Life is Strange: Before the Storm

General Information

Role: Level Designer

Duration: Oct 2016 - Dec 2017

Genre: Narrative Adventure

Engine: Unity

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Mac, Linux, Mobile

Developer: Deck Nine Games

Team Size: ~55

Publisher: Square Enix

Release Date: Episodic

  • Episode 1 - August 31, 2017
  • Episode 2 - October 19, 2017
  • Episode 3 - December 20, 2017

Awards:

  • 2018 Games for Change Awards - "Game of the Year" + "Most Significant Impact"
  • 2018 Webby Awards - People's Voice Award for "Best Writing" + "Public Service & Activisism"
  • Nominations at The Game Awards 2017, 2017 Golden Joystick Awards, 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards, and 14th British Academy Games Awards

Tools

Overview

I was brought on to the team at Deck Nine at the end of the pre-production phase of the project as their first level designer. I began my work with the very first level of the game and went on to be responsible for approximately one third of the levels in the game. The level design team reported directly to one of the co-directors for the project and regularly communicated and collaborated with the environment and narrative teams. During my time working on the game I helped develop the studio’s level design process and created a number of tools to assist in the creation of levels.

Responsibilities

Took levels from concept to polished final product:

  • Created and iterated on graybox levels
  • Collaborated with environment and narrative teams to achieve level goals
  • Designed puzzles
  • Implemented and polished interactive and miscellaneous game systems
  • Built collision geometry for cameras and navigation
  • Managed the flow of levels using in-house tools
  • Polished all interactable aspects of the level
  • Responsible for fixing a wide variety of logic and content bugs

Created and maintained documentation:

  • Level design documents
  • Tracking documents for various features
  • Unique gameplay system design documents

Performed research and developed tools:

  • Researched systems and patterns within the original Life is Strange
  • Developed a tool to assist with tuning interaction points
  • Developed a tool to assist with tuning camera collisions

My Levels

I was responsible for one third of the levels over the course of the game. Three of my favorites are included below.

Episode 1: "Awake" - Overlook

During the Overlook level Chloe (player character) and Rachel are playing hooky at a park’s overlook. Over the course of the level the player must find a way to pry open a viewfinder, spy on patrons in the park below with Rachel at a viewfinder, and steal a bottle of wine from a picnicking couple. (2:18:34 – 2:38:35)

Episode 2: "Brave New World" - Dormitories

During the Dormitories level Chloe must find a way into the dorms which she is not allowed to access. The player must distract the school’s janitor in order to steal his keys. This is done by scaring a bird off the quad in front of the dorms to get a student away from an exposed sprinkler then breaking the sprinkler. (1:33:16 – 1:55:00)

Episode 3: "Hell is Empty" - Amber House Office

During the Amber House Office level Chloe has broken into Rachel’s father’s office to find contact information for Rachel’s real mother, Sera. While there Chloe discovers that Rachel’s father has arranged for Sera to be kidnapped by a local criminal (Damon) in exchange for destruction of evidence and information about who a police informant is. The player must find a way to destroy the evidence, search for information about the informant, decide which name to give Damon (it does not have to be the informant), and locate money that was promised to him. (2:01:56 – 2:26:10)