Broken Bridge [Level Design]

Making Of / 02 August 2023


The Concept

As an avid fan of first person exploration, I set upon the task of blocking out a small area that would both capture my process of creating a playable space and my understanding of what makes the explorer inside us tick.

Thus was born the Broken Bridge! I wanted to use the element of surprise in a classic bait & switch by presenting the player with a seemingly simple task — cross the bridge to get to the lone mansion on the other side. Lo and behold, the bridge is broken — what now?

I quickly transferred my vision into rough sketches to get a better idea of how I want the scene to play out, after which I whipped a top-down map of the level while keeping the following in mind:

  • The path leading down must initially be obscured from view so as not to spoil the surprise;
  • I want to teach the player to jump in a safe environment;
  • Curiosity will be rewarded with hidden treasures;



First draft

Carving out the Level

In the process of blocking out the level, I ended up making a number of changes to the layout:

  • The path leading up to the bridge clearing was rotated slightly to the right in order to add a vista; a peek through the foliage presenting a view of the mansion ahead.

  • Meanwhile, the mansion itself was at first laid out on a rather flat surface, but after spending some time within the level I felt the pacing at the end was a bit off: the player would spend all the time and effort to traverse the complicated terrain only to then practically hit the door as soon as they climbed up the rubble; it was too abrupt. In order to achieve a smoother ending, I propped the mansion up on a small hill and added a subsequent path of its own to wind the player down as the level wraps up.

  • Lastly, I added one more treasure by the shore. The path leading down to the shore naturally curves to the left where the chest is located, but the surrounding rocks hide it from view.


Final map, incl. critical path (red) and hidden treasures (yellow)


While placing the hidden chests, I took care to make them both feel rewarding and be readily visible should the player explore the space or simply turns and looks around (either on the ledge after the first jump or on the other end of the bridge after they’ve climbed up).

In addition, it was important for me to stray from a generic flat plane throughout the level, as the setting is intended to be an outdoors location; a beaten down forest path. So I made sure to include several changes in elevation throughout the process in order to bring a more natural hike-y feeling while walking through the space.


Creation time: 3 days

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