Railway was created mostly unplanned. Rather than go a create a level on grid paper and block it out I decided to go ahead and create a level as it came to me. I already had some ideas for certain rooms and theming so I ended up designing the level mostly around aesthetics rather than gameplay.
What I ended up with is, what I would consider, a pretty mediocre level. Routes are very claustrophobic and feel cluttered. It also ended up being really flat, with the only real height variation being in only one room. Also it's very dark, VERY dark; I wanted to try and light the level through as few "artificial" lights as possible, opting instead for natural skylights and Combine installed spotlights.
Aesthetically however I think I did a great job. Areas around the level feel lived in and used. I wanted to make it feel like an abandoned Combine checkpoint that was overrun by Rebels. I even added the citadel in the skybox to try and ground it as a place from Half-Life 2. Also despite the lighting being terrible for gameplay I think it looks pretty good in most places.
If I were to try and fix it I think I'd rebuild everything from the ground up, focusing on creating spaces that are fun to play in before trying to make them look nice.
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