Game: Half-Life: Alyx
Build Time: Aprox. 1.5 Years
Released: March 2023
An experience focused on survival, high tension, and exploration, this 45 minute mega-project was the result of me directing a dedicated team of volunteers and commissions alike. From art to encountners, this was the most polished and diverse level any of us had made to date.
Every Skill
A Diverse Team
This project included everything from concept artists, to musicians, to modelers, and scripters. Most of the core team, including myself, would take on multiple roles.
Iteration
Action Block Methodology
Most of development was spent "finding the fun" for a survival focused gameplay style. This resulted in 73 videos of playtests throughout development.
Game: Half-Life: Alyx
Build Time: Aprox. 3 Months
Released: September 2021
The original Tower Agency was a rogue-lite experience focused on tense close quaters battles in flexible and reusable combat arenas. I found the idea intriguing, but lacking in execution. This led to a partnership between me and the lead developer where I helped revamp almost every corner of the experience to create the ultimate form of that original vision.
CQB
Close Quaters Battle
The AI soldiers of Half-Life: Alyx weren't typically used in CQB situations, so the majority of development effort went towards tailoring spaces toward their strengths.
Arenas
Flexible Spaces
Spaces were rigorously tested, designed, and iterated to make them flexible and replayable. Enemies and Players had to be able to fight from anywhere.
Game: Half-Life: 2: Episode Two
Build Time: Aprox. 1 year
Released: 2016
A Developer Commentary Is Included
One of my first major projects, Local-Motive focused on creating a full "story arc" with tightly knit combat encounters and rewarding exploration. The level features a giant loop design with drastically different gameplay styles. In 2021, another developer helped make a "definitive edition" to tighten up some bugs, do some minor polish, and add user friendly features (such as multilingual subtitles).
Allies
A Fully Voiced Companion
The main focus of the mod, the player is joined by a fully voiced companion with over 100 lines of animated dialog. All triggered by a variety of conditions to reflect the current situation.
Linear Combat
Choreographed Encounters
At the climax of the mod, the Player is pulled through a cinematic battle that evolves as they participate. Alot of testing and iteration was required to create a natural flow.
Game: Half-Life: 2: Episode Two
Build Time: Unkown
Released: May 2021
Abe's Spicy Mappack Platter is a collection of previous and unfinished projects from 2017-2020. Most of them are experiments with different styles of level design. Many of them are open-ended sandbox encounters. All of them never reached a final level of polish. The levels I'm most proud of from this period of experimentation are Disgraced and Hostile Complex.
Disgraced
Dishonored Level-Design
Inspired by the work of Arcane, this level focuses on two open-ended objectives. It slowly opens up as the Player gains knowledge of the space, which allows for endless options on replays.
Hostile Complex
Half-Life 1 Level-Design
This level focused on creating a "journey". Through creative use of existing enemies, and a gradual increase in tension, it always kept the Player guessing.
