Drew White - Gameplay Programmer

I worked as a level/technical designer on Starforged Studios upcoming title Edge for over a year. My work included Unity level design, Blender asset creation and sculpting, beginner shader work, and C# coding. An early look at Edge showcasing my work can be seen here. Following below is a write-up of my thought-process and work put into bringing the floating islands of Edge to life. Read ahead!

Beginning

A world torn into distant, floating islands. Thea, a powerful girl with no recollection of this strange land, wakes to a sandbox full of creatures, memorable characters, and, of course, the distinct floating islands. Here's a look into how I brought the scene of Sky's Edge to life in a world stationed above the void.

In Thea's adventure, Sky's Edge serves as a hub: a place where the player can build up a town, use resources, and interact with the world in a dynamic way. Sky's Edge was made to reflect the different regions to be visited throughout the game. For example, a watery lake area on the hub island was made to represent an ocean region and the peak of the island would hint at a far-off mountain region. Outside of geography differences, Sky's Edge had to be a place for the people. The game is built around a sense of community: Thea can build homes and businesses for new residents to inhabit. It's this sense of bringing the world together that was at the core of this story, and that's where it was clear that Sky's Edge had to be changed.

Turning One Into Six

Initially, Sky's Edge was one singular large island. It had what it needed at the time: geographic diversity, overgrown nature, and areas for the player to build their community upon. However, there was an issue: the island was already whole. Not only was this less interesting from a visual and gameplay perspective, but it was lacking from a narrative sense as well. Thea's journey is centered on the idea of reuniting the various races of the torn-apart world. This sensation of community progress is hindered if the hub is already intact, unlike the setting in which Thea's conflict takes place. So, what could I do in a game made of hundreds of floating islands? Turn one into six.

The diagram above represents the five initial areas the made up the singular island. These are:

With the areas mapped out, it was time to seperate (and if you noticed I only have five islands rather than six, then you have a good eye!). The island was originally a single mesh, so to be split, it was brought into Blender to begin deconstruction. Geographic artifacts had to be maintained in their respective areas (the overhang in Overhang), but the split allowed me to add extra room and intrigue to the island meshes along with some general clean-up. With the island now split into five sub-meshes, I brought them back into Unity and supplied a PBR-triplanar to give the base terrain textures. The next challenge was how to handle this new setup. Should the islands be farther apart? Right on top of each other?

A new key thing that was unlocked was verticality. In the game, Thea is equipped with a addicting grapple ability that allows her to zip from island to island. The new islands are placed in a way such that the inhabitants of the world that don't have Thea's nifty powers can get around using bridges while the player can utilize shortcuts that make traversing the hub a breeze. The sixth and final island, called "Sky's Plains" was made with the idea of a more flat, barren island that would become as populated as the Town island as the game goes on. It's a visual way for the player for to feel like they're progressing, along with a way for the player to make Sky's Edge their own. With assets from our artists and plenty of new textures, the islands took on a whole new look.

I used a modular rock kit to create the structure of the islands while my original meshes served as the "top" of the islands. A ton of attention was put toward the balance between buildings sites and pre-constructured society to ensure the start of Thea's journey feels like a world with potential rather than one that's merely empty. As Thea brings the fragmented world and community together, Sky's Edge will reflect that. Can a broken land become whole once again?

The Stepping Stones

While the main sub-islands serve as the community component of the game, we needed an early-game area to utilize the rest: platforming, combat, and exploration. In a world where floating islands are the norm, it was time to get creative in terms of shape and structure. That's when the stepping stones were created.

The stepping stones are just that - a field of island rubble that lead to the forest region of the game. They utilize Thea's grapple ability to not only get from point A to point B, but reward the player for exploring off the beaten path. Plenty of hidden areas and ancient goodies exist throughout, as well as resources the player can use to craft and cook back in the sub-islands.

So, what was my approach in creating these floating islands? The various stepping stones were made with different geometrical shapes in mind. I wanted there to be a good variety of points, curves, as well as much larger islands that I call the "hole islands". One of my favorite shapes is a pointed disk shape that reminds me of a triceratops head every time I see it. For the hole islands, it's a way to make all parts of the island playable. The player can enter into it's core from the bottom, grapple through a chain of islands upward and eventually make it to the top of the same hole island in a matter of a few swift moves.

As this section happens early in the game, the player recieves the vine ability within the stepping stones themselves. How can the player even recieve the vine ability without using it to get there in the first place?

Worldbuilding to the rescue! These stepping stones are remnants of the way the world was, a society of various races and backgrounds united. Rubble and echoes of the past remain within the stones: hidden items, structures, and most importantly - bridges! These bridges are in various states of disrepair, which allows me to organically lead the player toward the vine ability without holding them back. It was a goal to push this sense of wonder and "Oh, maybe I can visit that island later?" that I personally love in games. The broken bridges also serve as an organic tutorial. The player can't vertically work their way backward safely without using the newly-recieved vine ability. This helps urge the player to try out and get accustomed to their new powers. "Maybe" visiting an island becomes "it's time to" visit an island, and that's a powerful thing in terms of exploration and player freedom.

Past the exploration and platforming, there are combat opportunities as well. With the verticality of the stepping stones and abundnace of grapple points, players can use their surroundings to get the drop on enemies or flee if need be. Once the player has explored and fought their heart out, they can grapple their way back to Sky's Edge proper and reap the rewards of their efforts.

Wanna see more?

Edge was an amazing experience to be a part of and is a true labor of love from all at Starforged Studios. If you're interested and want to see more, check out the Starforged website and stay tuned for more updates! I would love to get in contact and discuss Edge, new opportunities, or games in general using the methods below. Thanks for reading!