SENTINEL - MVP Atrium (Level Art/Design)
After arriving at the station in the Puma vehicle, the player enters the Atrium to retrieve critical data. However, they encounter a much stronger enemy presence than anticipated and must fight their way through to reach the surviving marines—then hold the position alongside them until reinforcements arrive. As the first man-made structure encountered in the demo, the station’s design required careful consideration. We ultimately chose an atrium style inspired by malls and hotels, creating a theatrical, open gameplay space. This layout not only establishes a striking visual contrast but also provides a broad arena for dynamic combat encounters.
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GAME DESCRIPTION: Sentinel is a sci-fi PvE first-person extraction shooter that emphasizes straightforward movement, sandbox interaction, and tightly crafted level design—eschewing ability-based combat and cover shooting in favor of raw, responsive gameplay. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, you play as a Varangian—a Nordic-inspired, augmented space mercenary—offering your strength to the remnants of humanity… for a price. Scavenge like a Survivor. Build like a Space Marine. Fight like a Viking.
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MY ROLE: As Creative Lead, I was responsible for providing both artistic and creative direction while overseeing the overall production process. In addition to managerial duties, my core in-engine focus was level development—balancing both level design and level art duties and leading others where appropriate. I also contributed across disciplines as needed, including 3D modeling, gameplay and event scripting, combat encounter design, texture and shader development, and animation.
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CREDITS: Alberto Panico, Alex Wright, Antonio Gil, Daedra Christopher, Danny Jundi, Davis Zekthi, Elia Sheikh-Bahaie, Eric Lipshutz, Erik Flood, Grif Wu, Jaden Nance, Jake White, Joshua Thornhill, Justice McClellan, Kaleb Nekumanesh, Kat Peterson, Matthew Griffith, Matthew Hodge, Matthew Stone, Mike Tilden, Mitchell Broom, Nick Price, Rachel Clark, Steven Atha, Tyler Harper, Victoria Pennington.
ART - Final screenshot showcasing the Atrium, featuring artwork by Davis Zekthi and Elia Sheikh-Bahaie. The player’s objective is to reach the other side of the room, but it’s occupied by many enemies.
ART - Final screenshot also featuring artwork by Davis and Elia. We approach combat encounters like a deadly game of chess—carefully considering the environment, the player’s available tools, the types of enemies present, and their positioning.
GAMEPLAY - Large spaces designed with a “Swiss cheese” layout create a sense of openness while still guiding player movement. Limited cover placement helps form distinct combat pockets, allowing for staggered encounters rather than overwhelming combat.
REFERENCES - The Atrium offered an opportunity to explore a large space station environment within the game's universe. Inspired by hotel-style atriums, the space was designed to evoke a theatrical atmosphere, blending grandeur with tension.
DESIGN - The atrium revisits our "Swiss cheese" design approach, this time on a larger scale, featuring more enemies and expanded traversal and sandbox options.
ART - Final screenshot showcasing the station maintenance room, featuring artwork by Victoria Pennington. The maintenance room was built to encourage circular exploration around a central object as players work to unlock the exit.
WIP DESIGN - In the above screenshots, my role focused on level design and combat encounter layout.
ART - Final screenshot showcasing the holdout zone, where players must fend off waves of enemies until reinforcements arrive. To keep players within the intended area, cover is gradually reduced as they move outward, encouraging them to remain inside.
GAMEPLAY - Enemies are capable of swimming, allowing them to enter the gameplay space from water or move quickly between positions. This encourages players to stay alert to their surroundings, as threats can emerge unexpectedly—even surfacing behind them.
ART - Final screenshot showcasing the interior of a destroyed space station. Narrow hallways like this are used between larger spaces to funnel the player, ease tension, control visual composition, and create contrast with the surrounding open areas.
WIP ART - Early explorations of the space station interior. Our initial approach used rotated rooms to convey destruction. We pivoted to using environmental overgrowth and structural damage to achieve the same narrative impact in a more readable way.
GAMEPLAY TRAILER - Our first trailer served as a crucial milestone, providing valuable feedback that helped shape the game’s design and art direction moving forward.