Lead Level Designer
Splash Damage
2007 – PC

ETQW is an id Software game developed by Splash Damage, hailed at launch as “the ultimate online strategic shooter: an objective-driven, class-based first person shooter set in the Quake universe”.

As one of two Lead Level Designers, I shared production oversight for all the game’s levels with my co-lead. I designed the overall gameplay layouts and terrain blockouts for the two maps, “Area 22” and “Slipgate”, weaving a narrative thread between the two map’s backstories.

Our EditWorld level design toolset allowed the team to break up the massive levels into more manageable, individual areas. This nested “referencing” approach to production gave the designers flexibility to work within smaller chunks of larger levels and support each other during development. The final level designs and artwork were a collaborative effort between the level design and environment art teams.

“AREA 22” – The human team (GDF) have captured an alien (Strogg) Slipgate teleporter and are testing it underground at a Nevada test site. The Strogg team must destroy this captured Slipgate before the GDF can uncover its secrets.

Objectives:

1. The Strogg Aggressor class must destroy the GDF’s Jamming Tower Generator with a plasma charge, enabling the orbital deployment of…
2. The Mining Laser, which requires a Strogg Constructor class to repair it and blast an entrance into the underground bunker.
3. The captured Slipgate technology must be destroyed by the Strogg Aggressor’s plasma charge!

Inspiration for this desert terrain level came from researching the Nevada Test Site/Proving Grounds, a United States Department of Energy nuclear weapons test site located in Nevada.

“SLIPGATE” – The GDF have located a functioning Strogg Slipgate teleporter in a remote North African valley. Using knowledge gained from the “Area 22” research teams, the GDF must hack the Slipgate controls and travel through the teleporter to destroy the Strogg Nexus Tower in Antarctica.

Objectives:

1. The GDF Covert Ops class needs to hack the Slipgate teleporter controls to enable aerial deployment of…
2. The Mobile Command Post (MCP) must be driven through the Slipgate and deployed at the Antarctic outpost, within range to destroy the Strogg Nexus Tower’s security generator to disable the defenses.
3. A GDF Soldier class must storm the tower and destroy the Nexus Tower Core with a high explosive charge!

I designed “Slipgate” with a sci-fi twist to give the players two completely contrasting environments within the same level. The battle begins in a scorching hot, sunny environment and then progresses through the teleporter and into the darkness of a raging snow storm.

The Strogg Nexus Tower holds the final objective and was an opportunity for layout designs that call back to classic Capture the Flag (CTF) map styles from previous Quake games.

Fully embracing the Quake heritage, I concepted and modelled the gameplay blockout for the Strogg Slipgate teleporter. Once the gameplay tweaks were sorted, the model was handed over to the art team to create the final high poly game asset.

No Quake game would be complete without a “bounce pad”! I designed and modelled the final game asset for our ETQW Strogg take on the classic player bounce/jump gameplay mechanic.