SNOW - Poppermost Productions
I joined Poppermost Productions as the first dedicated Level Designer on SNOW, an open-world snowboarding and skiing game.
Before I joined, a technical artist had placed assets in the world to set the visual style, but nobody had worked on the gameplay side of the levels yet. My job was to figure out what made SNOW fun to ride, and to design areas that supported different riding styles while teaching players the core mechanics through the terrain.
My Role
Position: Level Designer (first hire in the role)
Platform: PC (Steam), PS4
Engine: CryEngine 3
Duration: January 2014 – May 2016
My responsibilities included:
- Setting up how we approached level design on the game
- Designing and building over a dozen areas across the open world
- Creating the workflows and documentation for building areas
- Implementing the in-game events and goals across the world
- Balancing difficulty and flow between the different areas
Different Areas for Different Riding Styles
Early on, I set up the idea that each area should be built around a riding style:
- Trick areas with rails, gaps, and freestyle features
- Speed areas with long sight lines and terrain built for flow
- Technical areas with tight spaces that need precise control
This let players find the style they liked, while still giving them a reason to try the others.
Featured Areas
The Shrine
The Shrine is a tight, technical area built around turning and control. It was meant to challenge new players and teach them to brake, while giving better players a riskier way down.
If you tried to go through at full speed, you would hit the rocks or go off a cliff. To get through cleanly, you had to control your speed, read the terrain ahead, and pick your line around the rocks.
Eastwater River
Eastwater River is a trick-focused run with rails and jumps crossing a mountain river.
The river runs down the middle of the area and gives players a clear direction, with a lot of optional tricks along the way. You could ride safely down either bank, or try rail-to-rail transfers across the water if you wanted more of a challenge.
Eastwater Village
Eastwater Village is the town area, made for technical tricks and rail combos, and a change of pace from the mountain areas.
I worked closely with the art team so that the buildings, fences, and other structures could be ridden. I placed the rails and ledges so players could link tricks together, while still keeping the village believable as a place.
Eastwater Quarry
Eastwater Quarry is a speed-focused downhill area with big elevation changes, meant to teach players to balance speed, turning, and braking.
It has long sight lines that reward going fast, but also tight gaps and sudden turns along the way, so going full speed without control would not get you far. The quarry is built on several tiers, which gave players routes of different difficulty.
Other Areas
I also designed:
- Eastwater Forest - natural terrain for carving
- Bluebird Resort - a hub area connecting several other areas
- Tolv - a technical descent with natural obstacles
- Oleanders Vineyard - a mid-difficulty area with scenic routes
- Moshpit Restaurant - an urban trick spot
- The Piste - groomed runs for beginners
- Plane Crash - an exploration area with hidden lines
- Observatory - a high-altitude starting point
- The Wave - a natural halfpipe
Looking Back
A big thing I took away from SNOW was designing areas around how people like to ride. Some players wanted big jumps, some wanted technical tricks, and some just wanted to carve down the slopes, so it made sense to give each of them places built for that.
Being the first level designer on the project also meant that the workflows, documentation, and design principles I set up in the first few months shaped how I worked for the rest of my time there.