Concept and Initial Design

My first assignment is to design an area for a level in a game, to be run on a mobile device. I have chosen to design and build a kitchen in a hotel as I think this type of environment features lots of props and assets which can be made in a modular way and replicated throughout the level (e.g. ovens, gas hobs, pots and pans).

I was immediately drawn to this idea because I want to create an interesting, atmospheric level from what is typically a stark, cold and clinical setting. Industrial grade stainless steel surfaces and appliances, tiled walls and flooring and florescent tube lighting are ubiquitous in hotel and restaurant kitchens and add to this atmosphere. I will have to use some artistic licence to make the kitchen more inviting, such as by making the lights warmer or using the gas hobs and food heat lamps to add a warm glow and suggest that this kitchen is in use and ‘lived in’.

The level will be set in the early 1980’s, mainly because my main inspiration for this level is the kitchen in the 1980 movie “The Shining”.

The kitchen in The Shining also features a pantry and freezer room, memorable because it was used to incarcerate the central character, Jack: