Design Portfolio
Game Info
Genre: Third Person Narrative Adventure
Platform: PC, Xbox, Playstation
Release Date: Oct 2024
Work Summary:
Position: Lead Level Designer
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• Directed Level Design and led a team of level designers on Life is Strange Double Exposure.
• Led the LD team in building greyboxes for all the spaces of the game. This was crucial as it let the team test narrative beats before art implementation.
• Collaborated with writers and narrative designers to ensure the spaces we were building fit with the script as well as accounted for all gameplay moments that were planned for the level.
• My level design team was also tasked with cinematic prototyping. We did simple blockouts of cutscenes and camera work using proprietary tools before the cinematic artists came in to do the final pass.
• Provided mentorship and guidance to junior designers as well as training sessions on how to improve their skillsets.
Gameplay Overview
Chapter 1
Observatory Rooftop
I helped greybox the level layout in this scene in coordination with my junior LD. We worked together based on an existing level map from a contract architect to map out the space in a way that would fit gameplay and narrative while being architecturally accurate which was an important design philosophy for the studio. I helped with the design placement of objects and characters in the scene.
One of my key contributions in this scene was heavily pitching ideas to update the script for key narrative moments.
Max taking a photo and getting headaches and the nosebleed. This was the first idea I ever pitched at Deck Nine. I pushed for us to use the photography game mechanic and have an action trigger it instead to help with pacing and transitions to the next scene. The writers took the idea and were able to write it in to fit the narrative for when Max leaves the environment.
Observatory Exterior
For this scene I continued to help greybox the level layout in coordination with my junior LD for this scene. I helped with the design placement of objects and characters in the scene as well as established key narrative beats and when they would trigger throughout the scene.
One of my key contributions in this scene was heavily pitching ideas to update the script for key narrative moments.
1). Max putting on the earbuds and listening to music. That's an iconic moment from the 1st game with the character of Max. I made 3 prototypes testing where we could have that moment be in the environment that would fit well with the narrative beats the writers wrote and pitched it to the creative director. I felt that the moment needed to be in there as important fan service but would also contribute to the calm we wanted in the scene before the story kicks off.
2). Continuing from the last scene. Max taking a photo of the owl and getting a nose bleed. Tying it to the photography mechanic helped with pacing and made the transition to the next level more smoother.
I did cinematic prototyping for this scene. This involved using our proprietary toolset to make prototype cutscenes with basic camera shots and t-pose models to flesh out cinematics before the artists came in to do a final pass.
Cinematic Prototype
Final Gameplay
Overlook
For this scene I took full ownership of the level layout. I had to coordinate landmarks placement for where this scene is in the overall world so certain POI's needed to be visible. I helped establish sights lines for key narrative moments of when the player needs to see Safi in the script.
One of my key contributions in this scene was heavily pitching ideas to update the script for key narrative moments.
When Max finds Safi's body the original script had her on the ground and that's how Max found her. I pitched that we needed to tease the player until the last second the possibility that she is alive. So we had moments built into the layout where the player would get a glimpse of Safi and also had her sit on the bench until Max touches her before she falls over for the big death reveal.
I did cinematic prototyping for this scene. This involved using our proprietary toolset to make prototype cutscenes with basic camera shots and t-pose models to flesh out cinematics before the artists came in to do a final pass.