PAris
A PAYDAY 3 CUSTOM MAP
INTRODUCTION
The Heisters find themselves in Paris in front of the luxury store, The Purple Diamond. They need to get into the vault, grab the loot, and escape.
PROJECT DETAILS
Developed: 4 weeks
Engine: Unreal Engine 4.27
Template
MoolahProject
VIDEO WALKTROUGH WITH GAMEPLAY
OVERVIEW
PACING
Design Walkthrough
ACT 1 - Drill
I started the level by introducing Hister to the environment and establishing the Eiffel Tower and the store as landmarks.
I used shape language to draw Hister's attention toward the main building and make it clear that it is the primary objective. I also used icons, in this case the drill icon, to get the objective across as clearly as possible.
My goal with the start position was to onboard the Histers within the space while also providing a clear objective.
When the Histers enter the store, they are immediately met by the vault on their right.
The store also features a small museum showcasing collaborations with a ski clothing brand and a Formula 1 team. The area around the vault is quite open, so the Histers need to move quickly between cover to avoid being overrun.
I designed the cover to support movement; that's why they are mid- and tall-sized, allowing Histers to circle it and jump on top of it.
The second floor follows the same principle, with an open layout and medium-sized cover.
From the second floor, the Histers can shoot enemies from above, but it comes with the drawback of having limited cover, making the Histers more vulnerable.
Stairs
The heisters have two main chokepoints to watch out for: the stairs and the entrance.
Before pushing through these areas, the heisters need to ensure they have enough health and ammunition, as enemies are likely positioned there.
Entrence
ACT 2 - Electrical Boxes
Three boxes are placed around the level. Every 45–60 seconds, one of them activates, stopping the drill.
The Histers must then reach the box and hack it to restart the drill. The idea is to force Histers to leave their current position and push into other areas, creating more tension.
While exploring the upper floors, Histers may discover a computer. Hacking it allows them to control the building's curtains, providing additional cover.
Histers can open them again if they so feel after a short delay.
However, closing the curtains makes it harder to reach the boxes outside, creating a trade-off between safety and convenience/effecency
ACT 3 - ESCAPE
After grabbing the cash, the players will drop down into the backyard, where they need to activate a flare to call in a speedboat to pick them up.
The Histers need to hold out until the boat arrives in a rather open area.
After holding out for 75 seconds, the boat will arrive, and the heisters need to secure the loot and get on the boat to leave the heist.
BEHIND THE SCENE
When designing the level, I used reference images and Google Maps to understand Parisian architecture and get ideas for how the heist could look and play.
I also took a lot of inspiration from the jewellery and diamond stores in PAYDAY 2. These helped me determine the scale of the level and plan the layout and gameplay
After getting some inspiration, I started creating a flowchart to plan how the level would play and what obstacles the Hister would encounter throughout the experience.
When designing the flowchart, I decided to focus on a simple challenge that would encourage the Hister to explore the environment while also putting themselves in situations where they are exposed to danger.
The intention was to strike a balance between exploration and risk, encouraging the Hister to consider how they approach each situation rather than simply following a linear path.
I went into PAYDAY 3 to gather level references and get a better understanding of how the game handles room sizes, corridor widths, and the balance between open and enclosed spaces.
After studying these references and taking measurements, I began building my own modular pieces to use throughout the level.
This allowed me to create a consistent scale and helped ensure that the spaces would feel appropriate for the gameplay and movement of PAYDAY 3.
When in the editor, I started by building from the reference images. I began with the store facade, then moved on to the outside, using simple shapes to create background atmosphere. After blocking everything out, I started working on the shop's interior, where I made a rough draft of what I wanted and then continued iterating on it. Once the store was in good shape, with gameplay implemented and rough blueprints for how the different objectives would work, I started iterating on the outside.
PAYDAY 3 uses a room-based spawning system; enemies spawn when Histers enter a room. This worked well in theory, but I encountered a bug where having multiple rooms caused some spawners to stop working, while other rooms only spawned snipers.
It ended with me making the entire level into one room after trying to find a solution for hours
To make the spawning feel logical rather than appearing out of nowhere, I used SWAT vans to hide the spawn points and created a logical way for police to enter the level. I also added an air vent on the second floor to provide another spawn location for the police.
Problems & Solutions
Due to the limited documentation available, I reached out to the PAYDAY Modding community for help. However, much of the community has shifted towards PAYDAY 2, leaving me to test and troubleshoot many problems on my own.
I also used AI tools like Claude to explore possible solutions, with mixed results. When needed, I created my own Blueprint stand-ins for missing functionality, though these had limitations, such as enemy and crew AI being unable to interact with them. They still functioned and got the point across.
Reflection
Playtesting
During development, I would send screenshots and set up a meeting with some of my friends to get feedback on the level. I received a lot of feedback on size and that some sections felt too tight, so I started opening up some sections of the level, and it gave much better results from my friends.
Hard Deadline
I had one month to complete the project before PAYDAY 3 moved from Unreal Engine 4.27 to Unreal Engine 5, which would break the mod and make the template I was using obsolete. This gave me a strict deadline and motivated me to finish the project within the available time.
What I Learned
Throughout the project, I gained insight into how Starbreeze structures its levels and systems in PAYDAY 3. Working on a smaller level made it easier to iterate and make changes. I worked in stages, moving on once a part felt ready; for example, completing the level blockout before adding enemies, then fixing gameplay issues.
Overall, I’m very happy with the result and would love to return to PAYDAY 3 in the future and create another level in Unreal Engine 5.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!