Level Design Analysis
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Introduction
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is a short, 15-minute experience containing only one level originally meant to be included in the Half-Life 2 base game. It was cut but later released as a standalone game that primarily functions as a tech showcase for the HDR technology in the Source engine. However, when playing through it for the first time many years ago, I found myself enjoying the gameplay experience itself, too.
The focus on lighting compliments the beautiful environment in which a short, simple, but effective gameplay experience is built. It is this kind of experience I want to capture in my own personal project; a complete experience contained in one 15-minute level. To this end, I analyzed the level design to find out how Valve has approached this structure.
Waking Up
The game starts with the camera pointing up, looking at the hill above you and some sort of construction on the side. Immediately the player knows that something is above them, probably a place they’ll visit soon. It helps them create a first impression of the layout: “there’s something at the top of the hill, and I’m at the very bottom; now I want to climb that hill.”
The player stands up and sees a man standing on a pier, surrounded by stranded boats. Upon approaching the man, he asks you for help and tells you the Combine have taken over the town and have a cannon set up at the top, striking at the town in the distance. He wants you to destroy it and clear the town of Combine soldiers.
This confirms the player’s objective, telling them they need to get up to the town. While talking, they can see in the background where to go next; stairs going up the side of the hill. The man opens up the gate for you – preventing the player from skipping talking to him – so you can begin your ascend.
Something worth noting is that Half-Life will always provide something for the player to do. During most cutscenes or conversations, they can walk around and mess with props; in this case, there are supply caches placed near the gate and in the water, so they can stock up while the man unlocks the gate.
Climbing the Hill
As the player walks up the stairs, they hear the chatter of Combine soldiers to their right, alerting them to approaching enemies. The soldiers walk right past you, however, not noticing you and giving you the opportunity to start the confrontation yourself. When you do, more enemies are alerted and spawn in front of you. They draw the player to go up further, closing the gap and reducing the enemy’s height advantage.
However, the stairs are destroyed before the player is able to climb them. After taking out the soldiers, they have to find a way around. Their attention is drawn by a supply cache on the other side of a gap, signaling that there is another path there.
Walking further along the side of the cliff, you encounter several enemies in tight spaces. At one point, there is a little side route with a supply cache hidden there. An enemy in front of the player slows them down so they don’t sprint past this point. These types of side paths are another thing Half-Life likes to do; you’ll rarely find a straightforward path with no ways to deviate or explore a little. There is always a hidden path, a nook or cranny, or an optional room that rewards the player with loot for exploring a little bit, keeping them engaged and curious.
This is another example of flow control. A gap with broken wooden boards stops the player to assess a potentially dangerous situation; on top of that, soldiers start attacking the player. This all prevents the player from rushing through this space.
The game has some clever ways of reminding us what our objective is. We’re presented with a great view over the town, and it is at this moment that the cannon starts firing, and we see the town getting bombed. It reminds us that we need to get up to the town and destroy the cannon. There are several other instances of the game reminding us of our objective later on.
Occasionally we are attacked by enemies below us, from the areas we just visited. It is a way to aid player orientation, to create mental map, and to reinforce their progress. In the screenshot above, you can see we reached the point where the stairs led to before they got destroyed. By placing enemies in these areas, we not only make sure we don’t look over these areas, but also tell the player to keep going.
Entering the Town
As we reach the town, we are greeted by arches and a hill going up to the right. If we decide to explore and go through the arches, we are rewarded with two loot caches. By going right up the hill, we enter the town’s plaza. Something I noticed in my first playthrough but not my second is Combine chatter coming from the right, alerting me that there are enemies and encouraging me to go forward first. This didn’t happen the second time I played, however.
An archway leads to an open plaza, surrounded by tall buildings. Immediately this gives the player a feeling of vulnerability, as this all seems to point at a combat space. A large, open area isn’t ideal to be fighting in, especially not surrounded by tall buildings. Could there be an ambush? When the player moves through the gate, the door closes shut behind them; no turning back.
As the player moves into the plaza, nothing happens. Still, the player is cautious of being ambushed, so they take in their surroundings. Tall buildings surround the plaza and could give enemies a height advantage. The middle is very open but the sides have some more cover. There are a few alleys to the sides that lead to supply caches, as well as some scaffolding with loot on them. The only way to progress from here is to head through the plaza and then to the right, into a church.
It is also at this point that the firing of the cannon gets louder and more frequent, now even making your screen shake. Another reminder that you’re getting close to your objective.
As we enter the church, our attention is drawn to the light shining in from the windows on the side, and through the broken roof. It is a tranquil space with a music cue playing, but as the door locks behind them, the player still isn’t fully at ease.
Moving further into the church, the player finds the cannon and a bunch of supplies. Entering a puzzle segment, the tension decreases. The player is able to stock up, take their time figuring out what to do, and familiarize themselves with the room. They must grab an object and use it to jam the cannon to progress.
This activates an alarm, as the cannon starts flashing red lights. You can hear the sound of a helicopter approaching, and the canisters next to the cannon break open as poison headcrabs crawl out. It is a clever use of this enemy archetype, as they can bring the player to 1 HP, but not kill them. It’s not meant to be a challenge, but more a subtle way to get you to equip a gun, and an indicator that a fight is about to begin.
Escaping the Town
After eliminating the headcrabs, the player has more than enough time to prepare for the next encounter. The helicopter shoots out the windows (it can’t actually hit the player), and soldiers climb down from the roof. After another short wait, two more soldiers break open the door, opening up a new path back to the plaza. Both of these two encounters happen from the same direction; exactly opposite of that direction, where the player is already standing, is a great piece of cover. Additionally, the player already knows their surroundings as they just spent quite a bit of time in this church. This encounter is more of a warm-up for what is to come.
As you return to the plaza, the helicopter is flying above you, firing at you. Soldiers are standing on the rooftops and inside the buildings, also firing at you. There is no cover in the middle of the plaza. The player knows this area from having passed through here before, so they know that this is not an ideal place for them to be. Soon after, an explosion opens up a previously closed off path, telling the player that they can progress now.
Going through the gate, the player sees a raised path in front of them, but also the church where they just were, so they can resupply with any supplies they might’ve not needed earlier. Going over the raised path is a point of no return, you’re not able to jump back up on the path. This is another trick to tell players to press on, or in this case, that a fight with no backing down is about to happen.
This combat space is a setup the player is already very familiar with; a helicopter out in the open, an ammo crate with unlimited rockets, and (destructible) cover to hide behind when the helicopter starts firing. There is no way to go forward or backwards from here, so it’s clear to the player that this is the point where they have to take out the helicopter. It’s a good climax to the fight we’ve just been through after having completed our main objective.
After landing some rockets on the helicopter, it crashes into the scaffolding you’re standing on. It opens up a new path below you. As you jump down, you land on some wooden board that audibly crack when you land on them. It’s some very shoddy construction work, so the player knows they’ll have to watch their step. Half-Life never has a straightforward path to walk; it always involves some other action or evokes a certain emotion. In this case, it’s carefully walking over the boards and crawling underneath some support beams while feeling a bit of stress.
Ultimately, you reach an elevator you have to jump into, which carefully brings you back down to the pier where the fisherman is waiting for you, who congratulates you on your success. The screen fades to black and the game ends.
Conclusions
Even though this game takes only 15 minutes to complete, it’s a full experience with a good structure and all the key elements of a solid FPS. It adheres by Half-Life’s level design principles and shows that you can fit a contained experience in just one level without sacrificing quality.
That being said, here are some of my takeaways from this analysis:
- If your game is short in length, clearly introduce the objective as soon as possible. Have reminders of this objective throughout the game. You don’t have time to build this up slowly.
- There’s never a dull moment in Half-Life. For every straightforward path, there is minor exploration to be done or minor actions to perform. Even a small side-room or crouching underneath something helps with engagement. It has no influence on low-tension moments but prevents players from rushing through moments of tension relief.
- Build up and break down the tension of confrontation. Take your time with this. Give players time to prepare, familiarize them with their surroundings, introduce enemies in a non-threatening way (audio cues, stealth, vantage points), and then ramp up the tension steadily. End combat with an area of relief with supplies, a puzzle, etc. Don’t rush through this or it might negatively impact flow and a player’s experience of the game.
- Think of clever ways to control flow and slow the player down. Unavoidable enemies, hazardous environments, puzzles, platforming, etc. can all prevent the player from going through areas or the game in its entirety too quickly. Especially in a short game, these small wins can make a big impact.
- Confirm progress by showing changes in the world, for example enemies taking over areas previously visited, or an environment looking different than before. Showing earlier areas also helps with orientation and developing a mental map. Confirming progress helps create a rewarding and fulfilling experience.
- For larger, more impactful combat encounters, give players the opportunity to walk through the space beforehand, familiarize themselves with the space, make preparations, and give them the means to start the confrontation when they’re ready. They will feel more in control; play with tension by throwing curveballs or “bending” some previously established rules!
- Clearly communicate to players what is expected of them. Directly show them the options they have or should use, or take away certain options they won’t need or shouldn’t use. If you introduce new options, explicitly show them so they don’t look over them. Combat encounters shouldn’t be a puzzling, confusing experience, and puzzle spaces shouldn’t be stressful.