Old Moonreach
A level designed for a hypothetical first-person "boomer-shooter".
Role and Responsibilities
The Land of Moonreach
This is a personal project where I designed a level blockout for a potential game that would be a short and sweet FPS (similar in scope to games like Chop Goblins).
I am the sole game designer on this project and created everything except the character controller. I designed the narrative concept, the 2D plans, the level pacing, the level blockouts, the overall level flow, the framing of the level PoIs and the level set-dressing (including the textures). I also worked with a friend to prototype a character controller.
Walkthrough of level whitebox
Level Design Overview
A first-person shooter where you fight strange monsters and explore a ruined city in search of arcane treasure
Research Summary
This is a level design project for a hypothetical game that would be a “boomer-shooter” FPS with only one weapon: a shotgun. The main goals of the project were to:
Design a level where I cannot rely on combat variety being created by a large arsenal of weapons, and instead design a level that does not feel repetitive despite the player never changing or swapping verbs (i.e. actions they can perform);
Capture some of the unique level design flavor found in the game Elden Ring, particularly in the legacy dungeon level “Leyndell” which features a lot of interconnected paths and clever secrets; and
Attempt to create spaces that have the “quality without a name” as described in the book The Timeless Way of Building.
Leaning into being a boomer-shooter, Old Moonreach also uses a low-fidelity art style, which allows me to create spaces that are more abstract and – in turn – allows me to spark the player’s imagination to fill in the visual gaps; leading to immersion by an alternate route other than realism.
Tools Used
Unity 3D: Most work was done in engine
Unreal 5: Some prototyping was done in Unreal before deciding which engine to use
Pixlr: Used to make textures
Aseprite: Used to make textures