A 2-Story Hospital Level Design

Upper Level – West Wing

The player begins at the upper level (2F) entrance.

The west wing is well-lit, providing a relatively safe exploration space. Based on the hospital level plan the player finds near the entrance, the player can get an overview of the floor. While exploring, any blockage and locked doors will be added to the map.

After some initial scavenging, the player spots Objective 1 through a large observation window in a major examination room—however, the direct pathway is locked from behind, requiring a detour around.

Using the map, the player finds the west stairwell at the rear corner of the west wing, as well as a rolling shutter door blocking the way to the next region. A key narrative clue can be placed here—for example, a note left by a security guard explaining that they lowered the rolling shutter to block the zombies but any survivor can unlock the shutter door in the security room located in the east wing.

Realizing that the east upper level is not accessible through any passage in the upper level, the player proceeds downstairs to look for a detour route.

Lower Level – West Wing

The lower level’s west wing mirrors the upper level’s layout but with dimmer lighting. Since the upcoming east maze serves as a good battle ground for an elaborated combat, such as an introduction for a stalker-type elite enemy (e.g., Resident Evil 4 Remake’s "Regenerador" in the lab), some foreshadowing can be placed here—such as enemy traces, lurking sounds, or warning notes left by previous survivors.

The west waiting area has a lot of smaller obstacles scattered around, creating lots of interconnecting short passages for the player’s swift maneuvering. This spatial quality enables the waiting area to serve as a combat ground for the first combat encounter, featuring common and swift enemies to heighten tension before the maze’s more intense gameplay.

Lower Level – East Wing (Maze)

As the player progresses eastward, they enter the dental cubicle area, where the cubicles and blockages collaborating into creating a maze. The maze entrance could be an auto-locking door or a partially open door requiring the player to squeeze through. The latter offers more tension by preventing the player retreating mid-combat (e.g. the elite enemy can pull the player back mid-way through).

Navigating through the dental cubicles and obstructed pathways, the player needs to find the correct route leading to the exit by trial and error. To aid the player’s orientation, a faint yet distinctive exit light shines above the east stairwell and is visible over and across all the cubicles from most places in the maze.

For the combat in the maze, there are a few options:

1. A stalker enemy (e.g., RE2 Remake’s Mr. X).

2. A jump-scare enemy group (e.g., RE4 Remake’s maze in the castle garden).

3. The elite enemy’s first appearance (e.g., RE4’s Regenerador).

4. A mini-boss encounter foreshadowing a later boss fight (e.g., RE4 Remake’s Verdugo in the lab).

Each combat arrangement will affect the maze’s layout to deliver a better experience. Also, the mechanic of exiting the maze is subject to change: should the maze contains a mini-boss encounter, it could make more sense if the exit is locked until the player eliminates the mini-boss.

After the combat and navigation, the player reaches the east stairwell and ascends back to the upper level.

Upper Level – East Wing

The player can then explore the east wing rooms on the upper floor to reach the security room, where they will find a central control panel button that unlocks all electronically sealed doors. Pressing the unlock button will play a dedicated cutscene to inform the player about the unlocking taking place.

Then the player can explore the previously locked rooms. Inside a corner room in the east wing (the staff lounge), there is a personnel storage room that requires an employee card to open (as indicated by a notice by the door). From the doorway, the player can catch a glimpse of valuable items inside, incentivizing them to backtrack and search other locked rooms. This storage room serves as a small treasure hunt within the level.

Through the now-unlocked doors, the player can enter the room containing Objective 1 to perform the action required by the objective. Afterward, the objective gets updated and the player can unlock that previously lock-from-behind door in the adjacent room to return to the west wing of the upper floor.

Final Combat Encounter

At this point, a big wave of enemy encounter should be arranged as the level's climax. For example, the previously locked rooms contained infected medical staff or other designated enemies. Once all electronic doors are unlocked, these zombies will rush into the waiting area to attack the player upon detection. There are two approaches to setup this encounter:

1. Forewarn the player (more dramatic): Play a cutscene upon unlocking the security panel or exiting Objective 1's room, showing enemies emerging from locked rooms and entering the western waiting area, preparing the player psychologically.

2. Surprise the player (more environmentally immersive): As the player exits Objective 1's room, trigger enemies inside locked rooms to burst through doors and attack the player in real-time.

This encounter can be designed as either mandatory or optional:

1. Optional: The player can proceed directly to Objective 2 to exit the area. A triggered cutscene upon departure will despawn remaining enemies, allowing players to leave immediately if they disregard unexplored resources.

2. Mandatory: The shutter gate blocking the path to Objective 2 requires manual roll-up via a crank mechanism or by bare hands after unlocking. Attacks will interrupt the player during this action, and they cannot defend themselves while rolling up the shutter gate. In this case, the fight becomes nearly unavoidable, as the player must eliminate nearby threats to safely perform the lengthy roll-up operation.
   However, for speed-running strategies, players may exploit enemy grouping and AOE control items (e.g., flash grenades) to create an opening for uninterrupted gate roll-up.

Once the battle concludes, the player can freely explore previously locked areas (including the ones on the lower level) or proceed to Objective 2 to complete the level and advance to the next region.