Bridging the gap between art and design

Brent Thomas - Senior Layout/Level Designer
 




20+ years in AAA game development. I turn artistic vision into playable worlds, partnering with level, mission, and systems designers to shape environments that deliver compelling gameplay, purposeful pacing, and strong visual identity. 11 shipped titles across 6 platforms with Playstation Studios, including Ghost of Yōtei, inFamous, and the SOCOM series.

GHOST OF YOTEI [PS5]

  


For Ghost of Yotei, my role was to be lead layout designer on the follow up to the massively successful Legends mode introduced in Ghost of Tsushima.  I worked closely with the Legends systems and missions designers to prototype and iterate on the new modes and gameplay mechanics introduced in this version of Legends.  I was responsible for the layouts of all the Incursion and Survival maps, eight in total.  I also helped develop the first iteration of what the Raid was going to be for this game.  This was a huge task, which took many hands to get it to the finish line, with my floating platform puzzle section being a highlight.  It was a very collaborative endeavor, that required many trial and error attempts to find the fun, while still being challenging and engaging.  
 
Beyond my Legends duties, I was also apart of the architecture team to ensure the rules we had established from the previous game were maintained throughout the production of Yotei.  I provided feedback, examples, and play throughs of new structures that were created so that our art team maintained the consistency across games.
 
I was also tasked to lay out the final gold path mission in the Teshio Ridge prefecture where Atsu finally tracks down the Kitsune through a secret cave.  This involved working with a mission designer to make sure character beats/dialog were correctly placed, POI's were hit from many possible locations, and opportunities for buddy combat were present.
 
 

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA [PS4/PS5]

 

Ghost of Tsushima was where I was able to really stretch my layout and rigging knowledge.  My team was responsible for building and creating all initial structures and gameplay assets using newly agreed upon metrics and design goals.  I worked with engineering and animation teams to prototype Jin's movement through the world and how his tools would interact with the environment.  Once in full production, I then worked with our challenge content team to lay out the initial road blocks and war camps across the world.  I focused on sight lines, POI's, cover, and shape language to create engaging and challenging combat pockets which allowed the player to freely move around and tackle the problem any way they wanted.  For gold path mission content, I was responsible for the grapple hook training mission as well as the attack on Castle Shimura.  I also supported many silver and bronze missions throughout the game in various roles.  Lastly, I was tasked to help support the Legends team near the end of the project to complete the final section of the Raid mission.  My background working on multiplayer games proved very useful for this assignment.  Combining Ghosts' incredible combat system with puzzles and strategic teamwork proved to be some of the most rewarding work I've ever been apart of.

  


 
 


inFAMOUS: FIRST LIGHT [PS4]


 
 
On inFamous First Light, I was responsible for the layout of the challenge arenas. These challenge maps were a new feature to the franchise and were designed to be played continuously in escalating tiers of difficulty. I worked with systems designers to ensure every aspect of the layout was in tune with the feel of our character's distinct abilities. While these maps were purely focused on game-play, with almost no story elements to convey, I made sure the artists' vision for these spaces remained intact while still achieving all of our steep design requirements. 


inFAMOUS: SECOND SON [PS4]

 

 
For inFamous Second Son, I was part of a small team that was tasked to rig the parkour, collision, and pathing across the entire game.  That meant working with artists to ensure assets were clean, flexible, and needed to adhere to strict metrics so that the player never felt frustrated when moving through the space. 
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