Whale Fall is an Unreal 5 level design project I worked on for a month full-time. It's a blockout where I used typical AAA mechanics like climbing and shooting to create a gameplay sequence supported by a narrative.
The project takes place on a broken oil rig. You, as a player, get to be the first to explore it and find out what happened.
The project is done with the help of ALS (Advanced Locomotion System) created by Jakub W. It contains enemy AI logic, traversal mechanics, shooting, and more. Please be sure to check them out here.
Team: 1 person Tools: Unreal 5, Draw.io Roles: Design, Research, Testing Duration: ~1 Month
Gameplay
Design
Level Flowchart
1. Climbing up the anodes
2. Jumping to the container using the rope
4. Discover that the staff is killed
5. Jump over towards the helipad
6. Discover the portable laboratory
7. Enter engineering, fix the broken pipe
9. Get past the guarded area
3. Entering Accomodations, moving furniture away to progress
8. Climb around administration without getting noticed
10. Enter communications, find a zipline to move across
11. Enter drill control, open the trapdoor
12. Go down the drill, use the rope to jump to the platforms
13. Reach the large metal door, lift it up
14. Find the whale
Research
There were some things I paid attention to before I designed the space:
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Oil rigs are cramped with machinery and equipment, preserving the already limited space.
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Oil extraction is a complex process, where oil itself is only a part of it. The gas that often comes with it must also go somewhere, along with the dug-up dirt. The crew needs to be accommodated. Supplies need to be delivered. For the rig to look convincing, it has to resemble that system to some extent.
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The rigs come in different shapes and sizes. Some are mounted to the sea floor, and others float and balance themselves with water tanks. Making that choice early ended up being significant for the narrative.
For references, I looked at 3D models of rigs I found online on TurboSquid. More practical information can be found on YouTube, detailing the processes that run on an oil rig. As expected, the game Still Wakes the Deep was of help to this project, though its genre and playtime shaped its environment in a way I couldn't have benefited from in my project.
Development
1. The Structure
I planned to have some narrative in the game, so I started by outlining the general sequence of events. I intended for the gameplay to be mostly outdoors which is why, in this iteration, I mainly focused on the look of the environment. My initial attempts looked more like a city landscape rather than an oil platform but with more elements added, the space started to feel more cramped. For real rigs, free space is a luxury, which is something I wanted to show in my game too.
I designed the rig to be traversable only by two-thirds since making the player walk a full circle isn't exactly realistic.
2. The Details
At this point, I started to fill the insides of the buildings. Besides referencing the actual facilities that can exist on the rig, I paid attention to how each section feels. I realized that the buildings need to be smaller than they were initially planned to be since they have to feel right for the player. The ceiling got lowered and small rooms got even smaller. The game was intended to be linear, which allowed for the rig's base to be also reduced, following the shape of the buildings. Another way to make the rig look more authentic.
3. The Final Result
While playtesting, I finished the drilling section and added decorations to the roofs of buildings, despite them not being traversable in the game. I then added lights that made the rig look nice from afar but also helped the player navigate the space. I also finished scripting the enemies and objects, as well as implemented a GIF of a whale's eye for the end part. After playtesting, it turned out some sections needed major redesigning which was related to the capabilities of the enemy AI, the tools I worked with, and players' engagement with the game (more about which in Playtesting).
Playtesting
First Sketch
Before
After
First Sketch
Before
AI and weapon behavior heavily influenced this area. I stuck with the preset system of ALS, where enemies were less forgiving and aimed for headshots, which initially frustrated players who rushed forward without exploring options. To fix this, I made these options more apparent and added a cover near the lifeboat to guide players more clearly while keeping the combat challenging.
I also moved the building at the bottom back to improve enemy AI response - now, if players aren’t cautious, three more enemies will start searching for them.
The Shooting Area
The Engineering contains a simple puzzle - the final door is obstructed by steam that comes out of a broken pipe and it can be removed by turning the valve. Since it's the only reason the building exists, I focused a lot on what it contains and the player's path - mainly finding ways to block the player's view and motivate them to engage with the environment. The result was the player discovering the solution before the problem - which misses the entire point of a puzzle. For that reason, I changed some things around: the valve is moved to the room players tend to visit last and the path to the final door is changed.
The Engineering
After
Conclusion
Looking back, there are several things I would approach differently now:
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The puzzles often felt like roadblocks due to their structure — players had to first find the challenge, then its solution. While this works in highly immersive games with little guidance, it creates friction in Whale Fall. A better approach for a project of this scope would have been to follow Peter Field’s example, where the challenge’s introduction naturally leads the player to discover the solution. This provides clearer guidance and prevents players from solving puzzles out of order.
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The whale revealed at the end lacked presence throughout the game. While story bits hinted at it, I would now try to express the whale through gameplay — for instance, using subtle effects like camera shakes, rocking animations, or sound cues to build tension. With more resources, these moments could even become interactive puzzle sequences (e.g., stabilizing the rig), making the concept feel more integrated and dynamic.