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MANNEQUIN

Platforms: Meta Quest, PCVR        Engine: Unreal Engine 5        Release Date: September 24' (early access april 24')          Genre: Multiplayer PVP

Mannequin is a 2 vs 3 asymmetrical multiplayer VR game. Two Agents hunt for Mannequins - shape-shifting aliens hiding in plain sight and blending in by posing as human statues. The game released in Early Access earlier this year, and has been appreciated by the VR community.

 

I joined the project during pre-production more than two years ago, and I'm currently working on a post-launch level. When I started I was the only level designer on the team, meaning I had to experiment to find a solid foundation to build future levels on.

I have learned a massive amount about creating fun playgrounds that allow for player expression, about cross-disciplinary collaboration and what it means to work on a game while it's already in players hands.

RESPONSIBILITIES

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  • Ownership of three multiplayer maps. Communicate the concept to other disciplines and drive it all the way to finished product.
     
  • Ownership of two tutorial maps that onboards the player and introduces them to the world of Mannequin. This involved all design and visual scripting for tutorial scenarios.
     
  • Created Level Design Guidelines for the project to keep LD consistent and clearly communicate intent to other department
     
  • Explore new interactions based on existing mechanics, and prototyping level elements in visual scripting.
     
  • Actively follow and act on player feedback and metrics to keep the levels fun and balanced.
     
  • Make sure levels are performant throughout development.
     
  • Organize internal playtesting sessions and making forms for the participants. Participate in external playtesting sessions, taking part in interviewing testers etc.

COURTYARD

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This was the first level that was greenlit for the project. It is centered around a big courtyard with a helicopter crashing over it. Main challenge was to find a strong gameplay foundation that worked well with the art direction and world building. This was done with close collaboration with the Game Director and Art Director. An important goal for me was to find the right level of tension build-up before an encounter, and an interesting balance between exposed open, well lit areas and darker, cramped hiding spots since that had a big impact on gameplay.

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Great effort went into understanding a good distance from spawn to objectives, the usual time before the first encounter, the time it took to win an objective etc.

TOMB / LAST RESORT

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Tomb was the second level I worked on. My guiding star when designing was to present a series of interesting choices for the players that could fit both offensive and passive playstyles. I did this by offering the players easy access to different floor heights, more hiding spots and sneaky pathways as well as finding ways to give players information on each others whereabouts without being able to directly interact with eachother to force a cat-and-mouse chase.

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You can watch me talk about some of the changes we made in the level for a big update in the video down below.

EXCAVATION (Whitebox)

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Excavation is planned for a post launch-release in fall. The level takes place on a mine excavation where humans have built a massive elevator tower to reach the depths in their desperate search for the Aliens. My goals where to:

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  • Create a level that pushed the use of verticality and visual scale in in the project by introducing higher access points and multi-story structures to further enhance the options given to the players.

  • Have a stronger attachment to the narrative on a macro and micro scale to better sell the fantasy of the world of Mannequin.

TUTORIALS

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My responsibilities where to create two tutorial levels for both teams with as little code support as possible. My main contributions where:
 

  • Layout, design and visually script a variety of different scenarios in Unreal Blueprints.

  • Explore intuitive ways to teach our mechanics and rules, and feedback on said mechanics.

  • Write placeholder dialogue and contribute to the overall narrative context for the levels.

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