de_mistymountain was my first serious stab at a well-balanced Counter Strike: Source map. 

This map was designed, built, and optimized prior to my admission to The Guildhall at SMU.

The dominant goal of the project was to craft two different yet equal paths to each bombsite for the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists while making sure not to expose any individual path to excessive angles of attack.

The majority of the map is pure BSP with very little static-mesh work - most of which being purely asthetic. 

 **WORK IN PROGRESS**

Blitzkrieg is a Single-Player Gears of War level conceived, planned and constructed over a period of sixteen weeks.  

Blitzkrieg leads the player on a dangerous rescue/escape mission through a besieged city occupied by an elite Locust invasion force. The player’s objective is to rescue fallen members of their scattered unit and lead the rescued comrades to a dust-off point in the city square.  Blitzkrieg features a tense, war torn atmosphere, tactically engaging firefights, and immersive scripted events.

In a nutshell, the gameplay in Blitzkrieg emphasizes strategic movement between cover, Z-axis combat/movement, and dynamic environmental events.  The player feels as if they are in constant danger as they make their way across the level rescuing their injured comrades on the way to the extraction area.  

As the player acquires allies along his path, the challenges scale up in difficulty in order to counteract the additional help.  The challenges, however, are never exceedingly difficult - The player always feels as if they are beating the odds by surviving, but the fun of the encounters trumps the perceived challenge.

Starry Night is a single-player Gears of War map.

My intended goal was to create a level which exemplified numerous styles of combat conducive to the Gears of War play-style, with a visual theme composed of standard Gears of War assets implemented creatively to create an environment not native to Gears of War.  

From the get-go I wanted to do a GoW map located in some sort of abandoned laboratory or research facility. This presented a unique challenge seeing as there are no such areas in GoW that I could mimic or borrow assets from. As a solution, I combed through the numerous art packages provided with the game and compiled a number of textures and static meshes that seemed to fit the style I was attempting. After collecting said assets, I proceeded to mix and match them in ways which produced what appear to be brand new pre-fabrications – resulting in completely original derivative architecture.

Duck and Cover is a short (~5 min) Gears of War encounter. 

The player fights their way from floor to floor through a fortified building interior, using both high and low cover to shield themselves from drone and sniper fire.

This encounter is a continuation of my Gears of War direct focus study level: Starry Night.  Thus, it has a near identical visual style.

Change Thou Canst Believe In is a satirical single-player Oblivion quest.

I created this level in the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election.  Political tension was palpable within the general population and equally so amongst my fellow students; I decided that I would attempt to ease the tension by creating an Oblivion level that satirized this blatant partisan warfare.

A young upstart politician from the village of Pilsen has trounced the incumbant ruler, Lord O'Bliveon, in the Cyrodiil general election.  The news of this was too much for the lord to stomach, resulting in his rapid decline into paranoid dementia.  Suspecting internal sabotage, the lord has all of his trusted associates killed and locks himself in his castle, refusing to leave.  To ensure that the new administration doesn't try to claim their office by force, the lord has hired a contract paramilitary force to guard the castle premises. 

Back in Pilsen, the townfolk are concerned about the fact that  their hometown hero has suddenly disappeared.  Suspecting foul-play, the impoverished townspeople pool their limited funds and hire the Dark Brotherhood to investigate the disappearance.

The player recieves the quest from a Dark Brotherhood agent located in the Imperial City Market District, travels by boat to the village of Pilsen, rendezvous with the village reverend, and treks the winding path to the castle grounds in order to infiltrate the castle and find the missing politician. 

The screenshots contained within this gallery provide a pictorial walkthrough of the quest.

Summit 17 is an homage to the classic DM-17 multiplayer deathmatch map.

The general idea was to create a map that gleaned design elements from the original DM-17 and apply them in a way that serves to facilitate similar, yet unique game flow. 

I gleaned the three-level plaform structure and the isolated sniper's nest from the original DM-17.  I arranged these elements in a similar manner, mirrored them, and then set up a system of jumpads that allow the player to traverse the structure quickly and easily from almost every position.  Furthermore, I added an area above the sniper nests, accessible via a lift, that gives the player access to a string of jump pads leading to the opposite side of the map. 

The end result is a playspace that feels similar to the original DM-17, but with enhanced traversibility and a more circular flow. 

New Stockholm is an outdoor environment created in Gears of War.

A bustling metropolis suffers a relentless bombing from an enemy force.  The streets, once filled with cars and pedestrians, now abandoned and burning, covered with dust and debris. 

My desire was to create a feeling of chaotic destitution; a modern interpretation of WWII London or Stalingrad.

Subterranean Research Blues is an indoor environment created in Unreal Tournament 3. 

A subterranean nuclear research facility lies hidden beneath the Earth, accessible only by a hidden lift located in a deep forest in the mountains of Switzerland.  The first picture shows the transitional hallway that lies between the lift and the facility.  The subsequent pictures feature the hallways of the facility itself.

Office Space is an indoor environment created in Gears of War.

A makeshift office space for government code-monkeys in Area-51.  Due to the casual nature of the space and the sloppy disposition of its residents, it is poorly maintained and dimly lit. 

The scene objects are a mixture of government issue hardware, used furniture and personal items.  The goal was to create an environment similar to the personal spaces I have witnessed at modern physics labs -  that is, a juxtaposition of sophisticated technology and lethargic neglect for order and cleanliness.

Two Roads Diverge is an outdoor environment created in Half-Life 2.

A serene forest landcape set amidst rolling hills.  A man-made path intersects the scene - both routes blocked by natural barriers.

The goal was to create a natural environment that one might come across at a national park; something that has obvious signs of human intervention, but that has started to revert back to its natural state.

Full Moon is a natural environment created in Gears of War.

A view of a full moon presiding over an immense natural landcape from a rocky natural cavity.  Small camp fires speckle the landscape, fighting for life against the spontaneous downpour.