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THE ARCADE
LAST OF US PART II INSPIRED 

Engine & Tools: Unreal Engine 5, Maya, AGLS
Role: Technical Level Designer

The Arcade is a single-player stealth and combat encounter inspired by The Last of Us Part II. Designed in Unreal Engine 5, the level explores environmental storytelling, player-driven exploration, and encounter design through a dense urban environment reclaimed by nature. Players can approach the objective using multiple routes that support both stealth-focused and aggressive playstyles while rewarding observation and exploration.

Responsibilities

  • Level layout

  • Encounter design

  • Traversal design

  • Environmental storytelling

  • Lighting & Composition

  • Gameplay scripting edits

  • Playtesting & iteration

DESIGN GOALS & INTENT

  • Support multiple playstyles through distinct stealth and combat routes.

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  • Encourage player exploration by rewarding curiosity with resources and alternate paths.

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  • Guide players naturally using environmental composition, lighting, and landmarks rather than explicit markers.

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  • Create a believable post-apocalyptic space where gameplay and environmental storytelling reinforce one another.

LEVEL DESIGN OVERVIEW

The Arcade was designed to encourage player observation, exploration, and choice while maintaining clear navigation and gameplay readability. Rather than relying on explicit markers, the level uses environmental composition, lighting, and architectural landmarks to naturally guide players toward their objective.

The opening encounter is structured to support multiple playstyles, offering opportunities for both stealth and direct combat through layered traversal routes, environmental cover, and optional flanking paths. Every major layout decision was made with the goal of creating an intuitive player experience while preserving freedom in how the encounter is approached.

Design Techniques Demonstrated​

  • Establishing difficulty

  • Spatial learning

  • Route discovery

  • Combat readability

  • Punishing positioning mistakes​​

Level Layout

ENCOUNTER DESIGN

Combat Encounter Design​

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The first combat encounter was designed around

  • Establishing difficulty

  • Spatial learning

  • Route discovery

  • Combat readability

  • Punishing positioning mistakes

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The most visually obvious route intentionally exposed players to enemy fire, encouraging players to quickly adapt and identify safer traversal routes through environmental observation.​

Traversal & Puzzle Design​

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The opening traversal spaces were designed to immediately establish the Raid's difficulty and communication requirements. Environmental hazards, traversal mechanics, and puzzle interactions were layered together to reinforce teamwork and spatial awareness.​

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Key Mechanics Introduced

  • Corrupted water hazards

  • Multi-step traversal challenges

  • Communication-driven puzzles

  • Pressure plate mechanics

  • Team-dependent progression​​

Iteration and Playtesting​

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The Raid spaces were iterated on throughout development based on internal and extenal playtests​

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Examples of Iteration

  • Adjusted traversal difficulty and spacing

  • Refined puzzle readability

  • Improved combat sightlines

  • Updated layouts to reduce player confusion

  • Corrected soft-lock risks during multiplayer progression

GAMEPLAY ASSETS & TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

Gameplay Asset Support​

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I maintained and implemented gameplay asset systems used throughout Legends content, including breakable gameplay assets and interactive mission objects.

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Cross-Discipline Collaboration

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To support downstream implementation (VFX, Lighting, Rigging) I worked closely with Production to to improve gameplay asset workflows, implementation pipelines, and communication surrounding asset functionality and gameplay requirements across design, art, and engineering.​

Responsibilities

  • Collision Modeling

  • Navigation & Collision Functionality

  • Collision Material Sound tagging

  • Breakable Behavior and Asset State rigging

Environment Rigging

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I maintained and implemented rigging solutions across multiplayer gameplay spaces supporting mission design and environment art​

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Examples of Iteration

  • Navigation and traversal systems

  • Collision implementation

  • Gameplay metrics

  • Mission-state compatibility

  • Custom gameplay spaces

  • Nonstandard traversal solutions

Tunnel Rigging

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The “Tunnel” gameplay spaces required fully custom technical solutions due to their nontraditional implementation outside normal world navigation systems.​

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Examples of Iteration

  • Custom collision setup

  • Navigation support

  • Traversal spline implementation

  • Pathing obstacle setup

  • Gameplay barriers and metrics

Reflections and Takeaways

​​Working on Ghost of Yōtei: Legends strengthened my understanding of:

  • Multiplayer gameplay flow

  • Communication-focused level design

  • Gameplay readability

  • Encounter Pacing

  • Cross-discipline collaboration

  • Technical implementation workflows within large-scale production environments

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The project also reinforced the importance of iteration, player observation, and clear gameplay communication when designing cooperative multiplayer experiences.

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