Life Springs

Design Portfolio

Life Springs is a prototype game environment conceptualized and designed by a team of seven students. Our task was to create a complete environment that fit thematically into Sony Online Entertainment’s Free Realms, with a unique setting, a complete backstory, and unified visual style. Throughout development, our team presented deliverables to design and art leads from SOE and iterated on their feedback. The project culminated with a presentation of the completed Life Springs environment to SOE executives and senior leadership.

Overview

In Life Springs, a group of exiles flees their planet in the hopes of establishing a new home elsewhere. After running out of fuel they are forced to crash-land on an uninhabited planet. During the crash their ship carves out a canyon and frees water trapped under the surface of the planet, creating an oasis in a desert world. The survivors use material salvaged from their ship to build a settlement, which eventually grows to be the Life Springs environment.

This narrative background gave us the framework in which to build the environment and influenced everything. The settlement was built with pieces from the ship, so the asset design conveyed the backstory in a visual way and reinforced the theme. The narrative also determined the larger aspects of the level design, such as the lush valley, the cave where the water had been trapped, and the ship itself. It also gave a “hero asset” in the form of the ship that was used to visually guide the player as they explore the environment. From the narrative foundation, we were able to build a believable environment with locations that made sense and a unified theme.

My role on this project was that of Level Designer and Co-Lead. I established the production pipeline and technical guidelines, maintained documentation and scheduling, set milestones with the goal of meeting deliverable requirements, and assigned and coordinated team tasks. I also worked with the Team Lead to create the narrative and design the events, pacing, and level direction. As Level Designer, I fleshed out the white box environment based on the narrative and populated the environment with assets during production, with an eye toward vistas and clear direction for the player.