Level Atlas

Dishonored 2 · Dishonored

The Clockwork Mansiondraft

A mansion whose rooms physically reconfigure at the pull of a lever, plus a hidden interstitial layer between the walls where the machinery lives. It is the most literal argument in games that a level can be a mechanic rather than a container.

Year
2016
Platform
PC, PS4, Xbox One
Genre
Immersive sim
Layout
hub-and-spoke
Engine
Void Engine
Designers
Arkane Studios, Dana Nightingale

Layout notes

Levers reconfigure the mansion into distinct room states, so the same physical volume presents several different floorplans. Slipping into the machinery between walls bypasses the intended states entirely, giving a second, hidden topology layered over the first.

Intensity curve

00.510% through, demand 20%: Approach and entry10% through, demand 35%20% through, demand 50%: First lever pull32% through, demand 40%44% through, demand 60%54% through, demand 30%: Between the walls64% through, demand 55%74% through, demand 70%84% through, demand 50%92% through, demand 85%: Jindosh confrontation100% through, demand 25%: ExitApproach and entryFirst lever pullBetween the wallsJindosh confrontationExitstartend
Demand on the player (combat pressure, platforming difficulty, disorientation), not fun. Relative within this level only.

Space graph

The level as places and the connections between them. Left to right reads as progression, top to bottom as elevation. Dashed outlines are optional spaces; select any space or callout to read it.

Mansion approach path Entry hallEntry hall path Lever atriumLever atrium path Guard hallLever atrium path Upper floorsLever atrium path Between the walls. Entirely optional to find, and the whole level changes character once it is.Guard hall path Jindosh's chamberUpper floors path Jindosh's chamberBetween the walls one-way Jindosh's chamber. The machinery bypasses the authored room states rather than solving them.Jindosh's chamber path ExitEntry hall sightline Upper floors. Jindosh and the floors above are glimpsed through shifting geometry well before there is a route, so the objective stays oriented as the space rearranges.SECRETBetween thewallsBetween the walls: secret, optional path. The machinery layer. Finding it converts the mansion from a puzzle into a system, and the graph shows why: it is an edge that skips every intended state.ROOMUpper floorsUpper floors: room, critical pathENTRYMansionapproachMansion approach: entry, critical pathROOMEntry hallEntry hall: room, critical path. The first transformation happens where the player is safe and watching. Spectacle first, agency second.HUBLever atriumLever atrium: hub, critical pathARENAGuard hallGuard hall: arena, critical pathARENAJindosh'schamberJindosh's chamber: arena, critical pathEXITExitExit: exit, critical pathOptional: Between the wallsTeaching: Entry hallCritical path: First leverEncounter: Reconfiguring guard hallEncounter: Jindosh's chamber
PathOne-waySightlineOptional space

Select a space, a connection, or a callout to read it. 8 spaces, 10 connections, 5 callouts on this level.

Read the graph as a list

Spaces

  • Between the walls secret, optional
  • Upper floors room, critical
  • Mansion approach entry, critical
  • Entry hall room, critical
  • Lever atrium hub, critical
  • Guard hall arena, critical
  • Jindosh's chamber arena, critical
  • Exit exit, critical

Connections

  • Mansion approach → Entry hall path
  • Entry hall → Lever atrium path
  • Lever atrium → Guard hall path
  • Lever atrium → Upper floors path
  • Lever atrium → Between the walls path
  • Guard hall → Jindosh's chamber path
  • Upper floors → Jindosh's chamber path
  • Between the walls → Jindosh's chamber one-way
  • Jindosh's chamber → Exit path
  • Entry hall → Upper floors sightline

Techniques

  • Multi-route paritytopology

    Stealth, combat, powered and powerless routes are each fully authored through the mansion, including distinct paths to Jindosh himself.

  • Gatingtopology

    The lever states are soft gates: they shape which rooms exist right now, but the between-walls layer lets a player who understands the system ignore the intended sequence.

  • Foreshadow the destinationguidance

    Jindosh's position and the mansion's upper floors are glimpsed through shifting geometry well before access, so the objective stays oriented as the space rearranges.

  • Sightline controlguidance

    Room transformations change what is visible mid-play, which means the level actively edits the player's information rather than merely restricting it.

Notes

The graph shown is one room state flattened into a single topology, which is the honest limit of the current schema. The lever configurations are the outstanding gap: the vocabulary can say that the between-walls layer bypasses the mansion, but not that the mansion has several floorplans in the same volume. Propose a schema change before building it.

Sources

  • gdc-talkArkane Studios talks on Dishonored level design
  • interviewDana Nightingale interviews on building the Clockwork Mansion