OVERVIEW
MY ROLE
I’m currently working as a Senior Level Designer on Titan Quest II at Grimlore Games, where I help shape the world and support the growth of our level design team on this highly anticipated sequel.
My work involves shaping large-scale layouts, defining exploration flow, and supporting narrative and encounter pacing across the game’s world. I also contribute to design documentation and mentor other designers as part of our expanding level design team. Behind the scenes, I also do performance passes, level optimization and navigation improvements.
I work closely with content and narrative designers to implement engaging gameplay content, and collaborate across departments to ensure levels evolve and change from blockout to production quality.
MY TASKS
On a daily basis my tasks include creating levels from intial idea, through to final design. Once a level has been kicked off I have complete ownership of it including:
- - blockout phase
- terrain sculpting and painting
- foliage painting
- final prop placement and set dressing
- performance optimization
- basic lighting
- placeholder enemy encounter and loot placement
- player navigation
- environmental storytelling and player guidance
- embedding interactive elements
- basic biome setup
- bug fixing
LEVEL OVERVIEWS
LEVEL LIST
Being part of the project since the start back in ~2020, I’ve been lucky enough to work on many levels:
- - Gryphon Cult Camp
- Erana Ruins
- Pyrgos
- Fiend’s Hollow
- Crab Nest
- The Enclave
- Pyrgos Graveyard
- - Ichthian Stronghold
- - Treacherous Coast
… and various other locations and dungeons.
While we’re still in EA, there are of course other levels I can’t talk about yet.
I’ve shown a level overview and some additional information for a few levels to help give insight into each level’s design.
DESIGN CHALLENGES
SIMPLICITY SUCCEEDS
The trickiest part to designing the game’s first proper dungeon, Fiend’s Hollow, was designing it in way with minimal backtracking while maintaining exploration rewards. I designed a central hub with branching paths that curved back naturally, letting players discover new areas without retracing steps. Strategic placement of shortcuts and interconnected loops kept forward momentum while preserving the satisfaction of thorough exploration.
PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS
During the design of Pyrgos, the first HUB of the game, what proved most difficult was balancing the visual spectacle with technical performance. I tried to optimize compositions with as few draw calls as possible, and recycled modular micro compositions to reduce unique primitive counts. Similarly I tried to use negative space around the edges to highlight epic views, while reducing the need to draw additional objects in the distant runtime grids.
TEACHING THROUGH TERRAIN
In Proti Island, the prologue chapter, one of the early challenges we faced was teaching players to climb ladders. I used environmental cues like torches, broken walls, and clear pathways to guide attention naturally to the ladder. The visual flow made the mechanic feel discovered rather than instructed.
ROAD HIERARCHY
The main challenge was creating locations that worked as a bridge between two major story beats – players needed to just walk through if desired. I split areas into northern and southern pathways with distinct themes (beach vs cliffs), each featuring optional mini-dungeons. Strong road hierarchy kept the main path straightforward while rewarding exploration with meaningful side content.
HIDDEN DEPTHS
In the Flooded Farmlands, one of my biggest obstacles was seamlessly integrating Erana Ruins, a hidden temple quite late in production into an existing layout (in this case, farmlands) without breaking immersion. I used Greek architectural elements and improved water systems to create natural reveals, such as narrow rivers and waterfalls that hinted at the temple's presence. Careful placement teased players through exploration while preserving the discovery's impact.
PLAYER CHOICES
The challenge in the northern Ichthian Outskirts was designing non-linear exploration that still funneled players to our desired endpoint. I created multiple paths but used the coastline as a natural guide toward the conclusion. The goal was simply making a fun beach location that players would enjoy exploring before the next major story beat.
DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE
Another big hurdle in the large open “roaming” areas in the Central and Northern Flooded Farmlands ahead of the content pipeline while the team was still expanding. I created flexible open spaces following the core narrative, leaving room for side quests to be added later in production. The goal was capturing total flood devastation which I achieved by designing mostly destroyed farm areas with flooded plains, ruined houses, and newly carved rivers from the flood.
