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CoD: BLACK OPS:
Area 51 Direction
Setting the visual and emotional foundation for a Call of Duty level. It includes reference sheets, moodboards, and early concept art that help define the tone, pace, and setting. From atmospheric lighting to environmental storytelling cues, every element here is about creating a grounded, high-impact starting point for players the moment boots hit the dirt.
Vision
01: Tech & Hardware Mood Board
This board sets the tone for the level’s technological backbone - highlighting materials, color palettes, and mechanical detail that inform everything from equipment design to world-building elements. It’s about grounding the fiction in tactile realism, with an emphasis on cold metals, utilitarian wear, and functional tech that feels era appropriate and sets the stage.
Slide 02: Environmental Reference & Retro Tech
This board supports world-building by grounding the level in cinematic atmosphere and period-appropriate tech. The visual tone leans into gritty realism with a layer of 1950s industrial design—heavy switches, glowing tubes, and analog charm—to help orient the team toward a cohesive, immersive mood.
Slide 03: Tension & Claustrophobia
This board focuses on tight corridors, heavy shadows, and low ceilings to evoke pressure and unease. It sells the kind of atmospheric intensity where every step feels close and consequential.
Slide 04: 1950s Hi-Tech & Clinical Precision
Clean, cold, and cutting-edge - for its time. This slide captures the look of sanitized science: tiled labs, brushed steel, glowing panels, and analog machines built with surgical intent. It's retro-futurism grounded in government secrecy.
Slide 05: Industrial Forms & Unfamiliar Architecture
Massive machines hum beneath angular rooftops and dome-like structures - shapes born from function, not aesthetics. This is where sterile science meets brutal industry, and every odd silhouette hints at classified intent.
Slide 01: Visual Direction & Setting Foundations
This deck transitions from exploration to execution. Here we establish the tonal grounding for blockouts and asset creation - focusing on preliminary concepts, color references, and key environmental cues. The goal: lock in the atmosphere and geographic flavor so the team can begin with clarity and confidence.
Slide 02: Layout & Spatial Cues
This top-down map sets the structural foundation - highlighting points of interest, environmental storytelling zones, and gameplay lanes. A 3/4 sketch layers in architectural form and composition, while notes on map size, time of day, and atmospheric conditions help lock tone and pacing for both blockout and lighting direction.
Slide 03: Vista & Horizon Blocking
This reference set focuses on distant reads in every cardinal direction, guiding level designers in establishing strong silhouettes, sightlines, and recognizable horizon markers. These visual anchors help players orient themselves while reinforcing atmosphere and world scale early in the blockout phase.
Slide 04: Exterior Architecture Themes
This slide defines the overall visual language of building exteriors - material use, shapes, wear, and silhouette. These cues help environment and prop artists stay aligned on the architectural vocabulary and guide the construction of modular kits and hero structures consistent with the level’s tone.
Slide 05: SR-71 & Airstrip Reference
This slide collects targeted visual references for the SR-71 Blackbird, hangar environments, tarmac details, and airbase infrastructure. These assets reinforce the Cold War-era tech tone and inform prop design, layout spacing, and texture work for grounded realism with a cinematic edge.
Slide 06: Alien Autopsy & Mission Control
This reference set leans into the height of Cold War paranoia and sci-fi fascination - featuring visuals of eerie autopsy setups and vintage mission control centers. These elements amplify the level’s intrigue and support a narrative tone of secrecy, discovery, and otherworldly tech. Use this material to inspire dramatic staging and layout possibilities that feel both historically grounded and sensational.
Slide 07: Blockout Map & POIs
This top-down blockout provides a clear spatial layout of the level, highlighting key points of interest and pathing. Paired with early concept art and reference materials, this map gives the environment and level design teams a strong foundation to begin prototyping core areas and player flow. Use this as an anchor for collaboration across design, art, and narrative.
Slide 08: Sci-Fi Concept Art
This slide highlights key concept art for the sci-fi elements of our map. These visuals define the alien/mystique aesthetic, from advanced structures to alien bodies and reverse engineered equipment, providing the foundation for an eerie map.
Slide 09: Human Tech & Advanced Equipment
This slide presents concept art for the pinnacle of human technology and advanced equipment for the era. Cutting-edge machinery, experimental devices, and gleaming tools, these designs showcase the height of human innovation. These elements elevate the narrative’s technological sophistication and push the boundaries of what’s possible within our world. Use these visuals to inspire the design of immersive, high-tech environments and gameplay mechanics.
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