This month, we’re participating in Blocktober to highlight the work of our talented Level Designers! For our second post, Marta Dobińska shares her process behind creating an Increased Criminal Activity location in the Luxor Heights spa complex.
For the planned mini-boss fight here, I knew that I wanted to provide an open space that would allow for different approaches, including stealth, and would make it possible to circle around enemies in combat. At the same time, I wanted to use a unique theme that would allow me to shape the space believably and create a setting that is interesting in its own right. Together with Piotr Ruszkiewicz, the Environment Artist for this area, we decided on a luxurious pool complex, allowing me to use empty pool basins, rock decorations, and jacuzzi bathtubs to create stealth paths and combat spaces.
Once Dogtown was taken over by Kurt Hansen, construction in the district stopped, so Luxor Heights was never fully built. I decided to use abandoned scaffoldings to provide verticality, including higher-located paths with a better overview of the hall. The theme the location was built around resulted in interesting ideas for the mini-boss fight, with the use of water and electricity providing a twist to the encounter. Ayo Zarin, the enemy group leader, has implants that allow her to use electricity to regenerate — in the second half of the fight, she retreats to the water-filled pool and uses electricity to create a more hazardous battle for the player.
Marta Dobińska:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-dobinska/