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Student Project

Exodus

Lead Game Designer & Level Designer

Escort ShooterUnityFirst-Person3D Shooter
Play on itch.io →

Overview

Exodus is a tactical escort shooter where you protect a convoy of civilians from an invisible demonic threat. Switch between normal vision — fast but blind — and a slowed demonic state that reveals enemies and arms you for the fight. Stay sharp. Stay close. Keep them alive.

Screenshots

Exodus town square at dusk with a clock tower, statue, and parked cars1 / 4

Responsibilities

  • Led the overall game design direction, defining core mechanics and gameplay systems
  • Made key design decisions regarding feature implementation and mechanical structure
  • Created and maintained the Game Design Document (GDD), ensuring design clarity and team alignment
  • Designed and developed Level 03 from initial 2D layout to final in-engine implementation
  • Structured player progression, encounter pacing, and environmental storytelling within the level
  • Oversaw level iteration and refinement, including spatial composition and gameplay balancing
  • Completed final set-dressing to enhance atmosphere, readability, and player guidance

Tools

  • Unity Engine — development
  • YouTrack — task planning & tracking
  • Google Docs — documentation
  • Miro — sketching & brainstorming

Research & Design Process

Exodus research moodboard covering Overwatch and Titanfall 2 references, the design goal, and feature brainstorming

This moodboard defines the mechanical and spatial foundation of Exodus, combining escort-based progression with a dual-dimension system. It informed both the core gameplay structure and the level pacing strategy before moving into blockout development.

Level Sketches & Documentation

Hand-drawn level layout sketch with a legend marking start, finish, main path, enemies, jump pads, gates, and breakable walls1 / 3

Early development began with multiple hand-drawn level sketches to explore convoy routing, encounter staging, and overall spatial pacing — used to experiment with how the convoy would progress through the level, where combat pressure should naturally emerge, and how dimension switching could influence player positioning and tactical decisions.

Overview graphic listing Exodus's design documentation: Game, Enemy, Player, Weapon, and Features design documents1 / 4

In parallel, core gameplay systems and mechanics were formalized through structured documentation — a Game Design Document alongside dedicated Enemy, Player, Weapon, and Features design documents — defining the escort structure, dual-dimension logic, and progression framework. This kept mechanical design and level structure aligned from the earliest stage of production, ensuring consistency before moving into blockout and implementation.

Layout & Development

Top-down blockout map of an Exodus level showing the convoy route, connected rooms, and enemy/pickup markers1 / 5

Development of the final level began with defining its overall structural layout, focusing on convoy progression, spatial pressure points, and encounter rhythm. Key stopping zones, defensive positions, and transition spaces were mapped out so the convoy's movement would naturally dictate the pacing of combat, with each segment escalating tension while keeping navigation and objective focus clear.

In-engine screenshot of an Exodus street corridor with enemy spawn markers placed along the convoy path1 / 3

After establishing the core structure, the convoy path was implemented and enemy spawn zones were strategically positioned to create escalating combat scenarios and reinforce forward momentum. Once gameplay flow and pacing were validated, the level was finalized through environmental set-dressing, enhancing visual readability, atmosphere, and player guidance.

Iterations & Lessons Learned

  1. 1

    Difficulty Spikes at Stopping Points

    One of the key iteration focuses during development was refining convoy pacing and encounter balance. In early versions, enemy waves were too concentrated around single stopping points, creating sudden difficulty spikes that limited the strategic depth of the escort mechanic.

  2. 2

    Redistributing Encounters

    Through iteration, enemy spawn zones were redistributed and staggered across multiple spatial layers, creating more controlled combat escalation and encouraging players to actively reposition between dimensions rather than holding a single defensive spot.

  3. 3

    Balancing Tension and Recovery

    Convoy stopping durations and encounter timing were also adjusted to better balance tension and recovery windows. These iterations improved pacing clarity, reinforced the importance of dimension switching, and strengthened the relationship between level layout and gameplay systems.