First Person - Action Adventure
Cyberstrike: XER Requiem
Level Design & Level Art
Project Overview
Cyberstrike: XER Requiem is a Third - Person Action-Adventure game developed by AEstelle Studios.
Developed in Unreal Engine 5 during a 1 week time frame, I was contacted to do Freelance work for their upcoming Demo as a Level Designer & Level Artist.
Working fully remote, I worked on this on evenings after my school hours, and set a plan to have a fully playable Refined Blockout of their game product for their upcoming Demo.
Key Contributions
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Project Planning: After meetings with the Founder, I set up a production plan to deliver the Level after a set deadline.
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Level Design: After our meetings for their wishes and constraints, I implemented a full Level production from concept to fully playable blockout.
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Set Dressing: To enhance the cretive vision, I used their asset bank and set dressed the whole blockout to enhance their overall vision.
Overview Screenshots
Level Design
The level design is structured around a carefully crafted three-act progression that guides the player through different environments while continually building upon core mechanics. Each act is designed to escalate in difficulty, introduce new challenges, and reinforce the narrative.
The level design in is carefully crafted to seamlessly blend exploration, combat, and storytelling into a cohesive and engaging player journey. Each act is designed to balance pacing, player agency, and emotional impact, ensuring players remain immersed and motivated throughout.
Level Layout
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Level Beats & Wakthrough
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Pacing & Tension Chart
Pre - Production & Development Approach
My approach to my game production for my game products follows an iterative process, mirroring real-world game development pipelines. From the start, I treated the project as if it were a task requested by a studio, adhering to structured workflows and strict deadlines. I put up a weekly schedule and documented the progress for each week.
Planning & Development Schedule
Day 1: Initial meeting with the Founder of the studio.
Day 2: Production plan developed based on the designs discussed.
Day 3: Started creating a top-down layout for the level.
Day 4: Began working on the rough blockout of the level.
Day 5: Completed the rough blockout of the level.
Day 6: After playtesting and feedback, began the refinement phase.
Day 7: Completed the refined blockout of the level.
Production & Procces
Each time I opened Unreal Engine, my focus was on advancing production and maintaining consistent progress toward the project’s deadlines.
Once I established a fluid iteration process and developed a playable blockout, I implemented version control, enabling the Founder to regularly playtest and validate my design decisions.
After receiving his feedback, I swiftly incorporated the necessary changes and continued refining the level. When the refined blockout met our quality standards, it was used for both internal and external playtesting to gather insights and further polish the final product.
Post - Mortem
Conclusion: Taking on my first freelance opportunity was an incredibly rewarding experience. It allowed me to put my knowledge of Level Design and Production to the test in a professional, remote studio environment—validating both my proficiency and skill set. This milestone has given me the confidence to further pursue freelance work with other studios, opening the door to new opportunities and continued growth in my career.