The Forest
An atmospheric exploration level inspired by survival horror, built entirely in Unreal Engine 5. Designed to evoke suspense through environmental storytelling and spatial pacing, this project is a personal tribute to my love for narrative-driven horror experiences.
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Screen Gallery: A glimpse into atmospheric layout
Gameplay video
Design breakdown
The following section outlines the design logic behind the level’s pacing, tone, and worldbuilding
Narrative Overview
1. Awakening: Major D regains consciousness in a muddy ditch beside a lifeless body, the night has fallen, the forest watching in silence.
2. Discovery: At a nearby campsite, evidence of massacre deepens his confusion, a wedding ring, blood.
3. Descent: The forest is watching, dead bodies scattered, cabins in the wood, an old footage reveals his own complicity.
4. Revelation: A facility, more questions, experiments, one survived and it remembers.
5. Escape: Hunted, he must confront his guilt and find a way out before the darkness closes in.
Design Pillars - the how
Environmental storytelling that guides and unsettles.
Gradual tension through exploration and rhythm.
Player vulnerability as empathy, not weakness.
Nature as presence, not scenery.
First-person perspective for intimacy and immediacy.
Shaped with Core Mechanics such as:
Walk, Jump, Crouch, Climb, Vault, sprint, Interact and Inspect. Stealth and hide considered.
Location Flow
Forest Camp: Opening sequence; isolation and confusion.
River Checkpoint: Environmental obstacles and transitional pacing.
Deep Forest: Heightened tension and evidence of unnatural presence.
Facility: Shift to claustrophobic horror and moral revelation.
Basement: Final descent and confrontation with the experiment.
Experience Goals - what it feels like
The player should feel watched by the world itself among other things
Calm moments should never feel safe; stillness should hold its breath.
Curiosity should fight with dread, drawing the player deeper into discomfort.
Every new discovery should carry the weight of intrusion.
By the end, fear should feel earned as a recognition of what was always there.
Forest Mood board
The forest is an antagonist that watches the player, reminder of how vulnerable we can be facing nature
Emotional direction - the why
These goals informed how atmosphere, pacing, and interaction were directed to sustain tension and emotional presence throughout the experience.
The forest was designed to breathe and to suffocate, to watch.
Sounds and ambience tests the player’s sense of control.
Thunder punctuates silence, amplifying the tension between safety and exposure.
Each interaction is paced to build curiosity and unease.
Scripted moments create pressure, shaping emotional distress rather than spectacle.
Level mechanics reinforce rhythm and restraint, grounding each reveal in player tension.
Environment hazards pace exploration and flow.
The environment itself acts as a storyteller, echoing fear, resolve, and uncertainty.
Rough Sketches and brainstorm chart
Rough sketches
From Emotion to Form
Initial sketches and brainstorm maps explored how fear, guilt, and tension could manifest spatially navigating the balance between safety and anxiety.
Eye-catchers and compositional lines were used to guide the player’s movement, shaping the level’s rhythm as isolation shifted into discovery or constrained space, mirroring the player’s emotional descent.
What began as atmosphere and tone evolved into a structured flow of tension, release, and revelation.
Brainstorm chart
From Horror To Horror - a philosophy of caution
Research led me to the documented atrocities and human experiments of wartime. These were incorporated thoughtfully, not to sensationalize suffering, but to inform the narrative design with a sense of moral unease and authenticity.
The goal was to root the horror experience in human truth, ensuring that fear served reflection rather than spectacle. It also questioned the player’s role, how far can one go, and what does it mean to actively witness horror?
The player becomes both an observer and a constrained participant, mirroring the tension of those subjected to forces beyond their control.
Layout and blockout inspiration
Switzerland - Colombia - Japan
Grounding the environment in a realistic architectural foundation is something I always care about in the process. The chalet setup introduced a sense of descent anchored in verticality. The forest brought cramped space, more crawling, and a sympathetic claustrophobia. The facility, drawn from a real structure, added a layer of credibility that deepened immersion and supported themes of pursuit and isolation. The river symbolises a threshold, a point of no return.
Maps: high level and scale
Each space was planned to preserve narrative pacing while ensuring strong visual anchors and navigational clarity. Scale testing in-engine confirmed tension peaks and pacing flow.
Mission Beat chart & intentions
The level’s emotional flow was broken into distinct beats to manage pacing and tension.
Beat2: Camp site
The player awakens disoriented, surrounded by darkness and confusion.
Pacing begins with slow exploration and low visibility, reinforcing vulnerability.
Discovery moments ease tension briefly before it returns through environmental unease and early scripted scares.
Emotional intent: confusion, isolation, curiosity under pressure..
Beat 2 – Forest
Dense vegetation obscures visibility and direction.
Exploration becomes tense and claustrophobic as the forest’s presence grows oppressive.
Each step feels watched; natural obstacles shape pacing and line-of-sight tension.
A key discovery anchors the player’s sense of purpose amid growing fear.
Emotional intent: apprehension, disorientation, unease
Beat 3 – Facility
A deceptive calm welcomes the player, a false sense of safety.
Audio cues and environmental storytelling maintain dread even as navigation opens up.
Threats return through movement and sound, heightening pressure to escape.
Descent into the basement merges fear and revelation, concluding the emotional arc.
Emotional intent: danger, vulnerability, psychological degradation.
some content was cut due to repetition for a flow adjustment that strengthens the wanted experience
