This page features four of my top assignments from the CGMA Level Design course (2025). The course covered game design theory, shape composition and player psychology, with a strong focus on designing and iterating level blockouts. Using Unreal Engine, I worked through the entire level design process, from initial planning to playable prototypes to playtesting, crafting immersive environments that enhance gameplay and player experience.
Course Duration
10 weeks (January – April 2025)
Instructor/Mentor
Shane Canning (Lead Level Designer at Unseen Inc)
Rob Colonico (Level Designer at Unseen Inc)
Tools used
Unreal Engine 5.4
PureRef (for image referencing)
📝 Assignment Description
Create an Open World Map set in a lunar station, including distinct districts, NPCs and guiding player’s attention through landmarks and focal points.
🎯 Stages of development
- Stage I: Planning
- Stage II: Footprint and initial Blockout
- Stage III: Mission and Gameplay
- Stage IV: Conclusions
🚀 Stage I: Planning
Design Goals
The mission needed to feel mysterious but grounded in the reality of a functional lunar base. My goal was to encourage exploration, environmental storytelling, and verticality within a believable layout.
Gathering Image References
I referenced realistic lunar base concepts (e.g. NASA) for structure believability, and sci-fi media (e.g. DeadSpace, The Martian) for atmosphere and human scale. These informed how I placed water reserves near the Biolab and set the comms tower on higher ground.
One-Pager Document
To wrap up my ideas, I created a document highlightining my vision with the essential elements to kickstart the blockout.
2-D Map / Layout
The base uses a circular footprint so that players can easily reorient themselves by landmarks like the Comms Tower.
- Command Center: central hub, player returns here often;
- Biolab: the most detailed district, holds key to the mystery;
- Habitat Modules: crew resting place, cozy, reminds of home;
- Comms Tower: higher view contains important information;
- Solar Panels: serve an aesthetic and orientation purpose.
🌍 Stage II: Footprint & Initial Blockout
Creating the Footprint
At this point, my focus was on defining the player’s path, establishing clear sightlines, and shaping the positive and negative spaces using simple geometry. The goal was to create a layout that would feel functional, support navigation, and set up gameplay beats.
While I used my 2D map as a starting point, I treated it as a flexible guide rather than a strict plan — allowing the 3D space and player experience to dictate adjustments.
This level uses a hub-and-spoke design centered on the Command Center. From here, the player can branch out in three directions by foot or elevator, supporting both choice and easy reorientation.
Start BIG, then go smaller
One valuable lesson I applied came from my instructor’s advice about scale:
“It’s better to build something big and shrink it later, than the opposite.”
With this in mind, I designed a footprint that felt expansive enough for meaningful exploration and future detail passes, but not so large that it would create empty, uninteresting traversal spaces.
🧭 Stage III: Blockout and Mission
Top-down view of my initial blockout of the lunar station. All districts are now recongizable.
🛰️ Command Center
The core of the lunar base, acting as the central hub that connects to the other districts.
🎯 Design Goals
Clear sightlines to the 3 connected districts.
Offer multiple traversal options: 2 paths and 1 elevator.
- Host the quest giver – the Captain asks you to find Elisa.
🛠 Blockout Intent
- Cylindrical shaped control room to contrast with the hexagonal Habitat Modules and rectangular Biolab.
- Intentionally kept the space open and readable.
- Framed the landmarks on the other districts through wide paths and windows to foreshadow mission goals.
District 1: Command Center – central hub that connects to the Comms Tower (left elevator), Biolab (front path) and Habitat Modules (right path).
🌙 Habitat Modules
The living quarters of the crew.
🎯 Design Goals
- Create a Familiar space at the start of the mission.
- Encourage exploration while subtly guiding the player toward the janitor NPC for the key item.
- Clearly communicate the crew rooms (mission-relevant).
🛠 Blockout Intent
- Hexagonal room with open central space, 4 rectangular crew rooms on the perimeter, connected via corridors.
- Used a floating hologram of Earth at the center to evoke comfort and connection to home.
- Placed the janitor at the far edge of the Habitat Modules to encourage players to naturally explore the space and gain spatial awareness before receiving the room key.
District 2: Habitat Modules – A familiar space that contains the first clue and key item to solve the mystery.
📡 Comms Tower
An option landmark that holds a clue to the mistery and a vista point.
🎯 Design Goals
Create an optional landmark.
- Create an NPC conversation to build up tension over the disappearence of Dr. Vega.
Introduce a vista point to the Biolab, pushing the player to explore it.
🛠 Blockout Intent
- Designed the bridge with direct view of the Biolab tree, contributing to the player’s mental map.
Added props like security-cameras and big televisors to convey a tense atmosphere and the idea that the comms engineer watches over the station.
District 3: Comms Tower – The comms tower offers a unique overview over the station and consolidates its structural credibility.
🌱Biolab
A towering research dome where Dr. Elisa’s mysterious experiments with the giant tree unfold, surrounded by fauna glass tubes that hint at ongoing studies and hidden dangers.
🎯 Design Goals
Create a visually striking landmark.
Introduce verticality and platforming challenges.
Design the mission’s climax, where the player must climb the tree to reach Dr. Elisa near its top.
🛠 Blockout Intent
- Positioned the tree centrally to draw focus and support the final ascent objective.
Designed the balcony as a critical access point for beginning the tree climb.
- Shaped branches and placed them strategically to create a clear but challenging climb route toward the conclusion.
District 4: Biolab – Housing a massive tree at its center, the Biolab blends natural growth with scientific study. Introduces vertical gameplay to reach the mission end.
Stage IV: Conclusions
Upon receiving instructor feedback and having my brother play the game I wrote my conclusions. Here is a summary:
Positive points
- I accomplished the goal of creating 3 distinguishable districts and connectivity between them.
- I was able to communicate the feelings I intended with my blockout (e.g. feeling of vastness on the CentralHub; Biolab felt alive with all the plants and equipment).
- Scale was great.
Points to Improve
- Create a buildup (e.g. What if the player accessed the biolab first?)
- Learn how to gate a mission, block sections before allowing the player to go there in the first place.
- Sell the mission more (e.g. foreshadow the tree being a threat, maybe adding roots to indicate it is growing out of proportion, the roots causing damages, setting alarms and jamming doors).
▶️ Full Level Walkthrough
This walkthrough video captures the full level.
📝 Assignment Description
Create a floating city with unique traversal opportunities, big compositions and platforming mechanics.
🎯 Goals
- Create a smooth and satisfying sequence – Flow and Rhythm
- Encourage player agency with a non-linear structure
🧭 Design Intent
I designed a hub-and-spoke layout where the “bazaar” island serves as the central hub. From there, the player can access three themed floating islands, each offering a different traversal and collection challenge. The goal was to encourage spatial awareness, light narrative, and non-linear progression.
The Bazaar: “Central island”
Yellow island: “Golden Grove”
Purple island: “Amethyst Jungle”
Blue island: “Jellyfish Pond”
🎮 Main Gameplay Loop
1. Talk to merchants to receive the Quests.
2. Travel to islands in any order (non-linear gameplay).
3. Complete light platforming and exploration in each island.
4. Return artifacts to unlock final dialogue/moment.
🌟 Island Highlight: Golden Grove
One of the three islands, Golden Grove, stands out as a lush bee sanctuary. Players navigate across giant lily pad jump pads, follow a glowing golden river, and ultimately collect a massive golden bee as the quest artifact. This area allowed me to experiment with thematic level design tied to a unique biome.
Lily pad jump pads guide players and offer a fun traversal mechanic.
A golden river leads players toward the hidden bee sanctuary.
Branching choice: return to the Bazaar or explore the Purple Island, enhancing player agency.
▶️ Full Level Walkthrough
This optional walkthrough video captures the full level flow and traversal from the central bazaar to all three floating islands.
In Progress
🔧 This page is still under development as I continue showcasing more assignments from the CGMA Level Design course. Check back soon for updates!