Jacobo Luengo's Game Design Portfolio: American Arcadia

Out of the Blue Games

PC

Description:

Welcome to Arcadia! A 70’s retro-futuristic metropolis where all its citizens enjoy a life of luxury and comfort. But what the citizens of Arcadia don't suspect is that they are playing a role in American Arcadia, a television show broadcast live 24/7, that has been on the air for decades.

American Arcadia is a cinematic puzzle game that combines a 2.5D platformer and first-person game to tell the tale of a thrilling escape. Experience the extraordinary story of Trevor, an average man escaping from the world's most popular reality tv show.

Two Experiences in One Game. Control two different characters in two different worlds with unique gameplay. Play as Trevor and flee Arcadia in a 2.5D puzzle-platformer while exploring and hacking in first-person to help him as Angela. Work together to overcome the powerful corporation trying to take you down.
Escape a ‘70s Televised Utopia. Experience a gripping new adventure crafted with all the trademark polish, artistry and mystery from the studio behind the award-winning Call of the Sea. Discover a rich story and characters set in the world’s most dangerous reality TV show and filled with twists, turns, and lies at every turn.
Vibrant Characters & Performances. The incomparable voice talents of Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel’s Spider-Man series, Prince of Persia series, Call of the Sea), Krizia Bajos (Cyberpunk 2077, League of Legends, Star Trek: Resurgence), and Cissy Jones (Firewatch, Starfield, Call of the Sea) breathe life into the world and characters of American Arcadia.

My role:

Game Designer

Level Designer

I was part of the team in charge of designing game features, content, gameplay and levels. Starting from a given initial idea, I worked on the complete development process of the game including pre-production, documentation, implementation and fine tuning until the final product was released. During the development, I worked together with director, programming and art teams as well as my design team coworkers.

As game designer, my tasks were mainly focused on designing and adjusting gameplay (both 2.5D and First Person) including main characters controls, actions, interactions with the environment, moveset, platforming and systems. I was also responsible for adjusting puzzles and situations concerning gameplay, such as pursuits, stealth, timed events and CCTV interactions that affects devices, environment and enemies, following the vision of both the director and lead designer.

I also worked with programming and animation team on designing, implementing and adjusting different enemies and NPCs. This includes working on AIs of humans, robots and vehicles.

Regarding level design, I worked on all levels of the game. Due to the dynamic development process we followed, I designed the layouts and made blockouts of several levels from scratch, while also assisted my team mates in levels they designed but lately required changes and adjustments.

Finally, I worked on in-game logic, game flow, progression, streaming areas, collisions, checkpoints, cameras, persistence, events and achievements. These tasks were mainly made using Unreal Engine 5 native tools such as blueprints, sequencer and enumerator editor.