Graven's levels are big and level designers are given a lot of freedom to use the space. We found a little extra padding here and there was useful for transitioning, storytelling, pacing, etc. That's where our smaller connection levels came into play as many of those areas grew to become their own areas of importance and the assets created for them became some of the most widely used and important modular kits for the project.
In our first HUB, the Lice Slough connects the swampy Brine Muskeg and the quarantined Clotted Avenues under the town of Cruxfirth via four different entrances/exits. This has made the area perfect for secrets, discovery, gameplay, and returning later with new items that allow for additional exploration.
The Resonating Stone is found early in the Clotted Avenues and on top of providing combat benefits,the player can now return to previous areas and unlock new connections and secrets, such as uncovering the Peat Burner, a powerful explosive weapon which is not otherwise available.
The Ring of Passing is another example that comes later in the game, enabling movement through Cursed Barriers which have been encountered multiple times at that point, while the ring is equipped of course.
A vertical climb through a thick, hedge maze garden connects the Clotted Avenues and the Cruxfirth Archives (library). This allows us to have the Archives on a higher elevation so the clock tower is an almost always visible landmark. The hedge maze itself organically creeped into the archives. The player can then unlock a shortcut back to the town of Cruxfirth via a gated off tavern.
Being smaller, modular levels had another great effect on the project. Since they usually needed less development time to create, this helped refine the pipeline for larger areas. The unique modular pieces produced each yielded a ton of new assets for use in the larger levels speeding up their development.
Graven could possibly be considered a Metroidvania-lite, and it's taken a lot of work designing and balancing locations. Keep your eyes peeled for what new weapons and items might open things up as you play. Graven is currently available in early access which includes the entire first hub!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1371690/GRAVEN/
