ENGINE: Unity 2022 | Maya 2025
GENRE: Arcade Racer
ROLE: Level Designer
RELEASE DATE: February 3, 2025
This original 3-lap racing circuit, created using an arcade racer asset kit through a Maya-to-Unity pipeline, takes place in a beautiful coastal highway setting, set against the warm glow of the setting sun. Players speed through a cozy beach town, swerve past a lighthouse overlooking the ocean, drive up a highway tunnel and carefully navigate sharp turns along the highway, narrowly avoiding fallen rocks. The circuit concludes with an exhilerating launch off a steep canyon drop, before arriving back at the start of the lap. Players must use quick reflexes and driving skills to complete the laps in the fastest time possible — If they are skilled enough, a hidden offroad shortcut can shave off precious seconds.
A video playthrough of the complete three-lap racing circuit.
RESPONSIBILITIES
•Designed a modular track layout within a Maya-to-Unity pipeline, ensuring efficient iteration utilizing both tools.
•Implemented action-awareness principles to optimize track readability, providing players with clear visual cues and reaction time for each turn.
•Understood fast-moving control metrics to structure the track around high-speed gameplay and precise vehicle handling.
•Develop three unique paths through the racetrack:
◦ Main Path – A winding road through a beach town and through an elevated coastal highway, balancing speed with scenic immersion.
◦ Shortcut Path – A risky detour along a narrow cliff edge, with an exciting jump over a gap, that shaves off a few seconds on the lap.
◦ Failure Path – An off-road route reconnecting to the main path if you fall from the shortcut.
•Modeled custom environmental assets, such as lighthouses, street lamps and road signs, to enhance player immersion in the setting.
•Integrated environmental scene lighting to establish atmosphere in the track.
Top-down view of finalized racetrack layout.
DESIGN PROCESS
Greyboxing
•Established track metrics using arcade racing controller to understand spatial requirements needed for flow and readability for a fast-moving character.
•Determined that a minimum of 5 track segments between between maneuvers was needed to enhance readability and action-awareness time.
•Designed an initial track layout that ran along the shoreline, before an elevated cliffside section. First iteration was deemed too linear, with too many many sharp turns that disrupted flow and engagement.
Iteration & Refinement
•Initially, the shortcut and failure path reconnected with the main path at the same point, making their time differences negligible. To fix this, I added walls along the track with clear re-entry points for each path.
•Adjusted the shortcut path to increase risk -- Added a required jump which, if missed, forces the player onto the failure path instead.
•Differentiated failure/shortcut paths with stronger colour contrast and signage for better readability.
•Realigned the shortcut and failure paths for smoother re-entry to the main path, rather than sharp, abrupt angles.
•Track pacing was adjusted to have a gradual difficulty curve, with downbeats strategically placed to balance flow.
•Slopes and turning angles were tuned based on player feedback to create a smoother handling.
•Shortened the highway tunnel section, allocating more track space towards engaging turns and challenges, and ensuring the final jump is smoother to execute due to lower elevation.
Original track layout. Deemed too straightforward.
