Hello! I'm Viktor - I finished my internship in level/quest design at Tarock Interactive after studying game development at the S4G and am now looking for a junior position to enter the industry.I'm passionate about experience driven design and games as a storytelling medium; in games themselves I'm drawn to both action- and narrative focus (RPGs, shooters, and adventures alike). I also play TTRPGs in my spare time.My contact info & CV are in the header, if you got any questions about my work I would love to chat!
Projects
Professional
Student Projects
Older Projects
A historical exploration and survival game for 1-4 players, set after the Varian disaster in a handcrafted world inspired by the German region of Teutoburg Forest.
Links
General Info
Genre: Open World Survival
Platform: PC
Engine: Unreal 5.3
Developer: Tarock Interactive
Internship Length: 10 weeks
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Responsibilities
Level Design
Quest Design
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Tools
GitHub LFS (Sourcetree)
Google Workspace
Miro
Scrum
Adobe Photoshop
Development
I worked on Lost Legions for the duration of my internship at Tarock Interactive, contributing directly to their Gamescom demo. I can't show much of my documentation here because of the NDA.Notably, because of the amount and quality of contributions I made, I receive full credit in the game instead of being listed as intern.
Drafted and implemented a quest area for a demo, based on specific requirements. This included historical research, gathering references and moods, drafting the 2D layout and then blocking it out in the existing level.
Implemented quests, dialogue, and narrative events for the demo using the existing systems; included the writing of some of the texts.
Created unique narrative events required for the questline, both by scripting them and working closely with engineering.
Created a concept for a starter area, including initial quests to introduce players to core aspects of the game, using a similar process as above.
Supported level art in fleshing out the area.
Implemented lower priority fixes or solutions, which included anything from UI behavior to sound issues, but mainly involved the quest/dialogue system.
My final thesis - analysis and proof of concept for a horror adventure level.
Links
General Info
Genre: Horror Adventure
Platform: PC
Engine: Unreal 5.3
Controls: Mouse & Keyboard
Team Size: Solo
Time: 5 weeks
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Responsibilities
Level Design
Game Design
Narrative Design
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Tools
Perforce
Miro
Google Workspace
Trello
Audacity
Adobe Photoshop
Development
The goal of my thesis was to thoroughly analyze horror and, to a lesser extent, adventure puzzles in games and then prove my learnings with a working prototype.I used the "Horror Engine" for the prototype, a free Unreal project set up for creating horror games, both to avoid creating level design in a vacuum and as an exercise in working in established systems.
I analyzed horror games through GDC talks, playing a variety of references and consulting film theory.
Created and altered 2D concepts based on real Victorian floor plans.
Iterated through blockouts with focus on scale and pacing.
Set up horror events (scare events, puzzle interactions etc.) with the existing system.
Altered and added horror events inspired by the references.
Added level art and sounds to give an impression of the desired direction.
Created a non-diegetic tutorial to enable playtesting.
Created a standalone puzzle prototype to gain a sense for constructing puzzles.
Playtested and gathered feedback through forms and observing players.
A 3D hack & slash where you play as a “Hexblade”, a melee warlock who fights off hordes of enemies, augmenting his abilities with the gems he takes from their bodies.
Links
General Info
Genre: Hack & Slash
Platform: PC
Engine: Unreal 5.3
Controls: Controller (Xbox), M & K
Team Size: 11
Time: 10 weeks
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Responsibilities
Level Design
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Tools
Perforce
Confluence
Miro
Google Workspace
Scrum
Trello
Development
This was the first project where I was solely responsible for developing a level from start to finish and not involved with the game design, a good exercise in working with what I'm given.
I was responsible for creating the full tutorial level, from concept to in-engine blockouts to level art and lighting.
Iterated through playtests recorded on video as well as level design coachings.
Minor scripting work (checkpoint rune stones feedback & some prototyping with death zones and tutorial triggers).
Gave the game a rough narrative outline.
Researched asset packs to supplement the work of our 3D artist, testing assets against our existing environment to make sure things wouldn't clash.
Created 2D decals in Photoshop, to mark runnable walls and climbable ledges (removed feature).
Nepenthos is a first-person stealth game set in a surreal train station dreamscape, in which the player sets out to slaughter the sorrows of the dreamer, that have taken shape as monsters, through careful planning and use of their surroundings.
Links
General Info
Genre: Stealth Horror
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity 2022.3.x
Controls: Mouse & Keyboard
Team Size: 12
Time: 10 weeks
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Responsibilities
Game Design
Narrative Design
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Tools
Perforce
Google Workspace
Scrum
Trello
Adobe Photoshop
Development
This was my first project with a large team, it helped me realize how much enjoy conveying narrative through level design.
Our original vision was much more of an assassin fantasy, but because the horror atmosphere was so successful, and it became uncertain whether we would be able to fit the planned features into it, we pivoted fairly late in development. As a result, a lot of my design work did not make it into the game, but it made for a more cohesive experience.
I have linked my final presentation outlining the work I did below.
I created two different stealth game concept documents & then expanded on the direction that the team chose.
Responsible for the feature design (enemy behaviour was created together with our game design lead).
Created three story concepts based on key narrative points that had been decided on by the team, as well as possible narrative features to implement it.
Worked together with art/level design to create highlight narrative moments in the level.
Created some 2D decals to supplement the selection of graffiti.
Created both mock-ups for posters and additional posters.
Screenshots showing how I tried to convey the dream-to-nightmare setting and the "runaway teenager" story indirectly, so that players could form their own ideas what the nightmare was about by paying attention to the environment.
Join our kindly hero in a short but impactful 2D brawler set in an increasingly corrupted forest. Fight against waves of enemies with the goal of restoring the environment and freeing the forest from its curse.
Links
General Info
Genre: 2D Brawler
Platform: PC
Engine: Godot 3.5
Controls: Mouse & Keyboard
Team Size: 7
Time: 10 weeks
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Responsibilities
Project Lead
Game Design
UI/UX
Sound Design
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Tools
Mercurial
Google Workspace
Trello
Adobe Photoshop
Development
The project of our first semester at the S4G. Since I was the only one on the team who had experience in game development through the Games Academy, I took on a leading role, in addition to the other responsibilities that we did not have volunteers for.
I created the game design from the initial pitch and was solely responsible for all feature design, this included creating concept and game design documents and making mock-ups to communicate ideas where needed.
Designed and scripted the beginning of the game.
Set up a team charter and organized daily and sprint meetings, as well as our backlog and asset lists, mainly using Trello and Google Sheets.
Guided the team in prioritizing and approaching tasks.
Held all milestone presentations.
Designed and scripted the UI and created the assets in Photoshop.
Implemented sounds from asset libraries and edited them as needed.
General Info
Genre: 3D Racer
Platform: Arcade Machine
Engine: Unity
Controls: Force Feedback Joysticks
Team Size: 8
Time: 4 months (intermittent)
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Responsibilities
Vision Keeper
Game Design
Level Design
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Development
An endless racer set on a procedurally generated track. What makes this one unique is the use of two force feedback joysticks as controllers, heavily inspired by the idea of Star Wars' pod racers.We even found an old arcade cabinet that we refurbished and which was used to display the game in the Games Academy's auditorium. We also got to present it at the IFA Berlin (international radio exhibition).
I expanded the game design based on the initial pitch made by our programmer and was responsible for the GDD.
Designed the track segments and their behavior.
Responsible for designing and balancing force feedback behavior.
Ensured that decisions and priorities were keeping in line with our game's vision.
Godly War And Ruins - Process
Level Design Pillars
A to B levels, clear start and clear finish
Allow for combat with great numbers of enemies & agile movement, focus on combat.
Include secrets to reward observant players
Setting: Nordic, fantasy, ice caves and canyons. Hero fighting monsters.
The first draft. Here is the final version.
Concept
Early on, I had a vision fitting for the tutorial level, which I put down as a 1-pager in Miro - luckily the other level designers agreed to let me take on the challenge.I decided on an overall theme of discovery - quiet, wide open space leading into tense narrow and dangerous passages, where the champion's full power is revealed.We wanted the player to feel badass and fast, but I didn't want there to be a disconnect between the awkwardness of learning mechanics and that vision, so I thought an initial slower pace was acceptable for that purpose.
Blockout
The first draft was created with simple shapes and the CubeGridTool in the editor. Even though it was based on the layout created in the concept, it deviated very quickly. I combined multiple rooms to make more use of vertical space and avoid a "tube" design, as well as provide a more striking first impression.Since pacing and flow got fairly good feedback from the start, the main structure of the level did not change too much and mostly got expanded upon or repurposed.
Iteration
Each build created at the end of a sprint was sent in for playtesting by people unfamiliar with the project through one of our mentors and recorded with commentary, which allowed us adapt early and often.
At the start of the level, players kept trying to jump down because it was unclear whether the height was dangerous - nearly doubling it largely eliminated that.
My initial layout had a lot of flat space, which I tried to eliminate in the later iterations - in this particular room the slope also enables a fun combo of sliding + leap attack.
Here, players were hesitant making this jump, so I moved the light sources and used different textures to make it easy knowing which platform to aim at.
Level Art
The environment assets are a mixture of unique assets created by our 3D artist and asset packs, but the set dressing, including lighting, was entirely the responsibility of the level designers.
Since we also did not have a concept artist I used my refs as inspiration, among others concept art for Lords of the Fallen and Diablo IV, as well as the glacial cavern in Rise of the Tomb Raider.The progression goes from frozen prison through old ruins into dark tunnels.
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To guide players through rooms full of busy, grey texture, I created lighter and darker material instances to draw the eye as needed, as well as using colored lights.
A pavilion created from dig barriers, wooden piers and planks.
Case #1-40-20 - Process
Thesis Topic
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Goal
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Methods
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