Forgotlings is a breathtaking cinematic action-adventure set in an enchanted realm inhabited by lost things searching for a purpose. Journey to distant corners of our collective memories and unite warring tribes against a mysterious looming threat to their existence.
A wholly original storyworld filled with wonder and imagination awaits your discovery.
Forgotlings will have the player delve into a heartfelt story in a semi-open world adventure, featuring novel dialogue mechanics and real-time combat that balances hack-n-slash with strategy and stealth, brought to life by a stellar voice acting and a beautiful score featuring an award-winning choir.
Role : Level Designer Developer : ThroughLine Games Publisher: Hitsents Release : 2025 Q1 Platforms: Steam, PlayStation, Xbox
Development Experience and Contributions
My main contribution to the Forgotlings project was as a returning Level Designer contractor with a focus of producing as many playable levels conceptialized by the project's small core team during the Pre-production and Alpha periods.
The main strategy in terms of development, was to utilize my extensive experience with the team's propietory tools and implementation methods -having worked on most of the studio's prior projects- and essensially translate those learnings to the exitsing work and design goals that the current team has produced.
In practical terms, this team arrangement had me working with the Creative Director and Lead Designer, in order to both adapt high-level concepts and story-featured areas into fully playble level scenes of variable scopes, as well as designing original levels meant to expand on the new gameplay aspects of this semi-open gameworld over the original Forgotton Anne title.
The game is scheduled for release primarily on Steam, in the first quarter of 2025 with the console versions for all the main platforms following soon after.
During this project I engaged with the following game development and level design aspects:
-
Engaged and designed around a comprehensive real-time Combat System that features multiple enemy types with multiple logic states to create a variety of combat scenarios and behaviours.
-
Had the oppurtunity to expand and intergrade new gameplay dimentions (like Combat and Stealth) into my otherwise familliar designing for cinematic Camera work within a 2,5D Level.
-
Adapted and traslated various game environments and situational or narrative concepts into playable levels, consistent and expressible through gameplay actions and gameplay conventions.
-
Created levels and concepts featuring traversal, combat and stealth challenges framed around on both core and progressive character abilities.
-
Worked closely with the Lead Designer to help flesh out the level design and dynamic pace of a key feature "dungeon" challenge.
Level Design
Coming in to the project at the specific production phase where many core gameplay systems and design tools were already conceptualized and began to be implemented, provided me with a robust set of oppurtunities to to reach my subsequent threefold goal :
-
Create playable versions of a list of level concepts provided by the team, featuring a functioning aspect of :
A) Combat and Stealth design and system setup according to each level's theme and desired pacing
B) Key Interactions (Puzzles, Levers, Cranks, Elevetors, Destructables, or a unique localized logic like the Mining levels)C) Basic Camera Zones and framings for each Sub Area
-
Create and Implement various original smaller Level Designs that can serve as either :
A) The connective tissue bewteen the main areas or asB) exploration content that expands on this new Metroidvania spin of the Forgotten Lands.
-
Work with the Lead Designer to offload some of the prototyping and design for the game's bigger setpiece levels
Level Design Process Example :
The Aquaducts Tunnels
Project Highlights
-
Revising a previously created gameworld with new design tools and gameplay dimentions, and drilling in its origins.
-
Working with multiple new team members and learning from their approach and methods on a subject with otherwise familliar roots.
-
Incorporated a plethora of new tool extentions and methodologies into my creative kit.