cold metal, monochromatic
dangerous traversal
Arctic wasteland
November 2019
Arctic
bio-lab
Medium: Level Design Document
Team Size: 1
Duration: 2 weeks
Arctic Bio-Lab was developed during my first semester at Sheridan College. The assignment entailed designing a "home" for 4 humanoids in an assigned environment. Since the project did not have to be a typical home, I decided to design maps and diagrams for an arctic research lab. Even though the project takes place in a sci-fi setting, elements of realism are necessary to not break the immersive player experience. With this in mind, I began listing all the spaces I would need in this research lab, and then began dividing them into levels based on adjacency priority to make sure the space's program made sense.
STORY
After discovering strange creatures, trapped in a hibernation state within ice, scientists and researchers set up a lab deep within these creatures’ arctic home. Upon melting the ice to study the strange creatures, scientists were amazed to find these beasts alive and active. After being released from the ice, some creatures violently attacked their researchers, leading the scientists to melt the ice into a solution that would not break the hibernation state. This allowed scientists to study the creatures without endangering themselves.
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The research facility is nestled within a narrow ice cavern, close to the arctic sea. Excavators and explorers bring large iced creatures to the research facility entering from the bottom of the cavern. The large creatures are then transported by elevator to the lab underground. The living quarters of the facility are above ground and accessed from the top edge of the cavern by bridge. Four scientists, specializing in various fields, live and work at the facility. Occupants share certain areas such as restrooms and a kitchen. Private bedrooms accessed by keycards are located on the second level. A greenhouse sits at the top of the building, allowing the scientists to grow some of their food and garden for leisure.
PROGRAM
REQUIREMENTS
Bedrooms
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4 separate rooms
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Locked by personal keycard
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Access to sunlight
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Storage for personal items
Washrooms
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Communal sinks
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Private shower stalls
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Private toilet stalls
Kitchen / Dining
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Communal kitchen
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Commercial Sized Fridge
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Communal kitchen
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Commercial Sized Fridge
Greenhouse
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Vegetation source
Lab
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Extremely cold for test subjects
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Reinforced lab tanks
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Alien specimen - high security
METRICS
UNDERGROUND LAB
Located deep underground, the Lab is kept at a constant freezing temperature to regulate the melting of unique ice deposits found within the arctic terrain. Within these extraordinarily hard ice deposits, live a variety of strange creatures captured in a hibernation state. Upon the ice melting, the creatures break hibernation and prove extremely volatile. The scientists at the arctic bio-lab determined a way to keep the creatures in hibernation if sustained in their glacier liquid. This gives them a chance to study the creatures more safely.
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During the first encounter with these creatures, one of the scientists became infected with a small parasite like creature. Unknown to the other arctic bio-lab inhabitants, this scientist has lost the ability to control their own mind and body and now seeks to free creatures like it from the ice. Three hosts are within reach and outside lab excavators are the perfect targets to spread its kind to the surface.
HOVERING GLACIER CONTROLLED
MELT SPEED
hologram
media wall
control
podium
aliens
in tank
Glacial melting pool with drain to fill tanks