Mafia: Definitive Edition
Associate level designer
Main Mission: Election Campaign
Election Campaign is a non-linear, prison-based mission emphasizing exploration, atmosphere, and narrative immersion. I I participated from pre‑production through shipping, collaborating on flow, pacing, encounters, narrative and environmental storytelling using Hangar 13’s proprietary Fusion engine. The mission was designed to guide players through layered spaces using environmental cues evoking a sense of disorientation and unease, reinforced by a surreal and oppressive NPC presence and carefully crafted off-screen soundscape.
Design responsibilities and process:
Drew inspiration from the original game and the prison mission's atmosphere.
Conducted research on prison spaces and architectural layouts to support architectual authenticity.
Identified key prison zones to support narrative beats and exploration flow.
Created 2D maps and developed corresponding 3D layouts
Defined new mission flow and established the golden path following original game main objectives material.
Built whitebox adhering to game metrics.
Ensured white-box designs supported intended navigation flow, as discussed with the director.
Determined main locations for combat encounters and scripted NPC events to bring life to spaces.
Highlighted level design elements such as escape route.
Designed lever-based progression gates to subtly guide player movement and enhance spatial memory.
Placed side quests and collectibles to enhance exploration.
Level design:
Example:
Each room in the prison was designed with a distinct theme, carefully chosen based on environmental research and the intended player experience.
The layout intentionally alternates between claustrophobic corridors and open yards to control pacing and building tension through spatial compression, timed reveals and moments of surprise.
Example:
Players manipulate levers to unlock main progression as well as side content: cell doors, hidden dialogue, and collectibles. This encourages exploration and reveals layered narrative threads without breaking immersion, reinforcing the theme of a gated prison.
The prison has two states: before the police invasion and after. The state change modifies NPC presence and potential access to side content.
Key lesson:
Balancing non-linear exploration with narrative pacing required thoughtful layout design and creative techniques to help players absorb and retain spatial knowledge. During early testing, I observed a struggle to identify the critical path without sufficient visual or narrative cues. In response, I guided players using symbolic elements, reinforced directionality through a narrative NPC, and placed landmark props and enemy audio triggers to subtly draw attention and support orientation all without breaking immersion. Additionally, the lever-based gating system was implemented to encourage memory-based navigation and reinforce spatial learning.
Developed mission progression and objectives relfecting the new flow.
Proposed and created narrative and side content gameplay.
Designed and created NPCs, complete with backstories, personalities, and dialogues to amplify the bizarreness of the prison.
Created world interactions in collaboration with the world designer to bring specific scenarios to life increasing the prison’s possible exploration oddities.
Proposed and developed off-screen audio atmosphere in collaboration with the audio designer in order to create a unique creepy atmosphere creating tension.
Identified scripted sequences and defined level design modifiers to refine the experience of the mission exploration adding element of suprise.
Scripted mission gameplay, including progression, NPC behaviors, combat scenarios, and fail conditions.
Recorded gospel singing, collaborating with the sound designer, to incorporate into the mission, enhancing the narrative of a specific NPC.
Implemented mission easter egg with different conditions.
Polished combat encounter scripting and balanced combat intensity following the mission narrative to increase difficulty of encounters.
Mission design:
Media:
Screens and video:
The saint and the sinner:
I created the initial layout of the church and helped creating the level design of the rooftop in its early stages.
Screens and video below:
Bon Appetite:
I helped creating a longer experience for the mission Bon Appetite by extending the mission space, adding the back area of the resraturant and scripting the initial phase oe the encounter in the area
Walkthrough below