Sauerbraten (2005-2006, PC) |
I built three of the official deathmatch maps for the freeware FPS game Sauerbraten. Sauerbraten provides a unique octree-based level format and an efficient in-game editor. |
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Mining Station, pictured above, was designed to showcase the engine's normalmap technology, which was being added at the time. The layout for this level is a tight spiral around a central atrium. Using the in-game editor, I developed several fast iterations of a layout before adding geometric detail, texturing and lighting. |
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Cyclops is a remake of one of my levels from the original Cube. This remake extends the play area slightly, and adds all-new lighting to enhance the hot, dusty atmosphere. Trivia: this level was visible for about 0.5 seconds in a Burger King commercial last year. |
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This is Elsinore, also remake of one of my Cube levels. A simple figure-eight layout features two opposing courtyards divided by a gloomy interior space. Sauerbraten's lightmapping allows a much more moody feel than Cube. |
Cube (2001-2003, PC) |
I was also on the development team for Cube, the ancestor of Sauerbraten. I built three deathmatch levels between 2001 and 2003. All three are available as part of the current cube package. |
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Mapping for Cube was a more streamlined process compared to Quake engine games, but it could also be frustrating. The in-game editor sped the process up, but accommodating the map format and lighting model required planning and effort. |
Psychology experiment levels (2000, Doom II add-on levels) |
I built a five-level Doom II episode designed specifically for a psychology experiment exploring the short-term effects of violent video game play. The study, Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness (PDF) was carried out at by Eric Uhlmann and Jane Swanson at the University of Washington and Yale University. My contract work took place in Spring of 2000, and the paper was eventually published in 2004. |
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Pictured above are two of the levels from the project. I choose Doom as a platform because the lack of true 3D made the game more accessible to subjects, most of whom had never played a first person shooter. My designs for the levels themselves were intentionally linear and obvious so that players could be exposed to the maximum amount of shooting monsters and the least amount of wandering around lost. |
Quake2: Oblivion (1999, PC) |
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These four shots show a few of the twenty-six levels in Oblivion, a third-party Quake 2 mission pack. As the project's 2D artist, I created over 500 world textures, twenty or so character/object textures, and more than a hundred HUD and menu graphics. The project lasted from mid 1998 to late 1999. |