Responsibilities:
Designed and developed the Orion Warehouse level from initial concepts through map making, whiteboxing, set dressing, and mechanical integration
Created the level layout, spatial flow, and visual language to support third-person stealth gameplay
Whiteboxed and iterated the level across 4 iterations informed by 7 playtests
Set dressed the entire level to reinforce the futuristic San Francisco setting and environmental storytelling
Integrated gameplay mechanics and systems into the level
Led design as Design Lead across a 14-person team
Details:
Team Size: 14
Genre: Third-Person Stealth Mystery
Role: Design Lead
Engine: Unreal Engine 5.6.1
Development: August 2025 – May 2026
Iterations: 4
Playtests: 7
Tools Used: Unreal Engine, Adobe Photoshop, PureRef
LDD: Download Here!
Sceenshots
Level Overview
Ollie escapes the Orion building with a hard drive and hides in an abandoned warehouse, but a failed vent escape forces him to kill in self-defense, leaving the drive behind. Later, Spade investigates the warehouse, recovers the hard drive, and is trapped in a system attack by Irene, who forces him into a hallucinatory gunfight to conceal the drive’s true contents.
Inspiration
For this level, I drew inspiration from Assassin’s Creed and Amnesia: The Bunker. From Assassin’s Creed, I focused on vertical navigation and giving players multiple routes for both Ollie & Spade through the environment. Amnesia: The Bunker influenced the tense atmosphere and lighting, encouraging cautious exploration while maintaining a constant sense of danger.
Idea to Layout
Ollie escapes the Orion building with a hard drive and hides in an abandoned warehouse, but a failed vent escape forces him to kill in self-defense, leaving the drive behind. Later, Spade investigates the warehouse, recovers the hard drive, and is trapped in a system attack by Irene, who forces him into a hallucinatory gunfight to conceal the drive’s true contents.
Environment Mood Board
Ollies Floor 1 Map
Ollies Floor 2 Map
Spades Floor 1 Map
Spades Floor 2 Map
Iteration 1
Design Intent
Using Unreal Engines Modeling Tools to Whitebox the level, I framed landmarks and affordances to subtly guide the player through. I also made a handful of props to help show what the space is and what assets I would need the art team to make. The level is divided into multiple sections throughout both floors to control pacing while giving players multiple options such as stealth or using distractions to move through each section.
Ollie 1st Floor Top Down
2nd Floor Top Down
Spade 1st Floor Top Down
Spade 2nd Floor Top Down
Exterior Entrance
1st Floor Intro
Landmark / Path Framing
Encounter Example 1/2
Encounter Example 2/2
Affordance example
Spade Evidence Framing 1/2
Spade Evidence Framing 1/2
Playtester Feedback
Playtesters had a lot of feedback for Ollies Gameplay in contrast to Spade. For Ollie, felt some spaces were cramped and overwhelming, and some design choices felt forced despite the open layouts. They also mentioned that certain encounters felt too cluttered, which limited their ability to fully use stealth or distraction mechanics. However, the critical path remained clear to players. For Spade, It was noted that the progression felt too linear with not much to interact with around the level
Planned Changes
Although the critical path was clear, Playtesters had issues with pacing, space, and mechanic conveyance. To fix this, I planned to expand the warehouse and adjust the layout to give players more room to move and approach encounters differently with Ollie. For Spade, I plan to add more to his gameplay like traversal puzzles and more interactable in the level.
Iteration 2
Design Intent
I made the warehouse wide 2,000UU to give players more room to move and better support stealth and distraction mechanics for Ollie. I also reworked larger encounters to provide clearer multiple routes and spaced out cover points to improve pacing and flow between combat spaces. For Spade, I gave him multiple routes throughout the building for him to explore and collect evidence and after talking with our programming team, added shimmy points & new doors that he can shoot open to add an extra element to his gameplay.
Ollie Floor 1 Top Down
Ollie Floor 2 Top Down
Spade Floor 1 Top Down
Spade Floor 2 Top Down
Reworked Machine Processing Encounter
Reworked Loading Bay Encounter
Updated Landmark Framing
Office / Loading Bay Area 1/2
Office / Loading Bay Area 2/2
Under Overseers Office
Spades Evidence Framing 1/2
Spades Evidence Framing 2/2
Spades Reworked Machine Processing Encounter
Multiple Paths Framing + Intro to shooting doors
Crane Controls Framing
Backtracking Prevention
Playtester Feedback
Playtesters said the updated layout felt more consistent after the size changes and that the space was easier to read and move in. The conveyance of the environment improved such as the framing of objectives and progression through the larger encounters and the spacing between encounters. But a few encounters specifically the 1st Floor offices & under the Overseers office still lacked the consistency of the rest of the building
Planned Changes
Although the feedback given for my changes was well received, some encounters still lacked consistency for Ollie. To fix this, I solely focused on fixing those inconsistencies and making sure the Offices felt fun and flowed well.