The Cowwboy

This personal project is used to continue honing my level design skills, utilizing what I’ve learned from CGMA’s Level Design for Games course. I also borrowed my knowledge from books like An Architectural Approach to Level Design by Christopher W. Totten and Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens: Design Principles, Aesthetic Values by David A. Slawson. I was initially inspired to design this level after rewatching one of my all-time favorite horror films—The VVitch. This entire level’s design began with the idea of trying to capture the unsettling natural landscape of the film and its breathtaking final moments.

Gameplay Tone

I began my process by putting together a quick gameplay tone video. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use the “Caleb’s Seduction” track from The VVitch Original Soundtrack by Mark Korven because of its eerie tone and its appearance during a climactic story beat in the film. For imagery, I used Getty Images for stock footage of ghost towns and forests and one shot of the witch’s hut in the film itself. I intend to use this video to help me remember the overall vibe of the level in a broad sense.

Revision includes more alien/cosmic horror.