Welcome to my portfolio and download page! I’m Matthias Worch, game developer. I’m originally from Germany but now live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife Victoria. I work as the design lead at Epic Games’ Larkspur, CA office on special projects and Unreal Engine 5.
You’ll find my game development portfolio and 3D levels and lectures on this page. Happy browsing!
Game Development Lectures
GDC 2014: “Decisions That Matter – Meaningful Choice In Game And Level Design”
As a direct follow-up to my 2012 talk "Player Stories and Designer Stories", this GDC lecture delves deeply into the oft-repeated, but rarely explored game design concept of "interesting decisions". Meaningful choice is the foundation of good game design, but there is a surprising amount of ambiguity surrounding the topic.... Read More
GDC 2013: “Talking to the Player – How Cultural Currents Shape and Level Design”
My 2013 GDC lecture explores computer games' place in the cultural landscape. As developers and players, we hear comparisons between movies and games all the time, and we are still heavily influenced by the way in which movies (and books) have shaped our expectations for storytelling, authorship, and even our... Read More
GDC 2012: “Player Stories and Designer Stories”
Games are inherently participatory. That interactive nature is the reason for why we play games, and it's how computer games are powerfully different from all other media. But whose story does a game tell? That of the player, the game character, or the designer? The answer lies somewhere in the... Read More
GDC 2011: “The Identity Bubble – A Design Approach to Character and Story Creation”
Who is the actor in a game? Is it the person holding the controller in the real world, or the player-character who moves through the game-world? The answer is Both, and the game designer must work carefully to keep the interests of these two consciousnesses aligned. This GDC talk looks... Read More
GDC 2010: “Introduction to Level Design”
This in an introductory look at the world of level design that I presented at the first Level Design in a Day tutorial at GDC 2010. It looks at what a level designer does and how she does it. The material is entry level, but I tried to provide a... Read More
GDC 2010: “What Happened Here? – Environmental Storytelling”
This lecture, which I presented together with Harvey Smith at the GDC 2010, examines the game environment as a narrative device, with a focus on further involving the player in interpreting (or pulling) information, in opposition to traditional fictional exposition. Harvey and I provide an analysis of how and why... Read More
Level Downloads
Beyond Belief In One Map
Inspired by my recent Beyond Belief retrospective, Negke decided to combine all Beyond Belief SP levels and combine them into one large map. The content is ultimately unchanged, but it's neat to see the entire episode stitched together this way!... Read More
Beyond Belief 2008
Back in 2008, I got the Quake editing bug again: I wasn't doing any level design at work at the time, it had been over 10 years since Beyond Belief had been released, and the Olympic Summer Games were on... Read More
Solaris Base
This is an unfinished (but fully playable) Unreal 2 level (based on the PC Games tutorial I wrote in 2003) that I released to the community. No scripting or particle effects, but the map is fully playable and provides at... Read More
Beyond Belief
The 9-level SP episode for Quake that got me my first job in the gaming industry. Back in its days this got over 10000 downloads in the first two days. There’s also various speedruns available. Start map, seven regular levels... Read More
Memento Mori 2
The second MM “mega-WAD”, which brought together ~20 of the best level designers of the time (many of which are working in the industry these days). I made four levels for this. Included in DoomWorld’s Top 100 WADs Of All... Read More
Ring of Havoc – Enhanced
This was a quick beautifying pass of a pre-existing level. Looking back at the level in 2008, I’m not sure why I did it. There isn't much gameplay here. But I guess the level has historical value. (more…)
The Troopers’ Playground
My Doom 2 episode. Nine levels with new textures, a new enemy type and some Dehacked work. Included in DoomWorld’s Top 100 WADs Of All Time. I recorded a level retrospective about these levels in two parts: here and here.... Read More
