Lady Umbrella
Lady Umbrella is a 3D action-adventure shooter where you take on the role of special agent Francesca De Angelis (aka Lady Umbrella) who, while infiltrating Italy’s last mafia family, is betrayed and framed by her partner and must now clear her name by preventing her own agency from arresting her and defeating the mafia using her unique weapon: a multifunctional umbrella that functions as a shotgun when closed and as a shield when opened.
It was a project developed by 40 juniors, and I was part of the design team, specializing in Level Design, AI Design & Encounter Design.
Lady Umbrella is now available on Steam!
What was my contribution?
- Main Level Designer for Chapter 3.
- Encounter Design.
- AI behaviour Design.
- Gameplay and Mechanics Design.
- Testing and Bug Reporting.
- Environments Dressing Helper.
- Game Production
LEVEL 3 Workflow
For the level design of Lady Umbrella, we followed a structured methodology defined by the team to ensure consistency, balanced pacing, and a coherent sense of progression throughout the gameplay experience. The process was carried out through the following stages:
1. Planification
2. Dirty Layout
3. Dirty Blockout
4. Clean Layout
5. Clean Blockout
Planification:
Following the creation of the beat chart, a bubble diagram was developed for each level.
This diagram provided a visual representation of every major beat — including combat sequences, puzzles, narrative moments, and exploration phases.
Additionally, specific objectives and design constraints were established to guide development.
Dirty layout:
An initial paper sketch was drafted to outline the level’s beats, helping to organize the early flow and overall structural composition.
Dirty Blocking:
The preliminary layout was then translated into the game engine as a first blockout.
This phase allowed the team to test spatial composition, rhythm, and pacing, resulting in an early playable version.
Clean Layout:
The layout was iteratively refined based on team feedback.
Each beat and gameplay area was further defined, and both player progression and navigation paths were validated before moving into the final build phase.
Clean Blocking:
Finally, the level was rebuilt within the engine, consolidating spatial design and approaching the intended visual and gameplay experience.
Gameplay elements, puzzles, and mechanics were integrated to deliver a polished, fully playable version ready for the art pass.
