Level Design document for Uncharted 4

Simona Maiorano www.esdotem.com maioranosimona@yahoo.it
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LEVEL DESIGN DOCUMENT
UNCHARTED 4
Level: The Cavern
Table of Contents
Level Overview: The Cavern .............................................................................................................................. 2
Objectives.......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Storytelling details............................................................................................................................................. 4
Flow Map........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Combat metrics ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Layout and walkthrough.................................................................................................................................... 7
Additional Level References ............................................................................................................................ 10

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LEVEL OVERVIEW: THE CAVERN
During an expedition in Vietnam, Nathan Drake finds himself trapped in the Hang Son Doong1
cavern.
The Hang Son Doong cavern is the world’s largest cave: it is 9 kilometres long, 200 metres high and
150 metres wide. There is a river flowing all through the cave and lots of vegetation has grown
where the ceiling has collapsed (dolinas).
1 Son Doong dolinas are collapsed depression
The evocative environment, which toggles between lush vegetation and dark and deep pits will
push the player to wander for treasure and to find his/her way through the cave.
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More about Hang Son Doong: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news-features/son-doong-cave/2/#s=pano48

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2 Piton
3 Grappling hook
OBJECTIVES
The main goals of this level are to find clues about the treasure and to get out of the caves.
The Cavern features a number of challenges, including enemies. The gameplay it’s mainly about
exploration using traversal mechanics, mixed up with stealth and close combat.
Core mechanics for this level are
1. Run
2. Jump
3. Swim
4. Bare Climb (up/down/left/right)
5. Swing with grappling hook
6. Climb with piton (up/down/left/right)
7. Slide (down/left/right)
8. Stealth
9. Shoot

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STORYTELLING DETAILS
Symbolism
This level stands out from other Uncharted levels
because it’s full of symbolism, and it deals with
human ambitions and love for danger. In ancient
mythology and religions, the cavern symbolises not
only the primitive nature, but also the fear of the
unknown, mystery, darkness and rebirth.
Narrative Outline
According to historical source, there’s an ancient treasure in Vietnam. In 1950 an expedition of 5
men was sent but never came back.
Nate is looking for clues to recover the treasure, but he finds himself
trapped in the Hang Son Doong cave. He can do nothing but to find a
way out. In doing this, he bumps into enemies on the trail of the
same treasure.
During the exploration, the player finds also the diary of an explorer,
which reveals more about the caves, the treasure and strange
happenings. The survived explorer, supposedly under the influence
of underground extreme conditions, reports a chase with an
unidentified creature. On the last page of the diary, the explorer reveals that inside the cave
everybody get to know their dark side.
The final revelation
Whoever enters the Hang Son Doong caves is going to face
the darkest side of human ambition
Don’t take it too seriously: the cave is inhabited by monkeys intrigued by the human presence.
Nathan spots some of them during his final escape.
4 Plato's Myth of the Cave

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4 Estimated total time: 20-24 minutes
FLOW MAP
There are 8 key moments:
1. Player Start
Nathan fells inside the Hang Son Doong cavern. He lost is equipment but the Piton, the
rope and the grappling hook.
2. River rising
The waters are raising because of the rains, so Nathan has to climb and swing all over the
fast flowing river.
3. Strange presence
Nathan finds signs of the lost expedition: old camp, some writings mentioning strange
presences in the cave.
4. First dolina (First combat – 3 enemies)
Nathan deals with a small patrol, sneaking through the enemies thanks to the vegetation.
The player can obtain weapons by killing enemies.
5. The diary
The player finds the diary of the expedition.
6. Hard combat (Second combat – 10 enemies)
In the second dolina, Nathan is surrounded by enemies.
7. Escape (Third combat – 8 enemies)
Enemies explosions cause a collapse and Nathan needs to escape avoiding rocks and killing
enemies.
8. Exit
Nathan manages to exit the cavern.

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COMBAT METRICS
In this level there are 3 main combats. In Uncharted 4, enemies A.I. consists of three status of
perception:
 neutral (white color)
 suspicious (yellow color)
 full aware of the player (orange color)
First combat (3 enemies) – Key Moment 4: enemies initial status is neutral. Their behaviour is to
remain in their area and slightly inclined to perceive a distraction and investigate. Their status is
always reversible.
Second combat (10 enemies) – Key Moment 6: enemies initial status is neutral, but they are more
inclined to perceive distraction and patrol the area with the help of other enemies. Their status is
always reversible.
Third combat (8 enemies) – Key Moment 7: enemies are already aware of the player and their
status doesn’t change.

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LAYOUT AND WALKTHROUGH
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2
1
4
5
6
7
8

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ADDITIONAL LEVEL REFERENCES

Level Design document for Uncharted 4

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