Reclaim (Valorant/CSGO Style Map)

Reclaim is a Valorant/CSGO style map set in ancient ruins that are being taken over by futuristic researchers. It’s a new take on the classic two bombsite map with attackers and defenders. It features two way teleporters, rising platforms, opening doors, and usable ladders. The map was designed around a modular player base ranging from 3vs3, 4vs4, and 5vs5.

For this project I designed the level layout, blocked out the level, modeled 3D assets, laid out UVs, created ID maps, made textures for each asset, implemented all assets and textures in engine, and added blueprint functionality for core game mechanics. This was a fun project and it was nice to go through each of the steps following industry standard practices. All in all, I really enjoyed making Reclaim and I look forward to making more things like this in the future.

For Level design I took inspiration for both CSG0, Valorant, and some aspects of 3 lane maps from Call of Duty. The main challenge was designating and timing out choke points to make sure each side gets to positions at the same time. Aside from that my design came very naturally to me due to my experience being a volunteer gameplay and level designer for team based maps.

Having a mid rotation route and teleporters at the middle of the map on each side created map mobility and unique ways to take and defend sites. Rising platforms were an idea I had based off of the map Lotus in Valorant. Having unique map assets on each side that both teams run into early on can create fun gameplay and interesting ways to use the environment. The attacker rising platform acts as a stair for a higher up platform and as an elevator to the 2nd story of attacker spawn. The defender rising platform acts as a temporary wall and elevator to the defender balcony platform.

For 3D modeling I planned out my assets very clearly in an excel document and modeled them from my exported Unreal Engine 5 blockouts so that my scale was exact. From there I detailed the model, created both UV and ID maps, and then made textures for them using Substance Painter, Substance Designer, and Substance Sampler. This process did take a while for my assets, but it made importing them in engine very easy and organized. Textile density is very important to me and I made sure that my assets all worked together well and made optimum use of all texture files.

For blueprinting I got my core mechanics made early in the blockout stage so that I could model based off of it. I did research into new areas and had fun solving issues that came up. Making a working ladder and two way teleporters are examples of this and I'm really happy with how they came out.

All in all, I loved this project and I had a blast designing and creating Reclaim. I always wanted to work more in Unreal Engine 5 and making a unique map for a style of game that I love was great. Working under deadlines and with industry standard workflows helped me further refine my skills and I can't wait to work more on projects like this.