WizardExt

Gangsta. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2020.

A medium sized city map, part of Countryside/Backyard/Crossfire map series. 

Crossfire. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2019.

It’s an open fast-paced medium sized map featuring apartment blocks with a courtyard in the middle. Intended to be fun with all weapons, but favors the mid- and long range weapons a bit due to the long sight-lines. 

Callouts: park, yellow, dirt, garden, mid 📢

Third release in the countryside-backyard-crossfire-gangsta map series.

Backyard. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2019.

Abandoned storage buildings. Small and intense map, with a mix of indoor and outdoor action. Fun with all weapons. 

Callouts: concrete, dexter, electricity, office, parking lot, alley, storage, mid 📢 

Second release in the countryside-backyard-crossfire-gangsta map series. 

Working on this map was an interesting process. I had the first playable version of the map ready within a few days, but getting to the final version of the map was a year-long process of small adjustments to have it feel right; size of gameplay spaces, line of sights, ergonomics and flow. 🎮 

Countryside. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2017. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Abandoned buildings on the countryside. Fast and smooth map to navigate, fun with all weapons. 🎮 

Callouts: shed, space, tetris, garden, barn, garage, silos, mid. 📢 

First map out, in a series of maps (countryside, backyard, crossfire, gangsta) that takes place in the same area, each with its own unique theme. 

Mad Max. Released in 2015. An action-adventure video game developed by Avalanche Studios. 

I was World Designer for Gutgash and Gastown territories. Painting beautiful landscapes and crafting memorable locations. Poured my soul into it this fantastic game. 🎮 

Grateful for this period in my life, working in this company, on this project.. with such wonderful and talented bunch of people. It shaped me for life. 

Spherical Nightmares. Half-Life 2 singleplayer mod. Released in 2013.

Gordon Freeman wakes up in an unknown location and experiences weird dream-like memory flashes. 

I absolutely love the Half-Life games and I was inspired to create a similar high-quality experience with those memorable moments. A sense a longer journey, covering distance and travel through many different environments. An immersive world, sense of depth, with story and narrative pieces. Nice pacing and variation; puzzle, combat, exploration, navigation. 

Spherical Nightmares was my final project in my level design education. I estimated it to take 5 weeks to develop.. it took 5 years. 

Rebirth (wizq2dm6). Quake 2 deathmatch map. Released in 2015. 

My entry for 10th Q2 Café map contest. I placed 11/22. I was inspired by Brutalist industrial architecture. 

Really enjoyed working on this map and super happy with the end result; visuals and gameplay. I like how it looks and how it flows when you navigate it. WeeEeeee!! 

Terminal. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2012.

Terminal is a medium sized map set in an airport terminal and is a remake of the classic map Airport. My least favorite map for Action Quake 2. Mainly because it’s so unfair for the average player; difficult to navigate, few routes, poor connectivity, sucky spawns and bad visuals. 

For Terminal, I made a LOT of changes. It’s more of a re-imagination than remake. Here are the changes: 

▪️ Removed toilet interiors  ▪️ Removed luggage storage interior ▪️ Removed generic mid-room interior ▪️ Improved connectivity; more routes and better flow   ▪️ Added jumps ▪️ Overall theme and themed areas  ▪️ New custom textures

Zipline. Half-Life 2 singleplayer map. Released in 2012.

My entry for "VerticalVille" map competition hosted by PlanetPhillip. Theme verticality.

Player starts in the sewer, progress up into an alley, into apartments, out on roofs and so on.. A lot of navigation skilled progression, combined with combat and as the level name suggests; you get to use a zipline.

Canals. Half-Life 2 singleplayer map. Released in 2012. 

My entry for the “DoorVille” map competition held at PlanetPhillip (RunThinkShootLive). The rules were: To unlock a door in Half-Life 2 and create a unique experience around that. I unlocked a door found early on in the game. 

Half-Life 2 scene. Made in 2009. 

Syndicate is a cyberpunk first-person shooter video game developed by Starbreeze Studios. Released in 2012. 

I was level designer for the co-op experience, this was one of my levels; Northern Territories. 

It doesn't offer the same visual variation as the level China, but gameplay is great fun! Northern Territories features outdoor areas with a lot of routes and covers. It ends with an intense encounter, at a loading bay, where you are retrieving stolen organs. 

Syndicate is a cyberpunk first-person shooter video game developed by Starbreeze Studios. Released in 2012. 

I was level designer for the co-op experience, this was one of my levels; China. 

In this level you start in an urban alley, out onto main street, down into old subway tunnels where you transport and defend a vehicle that is used to breach through into a subway station where the final battle takes place. 

Level Design test for Starbreeze Studios. Made with Source Engine in 2010. 

At the time Starbreeze Studios was one of my favorite developers. I absolutely loved their games; The Darkness, The Chronicles of Riddick. Dark and gritty vibe as well as interesting level design. So I was really excited and nervous when applying for a job there. 

I made several iterations of this level design test and I remember that the first two iterations were a bit underwhelming and I was asked if I could up the quality. So with this final iteration I gave it all I got.. and it worked! I got the job, a dream come true. 

I got to work on Syndicate, a cyberpunk first-person shooter video game, that was released in 2012. I was level designer for the co-op experience, creating the levels; China and Northern Territories. 

Incoming. Half-Life 2 map. Released in 2009. 

My entry for a mapping competition held at interlopers.net, themed "incoming", displaying Gordon Freeman's last moments. I placed 2nd. 

Terminator Salvation. Released in 2009.

Developed by Grin. Third-person cover based shooter. I was the level designer of "Chapter 4 - The Sights".

My first job in the games industry, a dream come true! After all the years in school, floating along.. coping.. feeling lost while having the feeling that everybody else knew exactly what they were doing and where they were going.

And I continued on that path of confusion.. years after I was done with school, going through different jobs.. feeling lost.

Funny enough.. during all this time, I was spending most of my free time creating levels for games. As a hobby. It was my escape away from thoughts into a space where I felt home.

But one day, the intelligence of life, nudged me in the right direction. I realized I could work with something that I like.. so I studied computer graphics.. and soon after realized that I could work with something that I love.. so I studied level design.

For the studies, I had to move away from my hometown Gothenburg. Leave family and friends. This was hard, but also somewhat easy.. because I knew my priorities from the moment that I knew that I could work as a level designer. And looking back on it all.. it's like life was asking me; "Do you really want this?"

And yes.. I did want it. Where there was confusing, was now clarity. Life just was. There was no sense of time. I immersed myself fully in the world of level design. Flowing through the level design education, soaking up knowledge.. both practical and theoretical. And a couple of months before the end of the education, I sent an application for a level design position at Grin for their newly opened Gothenburg office.. and got accepted!

..so I could move back home and do so truly feeling at home.