Abandoned Factory

Genre: 3D Action Adventure / Third Person Shooter
Type: Blockout
Engine: Unreal Engine 5.5
Tools: Blender, Third Person Shooter Kit, Level Design Base Kit, UE Blueprints
Iterations # 10
Playtests # 4
Role: Level designer

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Overview

Goal

My goal for this level was to create a Hub-and-Spoke design with a central hub branching into two distinct sections:

A stealth path emphasizing timing, observation, and strategic movement.
A puzzle path that challenges problem-solving and creativity.

Inspired by games such as Portal 2 or Fnaf – Secret of the Mimic that balance freedom with structure, the level rewards curiosity, experimentation, and purposeful decision-making.

Skill goal

Refine pre-production process to enhance planning, organization, and efficiency in level design workflows.
Practice iterating on levels by incorporating feedback through multiple iterations to improve design quality and player experience.

Level Overview & Technique Highlights

Setting/synopsis: R0-B1N, a robot, awakens in a decaying warehouse — once part of a long-abandoned factory. Stripped of both arms and unable to interact with the world, he must find a way out while uncovering what happened to humanity.

Guided to the Main Lobby, the robot faces two parallel objectives:

Recover the Engineering Right Arm in the Workshop Sector through puzzles
Or retrieve the Combat Left Arm in the Security Sector while evading hostile drones.

Once both arms are restored, R0-B1N unlocks the terminal to exit the factory.

Used Verticality to Keep Players Engaged

Technique & Use-case: Verticality is the use of height differences in level design to create more dynamic environments.

It encourages players to look and move in multiple directions, not only across the ground plane.

Context of use-case:I added verticality by introducing catwalks, upper floors, and elements such as tall shelves or crates. This allows the player to get a view of the next section’s layout and plan their approach.

Technique Detail:

Security: The level starts on a catwalk, giving the player an elevated viewpoint from the beginning.
Warehouse: The starting point is very high, providing an overview of the entire room.
Main Lobby: The space has two floors, adding variety to exploration and sightlines.
Workshop: Catwalks and pipes create multiple vertical paths and observation points.

Used a Hub and Spoke to Provide Player Choices

Technique & Use-case: Hub-and-spoke is a design approach where a central area links to multiple branching paths.

Here, the Main Lobby serves as the hub, directing the player toward the Workshop Sector for the Engineering Arm or the Security Sector for the Combat Arm.

This structure allows player choice while keeping all paths connected back to the central hub.

Context of Use-case: Allowing players to choose the order of objectives enhances their sense of agency.

It accommodates different playstyles, letting players tackle challenges in their preferred way.

This approach also boosts replayability by encouraging multiple paths through the level.

Technique Detail:

Workshop Sector (Engineering Arm): puzzle-driven progression that unlocks environmental interaction.
Security Sector (Combat Arm): stealth-driven progression that unlocks combat abilities.

Used one-way Paths to Improve Clarity

Technique & Use-case: One-way paths are level design techniques where a player can travel in only one direction, either by natural barriers, collapsing structures, locked doors, or environmental hazards.

They prevent backtracking, enforce forward momentum, and help maintain pacing or narrative flow.

Context of use-case: This ensures narrative pacing (no lingering in tutorial zones), player focus (objectives feel urgent), and world believability (the factory feels unstable and decayed).

Technique Detail:

Workshop Sector – Metal platform collapses right behind the Player, forcing to follow a path to the objective
Security Sector – Jumping off the catway is a one way – player need to finish up the objective before getting out of the room
Main lobby -Implemented a drop that propels the player toward new objectives, offering an optional path back to the Warehouse after obtaining the Engineering Arm
Warehouse –a drop from shelves encourages the player to move forward, guiding progression and maintaining level flow.

Walkthrough

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15 Videos

<b>Beat 6A:</b> Stealth retrieve the arm

<b>Beat 5B:</b> Path to the Workshop Sector

<b>Beat 6B:</b> Getting to the Engineering arm

Beat Overview

Beat 1: Wake Up

The player wakes up in a Warehouse and doesn’t know where he is. The player notices that his character does not have both arms. The player need to find way out. Player follow the line on the floor to the exit from the warehouse. But the doors are closed

Process Breakdown

Overview

1. Research, Ideation & Planning

I analyzed and researched 4 games, real-world references, and other medias as inspiration and contextualized in to my level idea Abandoned Robot Factory to start mapping beats, sketch 2D layout and plan out LDD.

Analyzing Games: I drew inspiration from games like Portal 2, Stray, Nier Automata and Five Nights at Freddy’s Secret of Mimic to guide my level design
Researching Real-World References: I studied abandoned factories in real world, especially how the nature takes over. To help visualize my Level’s spaces.
Exploring Other Media: I looked at films “I Robot’ and “I am Legend” to get know how robot factory looks like, and how postapocaliptic world looks like

2. Level Design Document

LDD: I created a level design document to keep track of and organize all information about the project. This included:

Level Objective
Narrative & Setting
Gameplay Mechanics
Enemy Encounter

Beat Sheet: I Created a Beat sheet detailing each player experience type (combat, narrative, puzzle etc.) intensity, and sequence – and organized them using a color-coded key.

2D Map layout: My first layout was just to have a basic understanding of where the beats and locations are. I simply used tools such as Dungeon Scrawl and Gimp.

3. Roughout 1

Created a first blockout, established flow of the level and size

Results: Created the initial rough 3D blockout of the level to define its scale, flow, and pacing.

At this stage, the priority was testing how the player moves through the environment rather than focusing on encounters or fine details.

Goal: The first 2D map had vague dimensions for locations such as the Warehouse and Security Sector, which made it difficult to estimate how long it would take to complete the level.

The next iteration introduced precise room measurements along with descriptions of the activities the player would engage in.

Implementation/execution:

Refined the 2D layout by adding details such as player activities and precise measurements.
Created the initial 3D blockout of the level to define its flow and pacing.
Placed placeholders for different events such as combat, puzzles, and traversal to establish gameplay variety.

4. Playtest & Iteration 1

Security Sector Iteration

Playtest Feedback Brian

Results: Created two distinctive paths within the room, promoting player choice and strategic navigation while enhancing overall engagement.

Feedback & Problem: Three different doors are in the same direction, Whole room feels flat and not engaging for the player.

Solutions:

Introduced vertical elements to the Security Sector, enhancing movement options, exploration, and player engagement.
Altered one side of the room to break symmetry, creating visual interest and improving level flow.

Vent on Way to Main Lobby

Playtest Feedback Daniel

Results: Shortening the vent and leading the player outside creates a more memorable experience.

Feedback & Problem: First vent that connected Warehouse and Main Lobby was to long causing a irritation.

Solutions:

Adjusted vent duration to 5 seconds, improving pacing and maintaining player engagement.
Designed the vent to lead the player outside, introducing environmental variety and enhancing spatial storytelling.

5. Roughout 2

Clarified purpose, reinforced theme, and improved flow.

Results: The level now communicates its purpose more clearly through narrative cues, with each area signaling its role.

An updated character mesh reinforces the theme and atmosphere.

Placeholder enemies and NPCs establish preliminary positions, while flow and pacing adjustments make core areas more dynamic and engaging.

Goal:The focus was to strengthen the narrative flow while refining the gameplay and feel of the spaces.

Story moments were placed where they could unfold naturally, along with clear spots for new objectives.

Two distinct paths were reinforced, offering different approaches: Combat/Stealth and Puzzles/Traversal.

Implementation/execution:

Added narrative placeholders such as Dialogue cues, NPCs, events and Environment Texts
Iterated over whole level with focus on diversity of the Combat and Puzzle sections

6. Playtest & Iteration 2

Central Hub Iteration

Playtest Feedback Mabel

Results: Enhanced the central hub’s flow by designing clearer paths, guiding player movement and improving navigation.

Feedback & Problem: Main Lobby can be confusing without clear guidance where player should go. There is many paths that looks very similar

Solutions:

Redesigned the Main Lobby’s central hub to visually communicate available paths, improving player navigation and overall flow.
Separated the Floor 0 and Floor 1 by making them, full filling different goals – Main Paths and Exploration

Puzzle Iteration

Playtest Feedback Jordan

Results:The puzzle now moves vertically instead of horizontally, making it easier to understand. Relocating the control buttons gives the player a clearer overview.

Feedback & Problem: It was unclear how the puzzle functioned, as well as the relation between the player’s position and the position of the platforms.

Solutions:

Adjusted the puzzle’s movement from horizontal to vertical, improving clarity and making it easier for players to understand and interact with.
Adjusted the puzzle controllers position to give players a better view of the puzzle, improving readability and overall interaction experience.

7. Roughout 3

Enhanced Security Sector flow and redesigned Main Lobby as central hub.

Results: Improved the flow and enemy placement in the Security Sector. Redesigned the Main Lobby to better fulfill its role as the central hub.

Goal: I aimed to shape the Security Sector by designing enemy placement and puzzle challenges, while also enhancing the player’s experience through lighting.

Reworking the Main Lobby to make it a better central hub.

Implementation/execution:

Initial placement of the enemies in the security sector
Scripting a puzzle in the Workshop
Added basic lighting to initially guide the player
Reworked the entire Main Lobby to strengthen its role as the central hub.

8. Playtest & Iteration 3

Vent Warehouse - Main Lobby

Playtest Feedback Andres

Results: By introducing various obstacles, the playable area became more engaging and provided the player with a clear path to follow.

Feedback & Problem: The outside area felt too open and lacked engaging obstacles.

Solutions:

Used strategically placed lighting to guide the player, enhancing navigation and highlighting key areas within the level.
Designed a clear path for the player by introducing varied obstacles, enhancing level readability and encouraging strategic movement.

Security Sector Iteration

Playtest Feedback Jordan

Results: Created a more engaging Security Sector that pushes the player away from the walls, providing opportunities to find paths around enemies.

Feedback & Problem:The player could hug the wall and move through the entire room without any meaningful risk of being spotted.

Solutions:

Fully redesigned the Security Room, creating varied and engaging paths that enhance player exploration and strategic movement.
Implemented a conditional path unlocked by completing the Workshop Sector first, enhancing player choice, exploration, and replayability.
Strategically placed enemies to create meaningful movement challenges, encouraging the player to maneuver thoughtfully around them and enhancing engagement in the Security Sector.

9. Roughout 4

Clarified path to Engineering Arm room, improving navigation and flow.

Results: Enhanced the level’s dynamics and atmosphere by implementing strategic lighting, enemy encounters, and scripted events, creating a memorable and engaging player experience.

Goal: Improving the flow and player orientation in the Main Lobby using strategic lighting, and implementing missing events and story beats to enhance narrative and gameplay experience.

Implementation/execution:

Implemented strategic lighting to reinforce the level’s mood and subtly guide the player, enhancing both atmosphere and gameplay experience.
Designed and implemented a fully functional logic puzzle in the Workshop Sector, enhancing player engagement and problem-solving opportunities.

10. Playtest & Iteration 4

Pipes Leading to Engineering Arm

Playtest Feedback Constantine

Results: Improved level navigation by clarifying the path from the platform to the Engineering Arm room, enhancing player guidance and flow.

Feedback & Problem: Path from the cat walk to the Room with the Engineering arm was too hidden and confusing.

Solutions:

Adjusted the entrance hole to a higher position, improving accessibility and guiding player movement into the Engineering Arm room.
Enhanced level clarity by widening the pipes, making them clearly identifiable as walkable path and improving player navigation.

Security Sector Iteration

Playtest Feedback Mateus

Results: Significantly enhanced room readability by shifting the setting from indoor to outdoor, making the layout and key elements more immediately recognizable to the player.

Feedback & Problem: Security room is too dark in some parts also whole room is too similar to the rest of the level

Solutions:

Shifted the room’s theme from indoor to outdoor, enhancing visual clarity and spatial recognition for the player.
Enhanced player guidance through strategic lighting placement, improving navigation and highlighting key areas.

11. Roughout 5

Redesigned Security Room, three distinct areas to enhance navigation and engagement.

Results: Refined the Security Room layout to enhance recognition and separate it from other sections, resulting in a level with three visually and functionally distinct areas that improve player navigation and engagement.

Implemented visual cues on walls to subtly guide the player toward objectives, enhancing navigation and level readability.

Goal: Refining and detailing the level with additional

Implementation/execution:

Shifted the Security Sector from an indoor to an outdoor area, enhancing spatial distinction and player orientation within the level.
Adjusted lighting colors to visually distinguish different areas of the level, improving player orientation and enhancing atmosphere.

12. Playtest & Iteration 5

Security Sector Space Reduction

Playtest Feedback Riccardo

Results:Designed a more compact area with clearly visible paths, enhancing player navigation and level readability.

Feedback & Problem: There is too many paths to follow in the room, easy to get lost and move in circles

Solutions:

Placed a blocker to guide player movement and prevent circular navigation, improving room flow and clarity.
Blocked excess space to focus player movement and improve level clarity and navigation.

Main Lobby One-way Iteration

Playtest Feedback Kurtis

Results: Designed a drop that feels safe and approachable, preventing player discomfort while maintaining verticality and engagement.

Feedback & Problem: The landing is too high, causing the player to doubt whether this is the right path.

Solutions:

Split the drop height into two smaller sections, making vertical navigation feel safer and more approachable for the player.
Used lighting strategically to direct player movement, improving navigation and highlighting key areas.