Game Designer / Level Designer

Romain Horrenberger

Student in a Master’s program (Year 2) in Level Design and Game Design at Piktura.



Best Projects

Profile


Passionate about creation since forever, I love building worlds, situations, and games whether on paper or on a computer, alone or with others.

From building structures with Lego to designing cities in a game engine, creation has always been at the heart of what I do.
I love creating for myself and for others and always will.

Student at Piktura, currently pursuing a Master’s degree
(Year 2) in Game Design with
a specialization in Level Design.
I have worked on various types
of projects, including video game production, game design exercises, game jams, and gamification projects.


  • Creation of documentation (Level Design Documents, Game Design Documents, etc.).

  • Design of maps, workshop plans, and levels.

  • Implementation of blockouts in game engines.

  • Level testing and balancing.



Software Used

Game Engine

Unity
Unreal
Godot
Game Maker

Document Creation

Google Docs
Microsoft Word

Bubble Design

Milanote
Miro
Canva
Draw.io
Figma

Spreadsheet

Google sheets
Excel


Skills

Game Design

  • Mechanics Creation

  • Systems / Gameplay Loops Creation

  • GDD Creation

  • Playtesting

  • UX

Level Design

  • Map and Workshop Creation

  • Engine Integration

  • Testing and Balancing

  • LDD Creation

Soft Skill

  • Curiosity

  • Creativity

  • Communication

  • autonomy


Personal project

Map: Dying Light

Creating a level based on an external document.

Coming soon


Map: Dying Light

Creation of an Open-World DLC Map


Level Design: The Entropy Center

Creation of a Level in a Dedicated Game Engine


Team Project

Final year project

Gamification

Fourth-year internship project.


Final year project

Cattac

Final Year Master Project

Coming soon

Honk

Final Year Bachelor Project


Little project

Infiltration exercise

Duo exercise

Coming soon

Shield Knight

Class Project


Jam

Participation in GGJ and Ludum Dare


DLC map Dying Light


Presentation

Dying Light is a survival and parkour game set in a post-apocalyptic environment.Players assume the role of Kyle Crane, an undercover agent sent into the quarantine zone of the historic Turkish city of Harran. His mission is to locate a politician turned rebel, who is in possession of a file that could incriminate his agency.
But once there, Kyle finds himself torn between completing his mission and providing aid to the survivors.


Map inspired by the vehicle from
The Following DLC, adapted for a more vertical environment.
A new harpoon mechanic integrated into the vehicle allows for unprecedented exploration of these rugged areas.
The protagonist's story is also deepened, directly confronting him with key elements from his past.


Intention

  • Create tighter paths in the mountains that allow for ambushes.

  • Force the use of the vehicle via a new mechanic and have it interact with human enemies.

  • Highlight a narrative thread about the character's past with the GRE.


Narrative

The map takes place after the events of The Following DLC.
Kyle Crane, the protagonist, receives intel about the existence of an isolated refuge holding significant reserves of Antizin, the essential treatment for the infection. As the supplies in his camp are dangerously low, he decides to search for this place, hoping to save whoever and whatever he still can.
Forced to leave Harran, he embarks on a long journey in his buggy, with only the little equipment he has left for support.The refuge is located away from the city, to the north, in the mountainous regions of Elazığ, in the heart of Turkey. Kyle must travel about a hundred kilometers through steep, hostile, and unknown terrain, where every detour could be fatal.


Mechanics

This new map introduces a unique mechanic for the buggy: a harpoon system mounted on the front of the vehicle.This harpoon offers two main functionalities for movement:It functions as a winch, allowing the buggy to pull itself up slippery or steep slopes, facilitating the exploration of vertical terrain.It can also be used as a zipline, allowing the player to cross chasms or open voids by attaching to the cable, adding a new dimension to open-world mobility.

This harpoon system isn't limited to movement; it also has various offensive uses.It can be fired at an enemy to impale them, immobilize them, or violently throw them.The harpoon can also be used to grab large objects in the environment (barrels, debris, corpses, etc.) to use them as projectiles or throw them at groups of enemies.Finally, the system can be used to quickly winch the vehicle towards a target or an anchor point, allowing the buggy to gain speed abruptly and more effectively run over enemies in its path.


Level Design

Global Map


The Plains: The map's entry point, located in the south.Kyle arrives via this vast, open expanse, ideal for getting to grips with the buggy's new mechanics and the harpoon. However, progress is quickly halted by an impassable roadblock, forcing the player to find an alternate route leading to the next area.

Plains Map


The next area is the Forest. The player is ambushed by humans. They find themselves blocked near the end of the area and must head towards the Mill.

Forest Map


The Mill is a safe zone where the player can gather information about the world around them.

Mill Map


The player returns through the Plains to reach the Village. Once at the Village, they meet the leader who tells them how to get through the Forest to access the Mountain. They then head back into the Plains, to an abandoned part of a village. There, they find a harpoon which they install on their buggy.

Village Map


He then returns to the Forest to get past the blocked area. He subsequently finds a bandit camp that he must confront in order to enter the Mountain.

Mountain Map


The Mountain houses the Refuge, which ends up being destroyed. He then heads towards the Main Bandit Camp.
He opens the camp's gate using a horde of zombies and confronts their leader.

Main Bandit Camp Map


He takes their supplies, shares them with the Village and the Mill, and then returns to Harran.



Level The Entropy Center

Duration : 3 days


Presentation

The Entropy Centre is a mind-bending puzzle adventure where you manipulate time to reverse the flow of events and overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.Use your ability to rewind time to solve ingeniously designed puzzles, each one bringing you closer to the heart of a massive space station orbiting Earth.


Map created using The Entropy Centre's level editor.This map offers a series of three workshops designed using the core mechanics and assets available in the game.
Each workshop highlights the main time manipulation mechanic, while integrating several gameplay elements (GPE) to vary the challenges and enrich the puzzle-solving experience.


Intention

  • Select a number of GPEs and develop their use.

  • Propose an intermediate difficulty for those who have finished the game.


LD

Map Globale


This area highlights the core mechanic as well as the most frequently used GPEs in The Entropy Centre.The player must position a cube on different switches to activate moving platforms. The key to success lies in managing the sequence of actions, allowing them to reach the exit by intelligently using the Time Rewinder.

Area 1


This area highlights an unconventional use of lasers, adding a creative touch to the puzzle-solving.The player must launch a cube into the air using a trampoline, so that it passes through the laser beams. Then, by rewinding the cube in time, it retraces its trajectory and stops precisely within the lasers, thereby activating the sensors required to open the doors.

Area 2


This transition area allows for exploration of abandoned offices and learning more about the history of the region.

Transition


This area highlights the use of laser cubes.
The player must correctly position the cubes on a conveyor belt and then rewind them in time to successively activate multiple platforms and progress.

Area 3


Walkthrough

Honk

Team : 5 peoples
3 Game Artist
1 Game Programming
1 Game Designer


Task

Game Design
3C design
Gameplay design
Level Design
Integration Level Design
Balancing


Technical Sheet

Audience:

Genre:

Camera:
Game Engine:
Plateform:

Family-friendly, Pegi 7

Action Adventure, Platformer

3D, Top Down view
Unity 2022
PC


High Pitch

Honk is a narrative action-adventure game set in a frozen world.You play as Honk, a penguin in mourning, who meets a lost little penguin. Together, you must help each other solve various puzzles, face the dangers of the snow and ice, and guide the little one back to its colony.



Discover Honk's past and let yourself be transported through numerous snowy landscapes.Forge a bond with this little companion and be surprised by all that they can bring to you.



Gameplay

Mimicry

The player can place the little penguin on
the ground and, through an interaction,
command it (or not) to replicate its
movements.


GamePlay Elements

Hole

Allows for an easy separation of the player and
the little one.
Only the little one can enter it.


Falling Block

A block that gives way under the weight of the player or the little one, allowing passages to be unlocked.


Ice Cube

A cube that the player can push, used to create passages.


Level Design

Zone 1 : Outdoors

Learn the basic mechanics and get to grips with the character.
This introductory phase presents the separation and movement through mimicry, as well as interactions with holes and falling blocks.
The narrative begins with a poignant memory: an orca devouring a child. This moment highlights the deep bond between the two characters through the main mimicry mechanic:
the little penguin copies Honk's gestures, as it's his only reference, while the father repeats these movements out of fear of losing him.


Zone 2 : Sliding

Uses a sliding mechanic, which is faster but less maneuverable.The highlights are more dynamic, with a tilted and lowered camera to better appreciate the environment.This zone has few obstacles, emphasizing the difficulty of movement.We catch the first glimpse of the colony we are trying to catch up to, but it is still too far away.


Zone 3 : Caverne

The cave features puzzle levels centered on the use of the ice cube and holes.The entire section takes place indoors, with varied environments alternating between round stones, mushrooms, and icy surfaces.The levels are longer and are connected by narrative and visual areas, such as the lake where the bear appears and where Honk sees his child through the little one, or the passage above a crevasse.The end of this zone leads to an outdoor area that marks the conclusion of the game.


Walkthrough

Gamification : Gout Project

Team : 4 peoples
2 Game Artist
1 Game Programming
1 Game Designer


Task

Game Design
3C Design
Gameplay design
Level design
Integration LD


Project

Creation of a virtual reality serious game for learning about and preventing gout.
Creation of a prototype from scratch as part of a team.


High pitch

Complete several mini-games to learn about gout disease.
Interact with your control panel and learn how to identify, prevent, and treat gout.


Technical Sheet

Audience:
Genre:
Number Player :
Camera:
Game Engine:
Plateform:

Casual, Gout Patient
Mini games, Puzzle, Narrative
1
3D, VR
Unity 6
Pico 3-4


USP / Intention

  • Gout desease

Develop a game that addresses and explores gout disease in an engaging and playful way.

InformTeach users all the important information related to gout.

VRProvide a virtual reality experience to an audience that may not necessarily be familiar with it.

NarrativeCreate a storyline that connects all the mini-games together and gives users a clear objective.


DA

Shapes: smooth/rounded forms, clean textures, and a clean environment.


Gameplay

Mini games

A sequence of mini-games about gout disease, designed to help users understand the condition and how to approach it.These different objectives take the form of mini-games directly related to gout. They feature simple mechanics that make use of virtual reality. The user is guided through their actions and receives information throughout these interactions.

Learn

The objective is to teach players what gout disease is and what it involves.The different mini-games follow the course of the disease’s treatment, ranging from medical diagnosis to either recovery or recurrence of the condition.The information given to players varies depending on the difficulty level, which determines whether players are assigned the role of patients or doctors.

Interaction

The required interactions vary depending on the mini-game being played. Some interactions remain the same across all situations:Objects:
Pick up, move, rotate, use.
Remote objects (holograms):
Select, move closer/further away, rotate, place down.

Narration

The objective is to establish a narrative thread that connects all the mini-games together and gives users a clear goal while maximizing their learning about the disease.A narrator is included whose role is, on one hand, to provide objectives and guide the user so they perform specific actions in a defined order, and on the other hand, to communicate clear and accurate information about gout.The narrator speaks directly to the players, and their dialogue is displayed on a screen where key terms and gameplay hints are highlighted.


Shield Knight

Team : 6 peoples
3 Game Artist
1 Game Programming
2 Game Designer


Task

Game Design
3C Design
Gameplay design
Level design
Integration LD


Technical Sheet

Audience:
Genre:
Camera:
Game Engine:
Plateform:

Family-friendly, Pegi 7
Top Down Shooter
2D, Top Down View
Game Maker
PC


High Pitch

Help the princess save the prince!
Arm yourself with your laser sword and shield, and go fight the fearsome Cyber Orcs.
Absorb enemy shots with your shield to send them back with your sword and defeat your opponents.



Gameplay

Main Mecanic

The character has two weapons:A sword that shoots projectiles.
It is not possible to strike in melee with the sword; only the projectiles deal damage. These projectiles are limited and must be reloaded.
A shield that protects against projectiles and melee attacks.
Blocking a projectile allows the player to absorb it and reload the sword’s ammunition.



Enemies

OrcsThey shoot at the player while continuously moving closer. It takes three shots to defeat them.


RobotThey do not deal damage. They run toward the player as soon as the player raises their shield and absorb any remaining ammunition.


TurretsThey continuously shoot in one direction, dealing damage to both the player and enemies.



Level Design

Area Example

Turret and Orc Interaction

Showcases the use of turrets in combat simultaneously with orcs.Demonstrates how the turrets interact with enemies.The enemies and the turret fire come from the same side, allowing the player to block the shots by focusing on just one side.


Introduction Spawner

In this level, the player progresses downward, with enemies blocking their path. Once the enemies are eliminated, spawners located at the top of the level generate new enemies, maintaining pressure and challenge.The separation between the bottom and top of the level, marked by tables, prevents both the player and the enemies from crossing from one zone to the other too quickly, ensuring a balanced combat pace.


Walkthrough

Game Jams

Turbo Baby


Runner


Ludum Dare 53


Engine : Game Maker


Task: Mechanics and Level Design


Help this baby reach its family by avoiding the blocks along the way.


Slap King


Rhythm Game


Global Game Jam 2024


Engine : Unity


Task: Level Design


Prevent your jesters from making you laugh by slapping them in rhythm to push them away.


Shroom


Top Down Shooter


Global Game Jam 2023


Engine : Game maker


Task : Mecanics,
Lead Level Design


Survive by taking control of the corpses you leave behind. Attack with their weapons and switch bodies before they rot.


Zizi0


Top Down Shooter


Ludum Dare 57


Engine : Godot


Task: Mechanics,
Level Design


Find the wizard to give him his fine. Fight the monsters along the way, and beware of the glyphs which can summon enemies.