I worked on this game as the Lead Level Designer and Artist. On this project, I planned, white-boxed, and set dressed each level alongside modelling and rigging all character models, vehicles, weapons and innumerous other props.
For this project, I used Unreal Engine 4 for level editing, Autodesk 3DS Max for modelling and rigging and Adobe Photoshop for planning and texturing.
Game Trailer
Burger Zombies is where Uber Eats meets The Walking Dead. This is an isometric, twin stick shooter made in UE4 featuring stylised low-poly graphics.
The premise of the game is that you play as a food delivery app courier (similar to apps like Deliveroo or Just Eat, etc.) and must transport orders around the open world city. During this, players must contend with the zombie apocalypse and avoid or kill the endless undead hordes as they go.
MAIN LEVEL
The main level was fully planned out and white-boxed by myself with other team members contributing to the set dressing process alongside myself. The original map was roughly thrice the final size with numerous themed districts but had to be cut down due to time constraints.
TUTORIAL LEVEL
The tutorial level was entirely developed (initial planning to final completion) by myself. I had to work within the boundaries of previously created systems and multiple iterations to arrive at the final version. All assets (aside from one shrunken down building) were created and arranged by myself.
Aside from level design, I also worked as the Lead Artist for the project and fulfilled team leadership responsibilities on many occasions. I modelled and rigged all character models (including each modular detachable zombie body part and all of their interchangeable variations), all vehicles, all guns (aside from the assault rifle), the “Burger Zombie” restaurant and a vast amount of decorative props and assets throughout the levels. I also voice acted the zombie noises.
Burger Zombies was designed and developed throughout 9 months. This was done on a part-time schedule due to each team member having other work commitments, roughly translating to 4 months of full-time development.
Main Level Top-Down Map with district moodboards; the main level was initially planned to be roughly 3x the final size with numerous distinct “district” biomes. Due to time constraints this was cut down and the district concept was mostly scrapped.
Main Level Whitebox; shown in full size before it was cut down.
Final version of the main level; the “Chinatown” district was already mostly completed once the decision to cut down the map was made.
Top-down screenshot of the finalised main level.
Top Down Map of the Tutorial Level; this level would take place in the restaurant’s basement and would teach the player the game’s mechanics.
A top-down screenshot of the tutorial level whitebox; the layout had to be changed to make the design more compact, include a dash section, remove the loop and make the driving section larger.
A decision was made to make the short-ranged dash a proper mechanic (rather than just a dev tool) and this had to be reflected in the tutorial. Zombies despawn upon getting too far from the player so each room had to get closer to the player spawn to remedy this. The loop that the level formed had to be cut due to numerous playtesters getting confused by the layout and accidentally repeating the level. Additionally the driving area felt far to claustrophobic and was made much larger to accomodate the car’s high top speed.
A screenshot of the final version of the tutorial level; text and arrows have been added to better guide the player and instruct them on what to do and how to play. The loop has been reincorpoarted with blueprints to ensure that players only go around one way and cannot repeat the cycle without restarting the level.
Top-down screenshot of the finalised tutorial level.