THE BACKROOMS

ROLE

Level Designer

DESCRIPTION

A level showcase to demonstrate environmental storytelling and blockmesh-quality level design.

This project was for an advanced level design class I took, made in Unreal Engine. The world layout and set dressings are carefully used to tell a story set in the liminal space of the Backrooms.

Based on lore provided by the Backrooms Wiki.

YEAR

2022

GENRE

Level Showcase
Student Project

PLATFORM

Windows
Unreal Engine 4

ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING

SETTING THE SCENE

Audio cues are used at key moments, such as providing context in the bathroom hallway of the starting restaurant.

SETTING THE SCENE

Upon entering the bathroom, the swinging stall doors guides them to a portal. Time slows and their vision fades...

LEVEL 0

...and they are teleported to the eerie, yellow-green lit labrynth of Level 0 of the Backrooms. Multiple paths are provided to the player in this area.

CHECKPOINT

After wandering through the maze, they eventually reach a safe zone between levels. Wanderers of times long past have left their names and even supplies.

LEVEL 1

In Level 1, the player encounters a group of mauled scientists. A tether stretches off to a distance.

LEVEL 2

Following the tether leads the player through the cramped, hot hallways of Level 2.

LEVEL 2

Rounding a dark corner, the creature from the drawings jumps out and starts chasing the player.

LEVEL 2

Eventually the tether leads to a strange, free-standing portal door.

THE FACILITY

Coming through the portal, the player emerges into a military facility full of dead scientists. An emergency shutdown button turns off the portal.

THE FACILITY

As they wander through the base, the power cuts out and emergency lighting kicks in. They wander until finding the lobby

A DEAD END

The elevator shaft in the lobby is collapsed. Worse yet, the map beside it suggests the player is far underground.

A DEAD END

As the player processes the elevator, the metal detector which they entered through starts to beep. As they turn, they see the source...

STAY OUT OF THE DARK

ESTABLISHING THE RULES

In the Checkpoint section, words and sketches of warning have been left by previous wanderers. The most important being, "stay in the light"

DARKNESS AS A WORLD BARRIER

In the "Level 1" section, the seemingly infinitely repeating space is limited by dark sections. Using the rule, these would cause the death of the player on entry.

REINFORCING THE RULE

The jumpscare in the "Level 2" section happens when the player follows the tether into the first unlit part of the section.

TESTING THE PLAYER

Shortly after the jumpscare, the space is designed to test the player. The intuitive motion (staying straight rather than turning) leads to a dead end and death, as signified by the darkness.

PREFACING THE ENDING

Having established that death lurks in the darkness, the lights in the "Facility" section should provide an ominous hint at how it all ends.

PREVIOUS GAME

NEXT GAME