From May 2020 to April 2021, me and designer Kim Riswick created a massive sandbox level in the Source Engine on commission from Radio TV Solutions, a popular Twitch streaming group.

The spec we were given asked for a large section of a fictionalized version of Albuquerque, New Mexico to be mapped out for use in a Twitch stream event. We were asked to include several recognizable locations from the television show Breaking Bad.

The creation process for this level involved rewatching the entire run of the show, taking screenshots and notes about major locations along the way. As this was essentially a set for a digital theater production, all of the work was matters of scale and environment design.

The first location Kim and I created was the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant, centerpiece of many events in the show. Besides the screenshots we took we also consulted photos and videos of the real-life location that the set was built in. I did the principle geometry for this location, while Kim added texturing and prop details.

From the list of required locations, I created a city layout that felt natural enough for the context of the production but fit within the limitations of the Source Engine. This involved spacing the locations far enough apart that the actors could do improv bits in back alleys and side streets while traveling to the next planned story segment.

The level was in fact so big that we had to stack two limits-pushing areas on top of eachother, while giving them the appearance of being on the same level. We hid the transition with a road tunnel teleporter, accompanied with a "skybox switch" to make the illusion more convincing.

One of the biggest hurdles for me was getting the location layouts as close to the show as possible. Since Breaking Bad used sets built on a soundstage for many common interior locations, they could rearrange walls and rooms to make scenes and shots flow better. In a static 3D environment, we did not have this luxury.

For the houses of Jesse Pinkman and Walter White, I had to employ a lot of guesswork and creative liberties to fit the whole space into the given exterior. Jesse Pinkman's house was an especially difficult challenge, as the real life location was rennovated during the run of the show, and most of the available imagery online was taken post-rennovation. I got the feel for the layout mostly through screenshots from season 1 of the show.

The final stream was an all-around success, and the highlights video has amassed hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube already!