Overview

Sublevel is a horror exploration game set in an abandoned underground bunker. I designed and built the entire level layout, focusing on tension management through spatial design, atmospheric lighting, and environmental storytelling. The goal was to create an immersive, unsettling experience where players navigate through mystery without explicit guidance. My approach relied on pacing, light direction, and subtle environmental clues to guide players and control emotion throughout the game.

Features

Spatial Design & Player Flow

Corridors and rooms designed to guide navigation using visual cues without explicit markers. Intentional branching paths and loops make the space feel larger and more unpredictable, building suspense. High-tension areas (tight corridors, narrow corners) alternate with calm open spaces to control pacing and emotional intensity. The spatial arrangement forces players to question their position, which adds to the horror atmosphere.

Atmospheric Lighting System

Flickering lights placed near key areas to subtly direct players while unsettling them. Cold, desaturated tones in corridors feel sterile and eerie, contrasted with warmer light pools that act as psychological safe zones. Dynamic shadows add depth and unpredictability. Post-processing effects like film grain and bloom create a gritty, cinematic look. Lighting tested extensively in gameplay mode to ensure it feels different and more impactful than in the editor.

Environmental Storytelling

Props placed strategically to narrate the bunker's history overturned chairs, scattered papers, broken equipment, blood trails. Specific areas like the flooded room and lab create mystery and dread without exposition. Fog density and dust particles add atmospheric layers, making flashlights more impactful and enhancing immersion.

Structural Detail & Asset Placement

Pipes, vents, cables, and broken panels create a functional yet decaying environment. Scale and spacing of assets carefully calibrated to enhance claustrophobia and immersion without blocking navigation. Small detail work combines with atmospheric effects to make the space feel alive but unsafe.

Development

Process

I started with sketch layouts to map out logical flow and structure. Then I created graybox blockouts in Unreal using simple gray geometry to test navigation and scale early.I iterated on lighting through multiple playtests, discovering that editor lighting felt very different from gameplay, forcing me to rethink shadow placement and brightness levels entirely.

Key Learnings

Pacing through space matters more than mechanics.
Alternating tight and wide areas, using loops and branching paths, and subtle lighting changes create tension more effectively than game systems.

Graybox blockouts catch problems early.
Testing navigation and scale in simple geometry before detailing saves time and prevents major redesigns.

Playtesting from the player's view is essential.
In-editor balance feels completely different in gameplay. I had to redo lighting twice because of this.

Environmental storytelling is powerful.
Props and spatial design tell stories better than dialogue. Players fill in the blanks, which makes horror more effective.

Lighting is a level design tool, not just decoration.
Light direction, tone, and flicker patterns directly control emotion and guide player flow.