'83 | Woodpecker
I served a key role as the primary Level Designer on a strike team creating a new vertical slice for Unreal Engine 5 shooter title ‘83, with bringing the map, Woodpecker, featuring the iconic Duga station in northern Ukraine, to alpha readiness while working remotely with an overseas team across European time zones. Players on either team win by capturing the most amount of territory on their Frontlines. The map was left in an unfinished state, and I was tasked to overhaul the level design completely, with drivable vehicles in mind.
My task was completed with proven results shown by positive player feedback and praise from the directors.
My responsibilities on the project included:
- Cleaning up leftover work and clutter left behind by the previous development team, then overhauling the entire level design from the ground up.
- Blocking out the new level iteration and objective capture zones to provide clear sense of player cover, pathing and navigation, a crucial component of team based multiplayer games.
- Overhaul the Landscape with additional player and vehicle pathing terrain painted routes, providing easily navigable guidelines for transporting and combat inside and around the map for jeeps and tanks.
- Redesigning the existing player and vehicle spawn system layouts to provide a quick time to engagement (30 seconds).
- Work with Art Department to create procedurally-generated forests of two types: pine and deciduous.
- Set-dressing the level, including refining the composition and placing cover and player pathing that keeps the narrative and art direction consistent.
- Optimization of the map.
- Iterating based on player testing feedback across 80 player capacity servers.
'83 Re-Announcement Trailer, featuring Woodpecker.
The Duga radar in Woodpecker is a hero piece that can be seen as a waypoint across all corners of the map.
The Command Center features several openings for both attackers and defenders to make a breakthrough and turn the tide of battle, capturing the objective.
This control room was previously cluttered with many blocking objects, and hard to navigate. Reducing this clutter reduced frustration among players engaging this objective.
The dedicated upper floor of the command building having less entry points meant that this space needed to be easier to assault. Less cover, less obstacles.
Opening more entry points towards the main objective meant that alternative routes like these needed to be carved out of basic designs.
Procedural generation of forests also require finessing believable cover in certain hotspots.
This Ammo Depot capture zone was originally only a road and a cluster of crates and trucks; implementing several more elements and buildings to create waypoints and flanks was a requirement for success.
A map with drivable vehicles should be easy to drive from one area to another; clear the roads and use the environment to suggest trails to follow.
Earlier, this lumberyard had a camp setting that cluttered the scene. Separate the zones where attackers and defenders are expected to be, and it becomes easier to attack or defend from the other side.
The Power Station was originally very small. I increased the footprint of the space and filled the space with close quarters combat and defensive areas.
Two main groups of assorted cover here with the tables and the truck helps players distinguish where to expect someone to come out from cover.
Originally this village area was very flat and only had a few dedicated buildings, but many props. Raising the landscape into a hill to break line of sight and populating the space with more props made the space more believeable.
This trainyard was relatively untouched; some new cover and a dedicated set of two-story buildings felt make the space feel more dynamic and fun to play in.