Custom Level: Isles of the

Azure Wing

Level Summary

Disclacimer

This project is a non-commercial fan-made prototype inspired by Albion Online. All rights to the original IP belong to Sandbox Interactive. Most assets are from Mixamo, TurboSquid, and Sketchfab.

A mid-game dungeon on corrupted floating islands, blending branching paths, hazards, and cinematic set pieces across six escalating segments, culminating in a storm-charged castle showdown.

Responsibilities

Fully designed a custom dungeon
Recreated Albion Online’s Archer Combat
Created Quest Systems, Modular Enemy Systems, NPC Systems, Boss Fights, …
Concepted, sketched, and entire experience in Level
Whiteboxed Level
Created fitting Assets
Implemented Sound and rough VFX’s

Details

Team Size: 1 (Solo Project)
Genre: Top-Down, Action/Adventure
Setting: Old flying Sky Island
Level Duration: 20-25 minutes
Role: Lead Level Designer, Programmer
Development Time: 6 Days
Engine: Unity Engine

Trailer

Solo dungeons in Albion Online are widely seen as boring and repetitive by the community.

Players often mention the lack of variety, same enemies, and poor rewards as reasons they avoid them.

Research

Forum discussions highlight key issues

Low replayability

Weak environmental storytelling
Little player agency or meaningful choices

Based on this feedback, I created my own dungeon prototype to explore

Stronger pacing

Improved narrative structure
More dynamic level design that keeps players engaged and encourages exploration

Recreation of Albion’s System

Combat System

Archer,melee, and spell mechanics (inspired by Albion’s classless system)

Custom AI for many enemy archetypes (ranged, melee, winged units, elementals, minibosses, bosses, ..)
Movement, Dodging, and combat animations
Placeholder VFX and interaction systems
Rapid iteration and clean, modular code structure

Quest & NPC Systems

Dialogue and quest triggers

Objective tracking with dungeon progression
Patroling, Idling, Following NPC Paths
Quest Rewards, Progression and UI display

Concepts

Level Flow

Design Motivation

Introduce self-contained stories within dungeons that deepen lore and build emotional weight with cutscenes/dialogue.

Structured to guide the player through a narrative arc using worldbuilding and environmental cues.

Narrative Dungeons

Albion’s gameplay loop intrigued me, but I saw space for deeper level-based storytelling, mechanical variety, and environmental discovery.
My goal wasn’t to critique the original design, but to build upon it, demonstrating how new dungeon archetypes might improve replayability, narrative clarity, and player mastery.

Dungeon Specific Mechanics

Each dungeon features a unique mechanic or modifier.

Alters how players move, fight, or solve spatial puzzles, ensuring every experience feels distinct.

Camera and Framing

Explored dynamic camera moments, zoom-ins, wide establishing shots, and angle shifts.

Creates visual variety and emotional beats, enhancing mood and elevating key set pieces.

Beat Descriptions

NPC Intro and First Quest

Goal: Introduce the player to the setting, stakes, and main dungeon objective while establishing their role as the savior figure
Design: Guided tour by NPC through small floating islands, using environmental storytelling to reveal the airborne location
Highlights:
- NPC storyteller sets tone and mission urgency
- Moving skybox and parallax backgrounds communicate flight
- Early vertical sightlines to create awe and spatial awareness
Narrative Beat: The call to save the Isles

The two Lighting Mages

Goal: Introduce a key-and-door mechanic with branching objectives that remove a magical barrier
Design: Two separate islands each housing a lightning mage; barrier visible early for clear objective framing
Highlights:
- Key-and-door structure with visual reinforcement of locked state
- Island-specific traversal challenges and quick-time event returns
- Lightning mage as unique enemy archetype with thematic attacks
Narrative Beat: Breaking the barrier’s hold

Courtyard and Enemies

Goal: Teach the player about environmental hazards and flying enemies without overwhelming them
Design: Staged hazard introduction using rolling barrels and controlled enemy spawns; zoom levels adjust for spatial clarity
Highlights:
- Rolling barrels as environmental hazard with mild but noticeable damage
- Staggered enemy introductions to manage difficulty curve
- Zoom-ins for close combat, zoom-outs for hazard evasion
Narrative Beat: The dangers of the floating paths

Perspective Changes and Boss

Goal: Increase immersion and pacing variety through perspective shifts and combat escalation
Design: Vistas that foreshadow upcoming areas; mini-bosses serve as pacing breaks and skill checks
Highlights:
- Cinematic framing for dramatic reveals
- Perspective shifts create visual and tactical variety
- Elemental mini-bosses thematically foreshadow final boss abilities
Narrative Beat: Testing the champion’s resolve

Multiple Paths

Goal: Provide meaningful player choice in routing, with different enemy layouts and pacing for each path
Design: Quick-time event traversal (tornadoes) as one-way level valves that control progression flow
Highlights:
- Branching routes visible from alternative paths to spark curiosity
- Traversal QTEs that prevent backtracking for pacing control
- Player agency in combat and challenge selection
Narrative Beat: Choosing the path to the castle

The Castle and Boss

Goal: Deliver the climax with a dramatic environmental shift and a mechanically layered boss fight
Design: Converging paths into a central castle arena; final boss reuses known enemy abilities while combining environmental hazard
Highlights:
- Castle verticality and detailed interior props for immersion
- Merged paths reinforce sense of convergence and destiny
- Boss design unifies lightning hazards, elemental attacks, and learned mechanics
Narrative Beat: Confrontation at the heart of the storm