Level Design Outsourcing

Two members of the Blue Sight team took ownership of a contract with Armative GmbH, the studio behind Steel Aces. This is a next-generation Free-to-Play Tank MMO that allows players to command over 1,000 historically authentic armoured vehicles across 40+ countries. Our developers worked closely with Armative to provide level design for pre-existing and original levels. This included creating landscapes and fighting zones in a range of different sizes.

Initial calls with the client defined the specific issues to be resolved with maps and explored the tools the team would be using. All studios work with a slightly different tech stack. Blue Sight’s level designers spent time getting up to speed on some less familiar Unity tools including Microverse and Landscape / Environment Design.

As the project progressed, we worked collaboratively with the client using Miro to lay out how each segment of a map would need to be tweaked. Our focus was to accommodate space, flow and sightlines, as these were at the core of the issues we had identified. We used Microverse as the main tool to edit the maps, building and compiling landscapes in the Microverse settings before painting the textures onto them. Splines were used to make train tracks as well as roads. With the core features in place, we continued to work on the artistic details of the map, adding beaches and buildings.

Blue Sight Level Designer Justin Stevenson says:

Working with clients is a rewarding two-way process. We solved their issues with the maps, and learned new skills ourselves.