Returnal is a roguelite bullet hell third person shooter game. After crash-landing on a shape-shifting world, Selene must search through the barren landscape of an ancient civilization for her escape. Isolated and alone, she finds herself fighting tooth and nail for survival. Again and again, she’s defeated – forced to restart her journey every time she dies.

My tasks on the PS5 project included:
  • 22+ levels designed by me, including boss-areas. Built with consideration for procedural world generation. Collaborated with the art team to bring to final quality.
  • Iteration passes on dozens of other levels, retheming existing levels, and retrofitting gameplay elements.
  • Combat for various levels. Spawnpoint setup, combat templates, combat iterations.
  • Pickup placement and balancing.
  • Destructibles placement and landscaping work.

My tasks on the PC project included:
  • PC keyboard & mouse controls
  • Benchmark level design, cinematic design and managing the camera track, keyframing.
  • Progress/challenges screen design.
  • Camera views for ultrawide screens.
  • Managing text localization.
The game is out now for PS5.
And on Steam / Epic Games.
​​Role: ​Game designer, Level designer
Development cycle: Worked on PS5 project for 1.5+ years; until release + PC version for 1 year
​Platform: Playstation 5, PC (Steam / Epic)
At Climax Studios, I assisted Housemarque in developing the game as part of the co-development team.

PROCESS

Disclaimer: This is a released product. While I cannot show work-in-progress level blockouts, screenshots from the retail build can be taken, which I have drawn over to go through some of my level design process.

Visual hierarchy

For most of the levels I create, especially combat spaces, I try to frame the way to go for the player when they first enter the space. For this level in Echoing Ruins, that would be the doorframe of the stone cabin in front of us. As the player comes in, they will also quickly see a turret starting to charge up its shot near them, with a second turret positioned a bit further away. These enemies have been placed with a level of care not to pull attention in a completely opposite way from the door frame we need to get to. Movement helps draw the eye to parts we want to highlight. On the way to the door frame, the player will see some platforms which can be dashed between to reach the other side. In the mist on the left side, a reward platform with a shiny pickup can also faintly be distinguished.

Roguelike variation per run

Returnal has systems in place which bring variation to the levels. Even if the level layout is largely the same, some elements like hookshot placement, which enemies spawn in, and which pickup can be found where- are randomly selected each run from a template made by the level design team. Entire platforms can load in- or not, per design, like in the Echoing Ruins Boss Tower I designed. In the image to the right, one of multiple of these path variations is showcased.
  • Either Path A can load in; which is a large tree trunk allowing the player to get to the other side.
  • Or Path B can load in; which would be two hookshots in a row leading to the higher platform.

Contrasting shapes

At the Top of the Boss Tower was something which resulted in some issues. Namely; the path upwards was too subte, and players missed how to progress further. The ramp upwards started from the ground, and blended too much into the environment. It also started too late, meaning that it was for a large part hidden by the wall on the right side in the image. By making a few changes, players eventually had no trouble knowing where to go anymore;
  • Brought the ramp forward to be less obscured by the right wall.
  • Made the ramp start not on the ground but require a jump to get on it. Lifting the start point up and giving it this flat unorganic surface from the front made it stand out more.
  • Added pillars to support the ramp, like handrailings. These un-organic shapes separate from the ground helped provide contrast to the scene and created a larger scructure which was now very hard to miss.
  • Illuminating the ramp from the front also helped separate it from the rest of the environment.

Player choice and streamlining traversal

The Fractured Wastes biome had combat which was tough as nails. Therefore I designed levels in which the player was very free to move around and take various paths of their choosing to dodge incoming rockets, big swipe attacks, and beam attacks. I gave most rooms plenty of hookshot points, as these allow the player to reposition quickly and make the room feel more dynamic. The room has different segments; an upper balcony, an island left, and islands further away which we can reach either using the island on the left or by going through a mini interior section with a large rock-pillar on the right side. The room has no dead ends, so the player can fully use the space available to them and not get stuck.
While the various paths were great, the earlier versions of this level had more islands to jump between, which seemed like a fun traversal idea at first, fitting the theme of an arctic room. While these islands worked perfectly fine if this was only a traversal-focused room, players struggled to multi-task and watch where they were going while trying to dodge all sorts of enemy attacks in this room, causing them to fall in the water hazard often which caused a respawn. I ended up connecting the platforms at the back of the room into one larger platform, and removed an extra island at the front to create less jumps overall, so the player could focus more on combat.

Get In Touch

As a developer and an individual I like to be challenged and am always on the lookout for new ways to provide players with unforgettable and meaningful experiences. If you are interested in how I can help you out, please do not hesitate to contact me;
​© Martijn de Bie
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