Hometown

The first map I designed for the Last of Us completely on my own. During this time I was working as the particle effect artist on all the multiplayer maps and worked on the functionality features on the design side. But Hometown was the first map where I was completely on my own regarding layout and design.

At this time all of the TLOU maps had a very rectangular shape in their overall design and flow, an unintentional side effect of the “front” style gameplay and short development time (competitive multiplayer had about seven months total. Don’t ask me how we did it).

With Hometown, I wanted the overall shape to be square, and have a more arena style flow, while still maintaining the “front style” gameplay. Since I was also the FXs artist on the map, I brought that into the landmarking early on by turning one corner of the map into a towering inferno.