DM - WHISPERING WITCHES' BREW

Whispering Witches Brew was my first work for Rune--a game that used the Unreal engine but with a much more classic-RPG setting. It was also a 3rd person-viewpoint game, primarily, and this feature influenced the design work considerably.

This work is prepared for death-match, using vertical game-flow in some areas, while trying to keep the circuit as circular as possible. The flow could have used more tweaks, but I was anxious to use this work in my portfolio. Ted Halsted, lead designer Human Head Studios, praised my work and admitted that they had never seen a map built in the same way I approached my works.

Traditionally, most people design a closed-circuit of linked rooms with decorated hallways. Whispering Witches’ Brew, like my other designs, instead focuses in creating a complex world surrounding the gameplay setting. This method gives much better cosmetic results, and also much more interesting game-play—closer to what a real world scenario would feel.

Although managing game-flow and optimal processing performance is more difficult using this method, I have succeeded in creating a superb balance between aesthetics, game-play and performance in Whispering Witches' Brew. My following work, DM_IceDragonRider reaches even new heights in the intricacy of design, beauty and playability that I strive to achieve with my work.