others.

Development Process

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Two ships ?

As you can see on some pictures, there's a second ship.

During the playthrough, the ship collide with a glacier, stunning the players but meanwhile, I teleport them on the second ship which is sinking, altering the LD.

At the beginning, I load the first ship and during the stun, I unload it and load the second one without letting the players notice it.