World without Walls

tl;dr

I was brought on to this project to design a single level. The process for this involved:

  • Referencing specific movie scenes that served as inspiration for the location.

  • Creating a layout that simultaneously felt like the reference locations while also allowing for tactical CRPG combat both entering and exiting the location.

  • Implementing the design in the modkit using existing assets in creative ways.

An image of an isometric level featuring wood floors, booths, and a golden lotus statue.

World without Walls is a full-conversion mod for Shadowrun: Hong Kong. It is a completely original cyberpunk story set in Boston and created using an innovative system to synthesize plot points, themes, and characters from source material.

I worked as a level designer on this project. I was given stills from movies to create a Chinese restaurant level. While laying out the level, I had to consider the function of the location in universe, the types of gameplay that the player would engage in (social encounters and combat moving both into and out of the building), and the aesthetic constraints of the source material. An editor view of the final level can be seen above.

The greatest challenge I faced while working on this project was finding creative uses for the assets I had access to. The team was already busy making iconic pieces of Bostonian architecture, so I had to use what was already created instead of requesting new pieces. I am very happy with how it turned out and proud that I was able to create a visually cohesive space without requesting a single asset and while using pieces that were intended to exist in wildly different locations.

World without Walls is currently in development by Accidental Headshot. It was featured at the 2017 Boston Festival of Indie Games.