Safehouse Level Art — Environment Art Study

A personal project exploring level art and environmental storytelling within a retro-futuristic western/cyberpunk dystopia setting.

The scene depicts a makeshift hideout built by a lone hacker inside the ruins of an old building — part school, part abandoned public office — repurposed into a hidden operations hub. The layout guides the player through three connected spaces: a worn entry stairwell/hall, a narrow transitional corridor, and the main safehouse chamber, each reinforcing the sense of isolation and improvised survival.

Design focus was on readable player pathing, environmental storytelling through prop placement and lighting, and a cohesive retro-tech aesthetic built from modular assets. Materials were kept intentionally limited and reused/instanced across surfaces to maintain visual consistency while keeping the scene light and performant. Lighting was tuned to reinforce mood — flickering makeshift rigs, cold monitor glow, and dim ambient light bleeding through broken windows — while staying mindful of real-time performance.

Built strictly using assets from five FAB asset packs (no custom-modeled or sculpted geometry):

fab.com/listings/a29147fa-a931-44ab-9870-4573988b8245
fab.com/listings/1d9edbd4-9869-4f4b-9242-8fcfec52c43d
fab.com/listings/d825ff9c-77da-45a4-9619-c989e6dfdda6
fab.com/listings/a0c7819e-a61d-4a19-8d3b-f0f5e584e6e0
fab.com/s/4c6acffa7b10

Engine: Unreal Engine 5.7 (First Person Template).