KevTheDevGames

A Day Out

A Sci-fi farming sim that takes place on a small planet named Oxalis. Explore the environment searching for alien plants and farm to survive.

Date. Feb 2021 – 5/13/2023(Early Access) | 6/27/24(1.0)

Role. Project Lead, Creative Director, Game Director, Lead Narrative Designer, Lead Level Designer, Lead Writer,

Team-size. 2

Purpose. Personal Project

Tools: Unreal Engine 4.26, Photoshop, Blender, Audacity.

Highlights

  • Published on Steam in 2023 and has been receiving major updates as of June, 2026.
  • Over 40,000 players!
  • Played by SEVERAL big & small content creators, including SMii7Y, CaRtOoNz, Fooster, Fisk, and many more!
  • Large Discord Community with Community Lore, Community Created Content, and more!

As Lead Level Designer, I drove the project’s focus on exploration and atmosphere. This was achieved through intentional reference gathering, continuous iteration, and rigorous playtesting to ensure the environment felt immersive and engaging.

Starting:

I begin every project by gathering visual and thematic inspiration. This usually involves studying environments, moods, and references that align with the experience I want to create.

When designing Oxalis, I drew from both real-world nature and similar media to ground the environment in something believable while still feeling otherworldly.

Other Media:

Nature documentaries were a key reference for this project, helping inform scale, color, and ecological details. Fungi & other Terrestrial plants really helped shape the mood board

No Man’s Sky: Game has great stylized ‘alien’ worlds; especially the toxic planets.

Farming Sims were another great source of inspiration. Helped me determine interactable placement like storage, planters, etc.

Workflow:

With some of the core mechanics and gameplay loop defined, I began structuring the world—planning POIs, base layout, and player flow. Nothing was treated as final; each element was iterated on and adjusted based on how it performed in-game.

From first brief to final polish, I prototype rapidly in Unreal, test with real players, refine moment-to-moment feel, and document systems so your team can extend and ship confidently.

From first brief to final polish, I prototype rapidly in Unreal, test with real players, refine moment-to-moment feel, and document systems so your team can extend and ship confidently.

Services

A close-up, cinematic render of a modular blueprint graph in Unreal Engine, displayed on a high-resolution monitor, showcasing a complex but organized gameplay system. Color-coded nodes and cleanly labeled functions interconnect in elegant, readable patterns, with a subtle glow around active elements. The bezel of the monitor is thin and matte black, with faint reflections of an abstract studio space. The primary light source is the cool, luminous screen itself, casting gentle blue highlights onto a dark, textured desk surface beneath. The camera angle is a tight, three-quarters close-up, with the graph in sharp focus and the edges of the monitor softly blurred, evoking precision and expertise. The mood is focused, technical, and sophisticated, with a cinematic, high-contrast aesthetic.

Designing responsive gameplay systems, combat loops, and narrative hooks that align player agency with your project’s creative goals.

A narrative-driven, abandoned urban apartment interior designed as a game environment, with peeling patterned wallpaper, dust motes drifting through slanted golden-hour light from a cracked window, and a complex arrangement of environmental storytelling props. A toppled chair, scattered notes, and a flickering television displaying a paused game UI suggest a story mid-interruption. The wooden floorboards are scuffed and uneven, with subtle reflections in small water puddles. The scene is composed from a slightly elevated corner angle, using the rule of thirds to frame the window as a primary light source. Shadows stretch dramatically across the room, while a shallow depth of field keeps foreground objects in crisp focus and the far wall softly blurred. Cinematic, filmic realism with muted, sophisticated color tones.

From greybox prototypes to tuned encounters, I iterate quickly, validate with playtests, and ship mechanics that feel intentional.