Collaborative Project
Project
Borealis
Contributing to the recreation of Half-Life's universe in Unreal Engine 5.
About the Project
Fan-made Half-Life 3
Project Borealis is a fan-made continuation inspired by the events of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, developed by Icebreaker Industries.
Built in Unreal Engine 5, the project aims to recreate the atmosphere, gameplay philosophy and immersive world design that made Valve's games so memorable while bringing them to modern technology.
As the project is still in active development, this page focuses exclusively on publicly available material.
Remote Collaboration
International team
Since joining Icebreaker Industries in March 2026, I have been collaborating with an international team of developers working remotely across multiple disciplines.
The project has been an opportunity to exchange ideas with designers, artists and programmers while contributing to a production pipeline built around Unreal Engine 5.
Due to the project still being under development, I cannot publicly detail my current work, but this experience continues to strengthen my collaborative workflow and level design practice.
Design Philosophy
Recreating the spirit of Half-Life
One of the most interesting aspects of Project Borealis is its commitment to preserving the design principles established by Valve's games.
Environmental storytelling, readable spaces, systemic interactions and player-driven problem solving are central pillars of the experience.
Beyond recreating the atmosphere of Half-Life, Project Borealis also explores how Valve's development philosophies can be adapted to Unreal Engine 5. From scripting workflows to level-building pipelines, the project aims to capture the flexibility and iteration speed that were central to the Source Engine while benefiting from modern tools and technology.
Public Prologue
Gameplay video
The Project Borealis Prologue is publicly available on Steam and gives players a first look at the team's approach to atmosphere, interaction and gameplay. This video section is reserved for public gameplay footage from the Prologue.
Public Material Only
Active development
Because Project Borealis is still in active development, this page intentionally avoids discussing unreleased content or internal production details. It focuses on the public Prologue, the project context and a high-level overview of my involvement as part of the Level Design team.
