Hunt: Showdown 1896 - DeSalle Map Update
Hunt: Showdown 1896 is a first person extraction shooter developed by Crytek. I joined the Hunt team in June 2024 to help with shipping the re-launch of the game as Hunt: Showdown 1896. I was part of the strike team that reworked the first 3 maps of the game in order to bring them up to current standards. I was responsible for going over several compounds to propose and improve gameplay as well as check for quality issues and optimize them. During development, I gathered feedback from the original compound creators and discussed potential solutions with them. After iterating, we would playtest together to make sure their original vision was preserved.
Original compound owners on Level Design:
Pelican Island Prison by Matthias Otto, Weeping Stone Mill by Turgut Özbayram
Stanley Coal Company by
https://www.artstation.com/tomble
Environment art and concept art on Pelican Island Prison done by
https://www.artstation.com/bjn
https://www.artstation.com/ednoisette
Plus everyone else on the Hunt team that was involved in creation and updating of this map.
The Pelican Prison compound was the location that received the most significant updates for the reworked version of DeSalle. I improved the old structure to give attackers better angles and more cover when approaching the prison from that side.
The old structure didn't offer too many choices for attackers. It was placed on lower terrain and didn't help to funnel the players forward. In the new version, attackers now have more to work with, including access to the roof to challenge the tower.
In this angle you can better see the direct path leading from the new structure to the prison, as well as a wider clearance.
Closer shot on the direct connection and wider clearance.
Players approaching from the side of the new structure also have more cover and opportunities to change their position. Since we couldn't alter the terrain significantly, the addition of ladders to bridge the verticality drop was a convenient choice.
Timelapse of the process, starting from the old version, through the tests and ending with the final version.
Timelapse of the process, starting from the old version, through the tests and ending with the final version.
Timelapse of the process, starting from the old version, through the tests and ending with the final version.
To help players change positions more quickly in this area, I opted to introduce a scaffolding structure with ladders.
Additional shot of this vertical area. The new hole in the wall allows players to jump in and potentially surprise any defenders in that area.
On the opposite side of the cliff, the open area with the tree received some cover to help attackers. Additionally, some angles were better blocked with small rock adjustments since this area presented a high death count on our heatmaps.
After adding the new structure for the attackers in front of the prison, this opened more angles for combat between players. It is now possible to have fights from the tower with players on the building roof.
The prison yard received significant updates as well. Previously it was very open and lacked interesting opportunities, which made it hard for attackers to approach. I created distinct lanes, each with different options.
The catwalk was also adjusted to face towards the attackers and a new hole in the wall of the prison was created to create a more direct path, and to offer the possibility to fight someone inside the prison.
Additional shot of the new hole in the prison wall.
Inside view of the prison with the new hole. Players can now directly fight one another for more interesting engagement.
On the way to this hole, I added a small destroyed brick building on one of the lanes that acts as a small bunker. It gives attackers a safe spot on their approach and now connects to the outside wall. The ramp also provides an angle to the new hole.
On the exterior of the yard, the long angle along the wall was broken up by the addition of the small brick building. The stairs were replaced with an elevator to reduce the footprint on the lower level and add a unique element to this side.
Top down view of the yard changes with the different lanes and various cover islands.
Another location that I worked on was the Stanley Coal Company compound. In this shot you can see the improved exterior catwalk and more opportunities to change positions around it.
The lower floor received a new entrance in the form of a sliding door and the cover island was moved to better serve the new options.
On the opposite side, I tweaked the roof of the building to create a subtle pointing tip towards the new options when players are approaching from inside or on top of it.
I adjusted the cover objects here to better hightlight that they are also a traversal affordance towards the catwalk.
On this side, I extended the awning and added a pipe to create more traversal options for the player.
Approaching from this part of the compound proved to be difficult since attackers didn't have a safe spot to advance towards. I addressed that by expanding on an already existing cover island.
To better highlight that the right tunnel entrance is accessible, I removed the door and added several cloth items to contour it slightly.
Other gameplay oriented changes I made were for the Weeping Stone Mill compound. I opened a previously blocked dropdown opportunity and cleared one corner by the window so that players can walk up right next to it.
The dropdown I created includes a new angle on one of the lower entrances that provides cleaner engagements.
On other spots I blocked previously see-through grating to avoid instances where players could be killed without realising that they are visibile.
In this area I also blocked the grate, but created a more intentional gap where players can throw utilities through.
Additional angle on the more intentional opening.