Starwatch City
Science Building
My section of Starwatch City features a two‑story science facility dedicated to planetary restoration and environmental monitoring. Its clean, futuristic architecture stands out against the neon‑lit skyline, creating a visually distinct sub‑area that blends interior lab spaces with an open courtyard. The courtyard serves as the highlight of the zone, housing a gazebo‑style King of the Hill location. To reinforce Starwatch City’s traversal‑focused design, I incorporated a jump pad for rapid vertical movement and a man cannon that launches players upward and forward across the map. Because this is a competitive 1v1v1v1 environment, players are never forced into my section — the design challenge was to make the space strategically valuable without being mandatory. The rotating King of the Hill point and traversal mechanics ensure that when players choose to approach the science building, they gain opportunities for control, mobility, and tactical advantage.
Game Play Video
Starwatch City is a vibrant futuristic hub filled with neon lights, towering architecture, and bustling trading outposts. As a member of the Interstellar Vanguard, your mission is to secure intel from rotating capture points throughout the city. Rival factions are racing to collect the same schematics, so players must attack and defend against opponents to gather as much intel as possible. The level is designed for fast, dynamic play, blending indoor and outdoor combat spaces, vertical routes, jump pads, and man cannons that launch players across the map. Every rotation pushes players to adapt, reposition, and fight for control.
White Box
Top Down Map
Level Flow
Players can enter the science building from a few different access points that represent a lab room with an internal staircase. Access through the back provides a direct route into the courtyard, creating a smooth transition between close‑quarters combat and open‑air engagements. When the King of the Hill point activates in the gazebo, the courtyard becomes the central combat arena. Players can have many options from here: Contest the point directly in the garden space. Flank through the building’s interior. Or use mechanics like the jump pad or man cannon to reposition rapidly.
Pre-production
Reference Images
Purpose
The science building needed to feel thematically aligned with planetary restoration research while still functioning as a fast paced, close combat zone within a neon‑lit futuristic city.
My design supports multiple playstyles by combining tight interior spaces, an open courtyard, and high‑mobility mechanics. The gazebo acts as a key point by serving as a king-of-the-hill location, a main objective to capture and defend by the players. The exposed man cannon and jump pad gives players choices in how they interact with the building and surrounding areas.
Post Mortem
The Science Building & Courtyard successfully delivered a combat space that supports Starwatch City’s competitive King of the Hill gameplay. The combination of an interior space, a visually distinct courtyard, and strong verticality created a varied combat rhythm that encouraged players to adapt their strategies to their play style.
The jump pad and man cannon proved effective in shaping player flow, offering fast and exciting movement options. The gazebo worked well as a focal objective, forcing players into tight spacing and building tension.
The main challenges involved tuning sightlines from street to the gazebo, and maintaining smooth transitions between indoors and outdoors.
Overall, this section met its goals of supporting dynamic play and contributing a memorable, visually distinct location to Starwatch City. Future improvements could explore additional cover options in the courtyard, more environmental storytelling inside the lab, and expanded tunnel routes for deeper flanking opportunities.