Return to Ashfall
A Dishonored-inspired first-person stealth experience.
About the project
With this piece, I wanted to showcase my fundamental understanding of various level design techniques and how to apply them in a game level. In parallel, I also designed a gameplay experience to a refined prototype state, incorporating sneaking, combat, basic AI scripting, and an interaction system.
This piece also features elements of compositional reveals and environmental storytelling, though these were never the primary focus of the project. I've worked iteratively on this piece, starting from a rough concept in a player gym to a refined blockout. Through playtesting and feedback from fellow students, I reworked certain areas to make stealth more approachable and more satisfying than direct combat.
Scope
The scope of the experience was to establish a basic narrative setting inspired by the Dishonored games and to design a map layout that empowered player agency through different playstyles and routes.
Players are rewarded with interesting or advantageous vantage points over the AI when exploring and avoiding the most direct route.
In homage to Arkane Studios' Dishonored, I also tailored many of the optional routes to fit one of three playstyles:
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Non-lethal stealth
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lethal stealth
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Combat
Assets & Animations
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Unreal Engine First Person Template for the mannequin FPS arms
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Custom AI animations from Mixamo.com
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Polyart Studios - Dreamscape: Tower for foliage assets
All other blockout and refined assets are made by me in blender.
Narrative
-"After receiving a troubling letter, you return to Ashfall to find the city under the control of a rogue faction, excavating its rare red dust to fund foreign powers. Ambushed upon arrival, you must navigate sewer tunnels, alleyways, and castle courtyards to reach the castle and help reclaim the city before it falls for good."
Spline Tools
I created a spline tool script to streamline the placing of repetitive meshes like fences, pipes and rails. The script is dynamic and changes spline point depending on the meshes length and bounding box. Another upside to using splines is that you move other actors and objects along its path, like I'm doing with the cart.
Climbing
One of the most central aspects of what makes the Dishonored games fun is the player's traversal mechanics. You can climb, jump, and teleport like a super assassin. I chose not to implement Dishonored’s teleportation abilities but instead focused on confining the player to climbing onto objects, double jumping, and vaulting through cramped spaces.
The climbing system uses line traces to determine if the surface you're trying to climb on top of is high enough, and to determine if the slope angle is realisic for the character to step upon. Lastly, a capsule collider determines if the player would fit or not on top of the object.
Vaulting
Building upon the climbing system, I also wanted the player to have the ability to open and climb through windows and cramped spaces.
This system works similarly tough with a linetrace from the foot to determine if the player is standing infront of a wall, then when pressing SPACEBAR
determines if the area in front of the player is blocked or not, lastly, a capsule collider is checking if there is enough space on the other side.
I struggled quite a bit with concepting Ashfall Castle.
I knew I wanted the building to have an architecturally interesting design with a unique silhouette that aligned with the setting and story of Return to Ashfall. My original inspiration for the castle was the High Overseer's Office from Dishonored, but with a more royal flair.
After struggling to come up with a solid concept for a while, I enlisted the help of my dear friend and talented concept artist, Johan Haubo. After explaining the premise of the area and my vision for it, he got back to me with some really cool concepts, which I later modeled in Blender.
Johan is an incredibly talented artist, and you can find more of his work on his ArtStation page here.
Thanks for reading!
The main goal of Return to Ashfall was always to deliver an immersive, Dishonored-styled stealth experience with solid fundamental level design principles.
Looking back, I realize this vision could have been communicated even more clearly, especially in the introduction area, which I iterated on multiple times.
For instance, the beach originally wrapped around the entire cliff. However, after deciding to introduce the knife as an interactive pickup, I saw an opportunity to naturally guide the player in a 180-degree turn toward the stairs leading up to what eventually became the assassination onboarding. Initially, these stairs were meant as an optional path, but this change helped streamline the level flow.
Another challenge with the beach layout was the reveal of the castle. Due to the sloped angle from the beach to the elevated King’s Station, it was difficult to frame the view properly. Adjusting the approach helped improve the visual impact of this key moment.
Mental map & Orientation
The sewer's twists and turns can be disorienting, so I use a gas leak visible through bars to foreshadow a later section and reinforce the player's mental map. This helps the player stay oriented and prevents them from feeling lost.
Funnel before reveal
Before the fan room, I use the funnel before reveal technique to emphezise the wow moment of the large room. A scripted sequence introduces a guard, starting the combat tutorial where players learn to parry and fight. The collapsed walkway also teaches sprinting and double jumping
Bait & switch
As the player progresses to the second sewer section, a group of guards can be seen entering the tunnel right in front of the player. I've designed the event to be surprising, putting pressure on the player to make a decision weather to fight the guards or try to sneak around them.
Act II - The Sewers
Hoover above the yellow dots to learn more!
The sewer section introduces key gameplay mechanics while reinforcing the narrative. It acts as an early tutorial where players learn combat and sprinting in a tense, enclosed environment.I wanted to guide the player using environmental storytelling and intuitive pathing. The sewers offer an unconventional way into the city, disorienting the player and emphasizing the tension of sneaking in through its most unwelcoming parts. Emerging from the sewers contrasts the dim tunnels with the brighter city outskirts, reinforcing the player's journey toward the castle. This section also experiments with pacin, building tension in confined spaces before opening up to larger areas
Overall, the sewer section serves as both a narrative and mechanical bridge, preparing the player for the challenges ahead.
Team Size
Solo Project
Development Time
I worked on this project for 6 weeks
on half speed parallell with other courses.
Tools
Unreal Engine 5.5
First Person Template
Blender 4.0
Focus
First Person
Stealth & Combat
Empowering Player Agency
Refined Blockout
Scripts
Custom Traversal Movement
Behaviour Trees AI
Interaction System
Basic Combat system
About the area
The Customs Office servers as a pre - area to the actual point of interest in ACT III, which is the Ashfall Exchange. When designing the area, knew I wanted to open up the area and present multiple paths for the player to choose from, since the player just come out of the Sewers which was a very linear part, only opening up at the end of the act. The player can choose to go through either the side street or through the actual office building, with supporting elements that elevates the gameplay they choose to pursue.
Framing & focal point
Here I'm establishing the balcony as the goal of this part of the level. I'm doing this using contrasting lights and visual hierarchy to make the throne balcony pop against the silhouette of the castle, making it a focal point. I'm also using a framing technique by guiding the player's direction towards this compositional reveal using the large station doors.
Affordances & player guidance.
Throughout the level, I've introduced different kinds of affordances to the player to guide them where they can climb,. jump, or progress in the level. Vines, bird poop and pipes all work together to guide the player, preventing disorientation and irritation.
An important note on affordances that I've learned is that you have to be consistent, avoiding the use of the same type of signposting for areas that are not meant to be explored or traversed.
Rewarding exploration
I always try to encourage player exploration with new and interesting locations. Many of the routes are optional, but when discovered, they offer a new perspective on gameplay and narrative.
Multiple paths & verticality
When the player reaches the outside of Ashfall Exchange, they can choose from different ways into the station, some of which are more hidden than others and presents different kinds of gameplay whilst inside the building.
Environmental Storytelling
In the station, I've added nuggets of environmental storytelling to immerse players and hint at its history. Through props, worn statues and furniture, players can uncover past events while subtly being guided troughs the station.
Pacing
The cart ride is a key moment I've been building towards since the foreshadowing introduction at the beach. It provide a brief decompression before the castle's grand finale while revealing how the guards transports the mysterious red dust to the castle courtyard, tying the narrative together.
Reveal of Asfall Exchange
As soon as the player enters The Customs area, they get a reveal of Ashfall Exchange, reinforcing that this is their goal destination in this area.
To emphasize this reveal and ensure the player doesn't miss it, I funnel the player's direction with crates toward the station's billboard while framing the billboard with two closer buildings. I also designed the slanting roof of the yellow building to act as a leading line towards the exchange.
Player Agency
As mentioned earlier, I emphasize player choice by offering multiple paths to progress.
After rounding the crates, the player sees a window with a point light as one possible route or a backstreet patrolled by a guard, accessible either on the ground or by parkouring over the archway and balcony.
Supporting Gameplay
I believe that tailoring gameplay to the player's choices is crucial for a good experience. For example, if the player sneaks into the office building, they'll be rewarded with a tempting stealth kill and a hidden route they hadn't discovered before.
Act I - Intro: The Beach
Hoover above the yellow dots to learn more.
For Ashfall Exchange, I took a lot of inspiration from Addermire Station from Dishonored 2. It serves as a binding point for the narrative, where guards can be seen shoveling and packaging the red dust which laters goes on to cartes bound for King's Station. I've tried to emphasize verticality trough hanging chandeliers in the roof of the buidling, but also present alternative routs on the ground. This is also where the player gets to ride one of the carts back through the level, completing the foreshadowing section we saw ealier.
Act III - The Customs Office
Act II - The Sewers
Hoover above the yellow dots to learn more!
The sewer section introduces key gameplay mechanics while reinforcing the narrative. It acts as an early tutorial where players learn combat and sprinting in a tense, enclosed environment.I wanted to guide the player using environmental storytelling and intuitive pathing. The sewers offer an unconventional way into the city, disorienting the player and emphasizing the tension of sneaking in through its most unwelcoming parts. Emerging from the sewers contrasts the dim tunnels with the brighter city outskirts, reinforcing the player's journey toward the castle. This section also experiments with pacin, building tension in confined spaces before opening up to larger areas
Overall, the sewer section serves as both a narrative and mechanical bridge, preparing the player for the challenges ahead.
Act III - Ashfall Exchange
Non-Lethal Stealth
Lethal Stealth
Combat Route
The Customs Office servers as a pre - area to the actual point of interest in ACT III, which is the Ashfall Exchange. When designing the area, knew I wanted to open up the area and present multiple paths for the player to choose from, since the player just come out of the Sewers which was a very linear part, only opening up at the end of the act. The player can choose to go through either the side street or through the actual office building, with supporting elements that elevates the gameplay they choose to pursue.
About the area
The King's Station and The Castle courtyard represents the culmination of all the design techniques I've employed throughout the level. This section expands into a more open, sandbox-style environment, allowing players to explore multiple routes and approaches. It serves as a testing ground for the player, where they can apply all the mechanics introduced earlier in the game. As the most heavily guarded area, it also presents the greatest challenge, following the traditional tension graph in level design pacing, with the highest intensity just before the conclusion
About the area
For Ashfall Exchange, I took a lot of inspiration from Addermire Station from Dishonored 2. It serves as a binding point for the narrative, where guards can be seen shoveling and packaging the red dust which laters goes on to cartes bound for King's Station. I've tried to emphasize verticality trough hanging chandeliers in the roof of the buidling, but also present alternative routs on the ground. This is also where the player gets to ride one of the carts back through the level, completing the foreshadowing section we saw ealier.
Act IV - King's Station & Castle Courtyard
Non-Lethal Stealth
Lethal Stealth
Combat Route
The grand finale
The King's Station and The Castle courtyard represents the culmination of all the design techniques I've employed throughout the level. This section expands into a more open, sandbox-style environment, allowing players to explore multiple routes and approaches. It serves as a testing ground for the player, where they can apply all the mechanics introduced earlier in the game. As the most heavily guarded area, it also presents the greatest challenge, following the traditional tension graph in level design pacing, with the highest intensity just before the conclusion
Blueprints & scripts
The beach area
Struggles with AI
Reflections
Ashfall Castle
A key question my teacher raised to me concerning AI was:
-"What does the AI do when you climb on top of objects where they can’t pathfind?"
In Dishonored, guards check for a valid path, and if they see the player but can't reach them, they switch to ranged attacks. I began implementing this behavior in the AI’s behaviour tree, but due to time constraints and other priorities, I had to cut the feature. If I had more time, I would definitely revisit this, as it currently creates an immersion-breaking exploit, allowing players to stay completely safe just by standing on a crate. (How did these guys manage to take over a city?)
There are countless other aspects I could discuss, like the difficulty of lighting a night scene inside a underground sewer system or the challenge of maintaining meaningful narrative beats after cutting the intro cinematic. Each decision shaped the final experience in ways I didn’t anticipate at first.
Overall, I’m pleased with how Return to Ashfall turned out. While there's always room for improvement, I believe I achieved the majority of my goals I set out to do.
The Rouge Guards
I created a simple AI using behavior trees that can react to the player, search for the last known location, patrol paths, and use custom states like holding a torch, drawing a sword, performing attack animations, and more. The AI only detects the player when they are in front or below them, allowing the player to sneak above the AI without being spotted. Additionally, AIs can be assassinated if they are not engaged and the player strikes a hitbox on their back.
