Professional Project
Test Drive
Unlimited
Solar Crown
Designing a new open-world region and race experiences for the Ibiza expansion.
Expansion Overview
Building a new world
On the Ibiza expansion, I worked as a Level Designer on part of the new open world and on the design of new races. The DLC focuses on the city of Eivissa rather than the entire island, while still aiming to capture a distinct Mediterranean atmosphere and a different driving rhythm from Hong Kong Island.
The project kept the same core challenge as the base game : adapting a real location into a playable open world. Ibiza also carried the legacy of the Test Drive Unlimited franchise, so part of the design intent was to respect the spirit of the series while adapting it to the handling, scale and production constraints of Solar Crown.
Region Focus
Cruise Piers
Cruise Piers was the region I followed throughout the production of the Ibiza expansion. The area combines a large commercial harbor, a small urban and residential waterfront, and Illa Grossa, a rocky peninsula offering one of the strongest views over Eivissa.
My goal was to create a region with a clear identity inside the city: flatter and more open than Hong Kong Island, with wider roads, stronger coastal views and several distinct driving spaces connected by readable landmarks.
District Design
Industrial driving playground
The commercial harbor forms the core of Cruise Piers. It was designed as a large industrial playground, using wide roads, container yards and construction areas to create a different driving experience from the more residential and scenic parts of Eivissa.
The open layout gives players space to improvise, drift and explore, while large landmarks such as cranes, cargo ships and the lighthouse help maintain orientation from long distances.
Blocking
Blocking to Final
Early blockouts were used to validate the district structure, road readability and the placement of major visual anchors before the final environment pass. The goal was to ensure that the harbor remained easy to read while offering multiple gameplay opportunities around the construction site, port roads and lighthouse. This area was developed in collaboration with Pierre Halais, who created the visual pass based on the level design layout. His work played a key role in shaping the final atmosphere and visual identity of the area.
Landmark Design
Illa Grossa
Illa Grossa acts as one of the major landmarks of Cruise Piers. Located on a rocky peninsula overlooking the bay, it was designed as a quieter destination that rewards curiosity and contrasts with the industrial density of the harbor.
During blocking, the main objective was to validate the panoramic view and the visual connection with the port. The final environment preserves this composition while reinforcing the Mediterranean identity of the location.
Residential Transition
Botafoc villas
The villas district above Botafoc was designed as a transition between the city, the harbor and the coastline. It offers a calmer driving rhythm than the port, with residential streets, waterfront views and a stronger sense of Mediterranean lifestyle.
This area helps balance Cruise Piers by contrasting the industrial harbor with a more luxurious and readable waterfront environment while keeping strong visual connections toward Illa Grossa and the port.
Race Design
Race design and prototype
In addition to open-world production, I also worked on the design and prototyping of new races introduced with the Ibiza expansion.
One of our goals was to push the racing experience further by creating more dressed and memorable events during races. I prototyped race sequences with scripted events to help evaluate how far we wanted to push this aspect while staying faithful to the Test Drive Unlimited experience.
During production, we experimented with several large-scale set pieces, including low-flying aircraft and helicopter chase sequences. Ultimately, many of these ideas were scaled back or removed, as they did not align with the atmosphere players typically expect from Test Drive Unlimited. Preserving the feeling of freedom, immersion and relaxed exploration remained a higher priority than creating overly spectacular scripted moments.
Takeaway
From blockout to final release
The Ibiza expansion allowed me to follow the complete production of a new open-world region from early blockout to final release. Beyond world design, the project was also an opportunity to explore new approaches to race design and event-driven gameplay while staying faithful to the identity of the Test Drive Unlimited franchise.