— ROLE

Level Designer


— DATE

Oct 2023 – Aug 2026

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is a co-op roguelite FPS for 1 – 5 players. Blast through shifting universes, stack wild boons, bend the rules with run modifiers, and hunt Mental's deadliest forces. Fall fast. Come back louder.


Serious Sam: Shatterverse respects the series’ rich legacy and preserves its essence, while presenting it in a fresh way. It never compromises on certain elements like classic Sam first-person shooter action, overwhelming hordes of enemies, endless bullets, plenty of strafing and backpedalling, witty one-liners, and straightforward, exhilarating fun.


Releasing for PC and Consoles

Media

Experience

On this project I designed, blocked out and scripted multiple levels collaborating with departments to get them ship ready. This included exploration maps and boss arenas.


Making use of kit pieces created by level design and art to keep levels to metric allowing for smooth processes when transitioning to the art phase.


During this phase I was able to assist in some cases making use of art assets to provide more detail to scenes while not obstructing gameplay.


During production I assisted with pitching and designing new features, enemies and bosses. Also spearheading the discussion and implementation of a mechanic.


Working closely on encounter balancing making use of a variety of enemy types with their own strengths and weaknesses to make engaging encounters for players that scale with player count and difficulty. Tweaking these and squashing bugs as we took the project into polish phase as well as meeting client demands.


The Pit

First map I created on the project. It went through a lot of iterations but the goal was to create a map with a similar feeling to old Sam levels. The style I went for was a hub space showing the player a clear goal then letting them explore to find the solution. This broken up with combat arenas with fast paced action bringing them back to that hub area. They complete one final combat trial before being able to escape. This felt classic leaning into the series established roots but also left room for expanding upon it with the new features we had to offer.


You start going through simple corridors as a transition from the previous map which is then contrasted as you enter into the larger space with a vista. The goal of the player becomes quickly clear as they are stopped by the large pit with a door at the end which is framed by the pillars and chains which lead the eye. As the player enters the space they will also have the key socket framed by the stairs so it is clear what they must find to proceed. Triggering the pressure plate at the top gives the player a good view of both doors on the sides as when activated one door is randomly opened and a small trial begins.


Each side provides a key which when slotted summons a bridge across the pit which then also triggers a final encounter as the players try to fight their way across. Fighting on the bridge feels tense due to the lack of arena space which helps give tension contrasting the previous arenas. This makes the fight feel more triumphant when completed and the map feel satisfying to finish.




Each room is a different arena, the door on the left leading into an arena with traversal elements. I wanted to put the player under pressure as they tried to make use of traversal mechanics so as they enter the space the door behind closes and enemies flood in.


The key the player needs dangles above them in a cage with its glow being visible as they explore to give a hint at what they must do. The stairs leading up provide verticality to the arena but also lead the eye as they explore drawing them to the pressure plate in the distance. The grapple hook on the bottom of the cage also assisting in this as players would use it in a panick when enemies spawn from the side doors so they swing to reposition showcasing the pressure plate in the distance. In previous iterations of this map the traversal puzzle was 2 bounce pads moving back and forth in the abyss which the players must navigate to cross the gap but due to playtest data and pacing issues it was changed for a grapple point. The pressure plate lowers the cage when stepped on which the player will see from the angle. The arena evolves slightly as when they are fighting to the key the cage is now dropped so the grapple point is now gone so when clearing the room there is now less traversal options creating tension.

The door on the right leads into an arena with the key clearly at the end which when picked up triggers an ambush. This is a pure combat trial with enemy spawns from varying angles keeping players on the move giving them traversal to reposition. The arena is broken up but pits to prevent players from training enemies too easily encouraging use of jump pads and hooks to create space.


The rooms are picked at random when the map is loaded providing variety on repeat playthroughs.



Worlds Collide

Worlds collide is a map that originally started as just a transition space for multiverse between biomes but was adapted into a combat map during development. The intentions for this map started when I wanted to really lean into the multiverse plot line and create a crossroads where Mental or other entities would travel between the worlds.


I landed on creating a structured platform that would contrast the rest of the multiverse maps with their chaos of different biomes combining to create a sense of intrigue to players on what this space might be for. I wanted the space to feel like a hub world taking inspiration from old school platformers and having themed portals circling the space for players to enter and explore. I wanted the map to give a sense of wonder so the player starts low and works their way up stairs to the central platform where the exit door is revealed and framed with the portals surrounding the space. The flow of the map then became exploring 2 of the open portals which were picked at random and collecting keys to form a bridge.


Each portal takes the player into a little pocket of each biome where they will do a combat trial before recieving a key for the bridge to the exit. I originally wanted each biome to have their own skyboxes to sell the travelling between worlds narrative but due to technically limitations it was changed to floating islands. Each biome had different combat trials which made the map more replayable and allowed us to break some rules with the combat design. Each biome normally has an enemy type unique to it so here I got to use every type in one map to keep players on their toes while also tying the whole experience together. When the player collects 2 keys from their worlds a final fight is triggered which uses all enemy types creating a chaotic final clash in a large arena. This keeps players on the move and always guessing making this map feel unique from the rest.


Reptiloid Colosseum

The colosseum is a boss arena for the Reptiloid Highlander fight. The intentions for this map began when it was originally for the desert biome and was going to be a general purpose arena. The theme of desert was meant to be greed and gambling so I believed it fitting to have a colosseum where creatures would bet and gamble on fights. This was eventually changed to jungle during development but it still kept the unique circular design and viewing stands I designed.


I wanted the arena to stand out from the rest so the shape was important but I also wanted the introduction to build tension. With this I designed a lift that would bring the party into the arena from below and slowly reveal the stands and space. The elevator and structures in the stands would help create asymmetry in the arena so players could easily orientate in the environment which was a core part of all arenas during development.


The arena was large to match the requested enemies so traversal elements were added on each side to create some distance where needed but not close enough to make an easy loop which was a concern. This also helped when the side spawners were added and introduced more adds to the fight helping the player still feel in control of the action.


Cafeteria

Cafeteria was originally the ending to a longer map which explored the barracks of the spaceship but the initial rooms were cut for pacing. The original intentions were I wanted to explore more of Mental’s spaceships and a space that could provide a variety of arenas would be the barracks. The cafeteria would be where the creatures eat between invasions with fruit and bodies scattered to link the biomes together. Showcasing where the fruit from the jungle biome goes and also the cannibalistic nature of the enemies.


The goal of the cafeteria was to create a large open arena with traversal and verticality to have a large scale combat encounter where the player must close the doors on the sides to prevent enemies from spawning. This required a consistent flow of grunt enemies with a mix of melee and ranged to keep the player moving and using the movement options available. As they progressed to keep the fight feeling intense special enemies would spawn making the player duck between cover as they defeat them making sure they are keeping an eye on every part of the arena through sight or audio queues. It would end with an elite enemy in the centre creating a climatic moment before the doors open allowing the player to leave.