Veteran FPS level designer Richard "Levelord" Gray dies at 68

Tributes pour in for the man behind iconic levels in Duke Nukem 3D and many more.

A tribute to the man behind Duke Nukem 3D's iconic levels and so much more.

Grey, here's his iconic facial hair while working on Duke Nukem 3D.

According to reports shared by Apogee Entertainment on social media yesterday, prolific first-person shooter level designer Richard "Lolord" Gray died on Monday at the age of 68. According to former colleague Joe Sigler, he had been battling cancer for some time.

After studying computer engineering in the 80s and reviewing some early games in COBOL, Gray entered the industry at age 35 in 1994 with the launch of GrayDoom, a set of four maps for the then-new Doom that was widely shared on CompuServe and beyond. This work caught the attention of Q Studio's Nick Newhardt, who contracted Gray to work on the level design for the late 90s classic Blood.

Gray was subsequently hired by 3D Realms, where he said he was allowed to design "half the levels" for Duke Nukem 3D. There, he was also responsible for the signature "You're Not Supposed to Be Here" easter egg, which players could only find by using cheats to explore outside the normal confines of the map.

In a 2016 interview, Gray said that he assumed the prevalence of cheats in Duke Nukem 3D meant that "of course, most of you are flying around, seeing what you can break, finding easy Easter eggs... Bingo! I gave you an Easter egg that you had to cheat to find."

In this interview, Richard discusses the creative freedom he and Alan Bloom had in designing Duke Nukem 3D's iconic levels.

— Apogee Entertainment (@ ) Oct 14, 2026 at 8:18 am

In the following years, his level design appeared in games ranging from SiN to Quake: The Offering to Half-Life: Opposing Force and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. "Your most important job as a level designer is to bring the player to your level," he said in a 1999 interview for the book Game Design: Secrets of the Wise. It is after this immersion that issues such as action, gameplay and even Fun Factor enter the game. "The more of your level that the player can connect to through familiarity, the stronger the feeling of 'being there' for the player."

Gray also branched out into casual games late in his career, such as the Luxor series, after FPS maker Ritual Entertainment was acquired by MumboJumbo's new parent company. In a 2007 interview, he said of the surprise move: “At first, it certainly came as a shock from the outside. "Remember, though, making games is a dream job! ... Honestly? We enjoy doing something different than hardcore shooters, and the changes in the casual game market make us even more excited!"

Since Gray's death was announced, tributes from friends and colleagues have poured in across the internet. 3D Realms founder Scott Miller called Gary "a brilliant talent" and "a relentless hard worker, a fun teammate, and an overall great human being." His levels in Duke Nukem 3D and Sin will live on forever.

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski praised the "sense of place" Gray's levels could create in games like Duke Nukem 3D. "Few 3D shooters had it up until then," he wrote. "Instead of a public corridor, you were in an identifiable place. Doing it with such basic/simple technology was a miracle."

I liked the first part of DN3D, but I was more drawn to E2 and E3, which had such distinct designs. We miss you man, you were one of the best

— John Romero (@johnromero.bsky.social) October 13, 2026 at 4:12 pm

Id Software's John Romero described Gary as a "great man" who was "full of life, a kind soul, and an excellent level designer. He was called 'Levelord' for a reason."

"Richard was without a doubt one of the kindest people I've ever met in the gaming industry," writes Slipgate Ironworks CEO Frederic Schreiber. "Incredibly humble, incredibly intelligent, endlessly creative, and always a joy to be around. "Despite everything he did and the huge impact his work had on my generation of game developers, he never came across as anything other than a genuinely nice person."

Kyle Orland has been the senior gaming editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, technology, and culture behind video games. He holds degrees in journalism and computer science from the University of Maryland. He once wrote an entire book about Minesweeper.