// Overview
The Stage is the second level of the Prologue - a noir performance hall inside Hotel Cotard. Its primary design goal is to introduce the shovel as the game's core weapon in a way that feels earned, not just handed to the player. The entire pipeline - layout, blockout, art, lighting - was executed by me.
The level sits within the modular hotel system: 3 rooms assembled from the shared prefab library, with layout, enemy placement and item positions adjusted specifically for this beat in the game's pacing arc.
// Level Design
The Stage is a teaching level. The player arrives with no weapon - the layout is designed to make them feel exposed, then reward them with the shovel at a moment of peak tension.
- Room 1 - Entry: Wide open hall, no enemies. Establishes scale, teaches movement and camera. Player has time to read the space before any threat.
- Room 2 - Performance floor: First skeleton encounter. Cover is available but limited - the player is fighting without a proper weapon, which makes the encounter feel deliberately uncomfortable.
- Room 3 - The shovel moment: Shovel placed on a lit pedestal at the back of the room, framed by sightlines from the entry. Player sees it before they can reach it - the layout creates desire before delivery.
Sightlines are carefully controlled throughout: the shovel is visible from Room 2 through a doorway, creating a clear objective pull that guides the player forward without UI waypoints.
// Gallery
// My Role
- Level design - room layout, encounter pacing, sightline planning and the shovel acquisition beat.
- Blockout - greybox pass establishing proportions, navigation flow and cover placement.
- Environment art - full art pass: modeled and textured assets, architectural details, set dressing.
- Lighting - Lumen-based setup reinforcing the noir atmosphere with dramatic shadow contrast and accent practicals.
- Post-processing - color grading tuned to the game's dark, stylized aesthetic.