Elliot 'Myscha' Cannon

"To be a vision-setting game designer, you need to love/obsess over the fun and imagination found in playing them. You need that drive, passion, fire along with instincts that come from exposure. Imagine being a musician and not really listening to music, or a writer who doesn't spend any time reading. If you are hyper focused on one area, you may find a lot of opportunities. Game Design has many subsets: Narrative, Level Design (both design and technical), World Building (more artistic), Encounters/AI, System/Player Power/Perks, Boss battle, Multiplayer, Weapon Design, Cutscene camera/layout"

– Myscha^[1]

T. Elliot Cannon (also known as Myscha the Sled Dog) is a former level designer for Epic Games.

Bio[]

Cannon joined Epic Games in 1996 and created many well-known levels for Unreal and Unreal Tournament before leaving the company in 1999. At the time, he worked as a contractor, as did the rest of the team.

"Back then I made $2500 a month as a contractor +2% royalty. No one was actually an employee. We all gathered at James Schmalz's office in Waterloo, Ontario, Digital Extremes to build everything. (...) All the level designers were close and we had a lot of fun and played each other's maps for feedback."

– Myscha^[2]

Epic Games later purchased the rights to his maps Deck and Morbias.^[3]

After leaving Epic, Cannon joined the development studio The Collective, where he served as Level Design Director on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen. He later joined the video game developer studio Cyan, working as a gameplay designer on an MMO project ambientated around the mythology of Myst and Riven.^[4]

List of contributions[]

Unreal[]

DmTundra^[5]

Unreal Special Edition:

DmBayC

GW Press Addon:

Fusion Mappack:

DM-Letting

He also created the cut maps Acerak, Alfa62, HAL, and DmMorbfanza.

Unreal Tournament[]

DOM-Leadworks

Semi-official downloadable:

CTF-Command][

He also created the cut map CTF-Crucible.

Credits[]

Credits
Unreal	Level design (Epic Games & Digital Extremes)
Unreal Tournament	Level design (Epic Games & Digital Extremes)

Trivia[]

Myscha has named CTF-November as his favorite Capture the Flag map in UT.^[6]
According to a comment on Reddit, both him and Cliff Bleszinski have expressed interest in developing a new Unreal Tournament using Unreal Engine 5, but Epic Games has not given them the blessing.^[7]
In December 2025, Cannon began a YouTube series titled "War Stories," in which he discusses the background and development stories behind his work on the Unreal series, including maps such as Deck, Morbias and November.

Gallery[]

Unreal-UT 99 - War Stories - Deck -16

Unreal-UT 99 - War Stories - DM Morbias

Unreal-UT 99 - War Stories - CTF November

Conversation with Elliot Cannon

External links and references[]

↑ Cannon, T. Elliot (Jul 22, 2024). ""To be a vision-setting game designer..." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.
↑ Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 12, 2025). ""Thanks! That means a lot!" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.
↑ Cannon, T. Elliot (Mar 5, 2025). ""Because I did not build it is why." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.
↑ "Level Designer Interviews: T. Elliot Cannon". GameSurge. Archived from the original on August 13, 2001. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
↑ ^5.00 ^5.01 ^5.02 ^5.03 ^5.04 ^5.05 ^5.06 ^5.07 ^5.08 ^5.09 ^5.10 ^5.11 ^5.12 ^5.13 ^5.14 Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 12, 2025). ""I was a level designer." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.
↑ Cannon, T. Elliot (Feb 15, 2025). ""November for me. :)" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.
↑ Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 9, 2025). ""Cliff and I chatted about doing UT in Unreal V earlier this year. Epic would never bless it ;P" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

See also[]

Creators
Companies
Digital Extremes • Epic Games • Legend Entertainment • Midway Games • Scion Studios • Secret Level (company) • Straylight Productions • Streamline Studios
Individuals (Level Designers)
Alan 'Talisman' Willard • Alexander Lehmann • Bastiaan Frank • Ben 'Slainchild' Edney • Cedric 'Inoxx' Fiorentino • Chris 'Plutonic' Blundell • Chris Perna • Cliff Bleszinski • Daniel 'KaMi' Diaz • Dave Ewing • Dave Kostiuk • David 'DavidM' Münnich • David Kelvin • David Spalinski • Ed Duke-Cox • Eric 'Ebolt' Boltjes • Grayson Edge • James Parkman • James Schmalz • Jean 'El Chicoverde' Rochefort • Jeremy 'Faceless' Graves • Jeremy War • Joe Wilcox • Juan Pancho 'XceptOne' Eekels • Lee Perry • Matthias Worch • Mick 'VerMoorD' Beard • Mike Bastien • Nathan 'TomWithTheWeather' Overman • Nick Donaldson • Paul 'Tonnberry' Fahss • Peter Respondek • Phil Cole • Rich 'Akuma' Eastwood • Robert 'Nathillien Thilsa' Horvat • Rogelio Olguin • Ryan Brucks • Scott Dalton • Scott McGregor • Shane Caudle • Sidney 'Clawfist' Rauchberger • Sjoerd 'Hourences' De Jong • Stuart 'stuman' Fitzsimmons • Teddie Tapawan • Tynan Sylvester • Warren Marshall
Individuals (Other)
Adam 'Gooba' Wood • Alexander Brandon • Andrew Sega • Artur Bialas • Brandon Reinhart • Dan Gardopée • Erik de Neve • Jack Porter • Jesper Kyd • Jim Brown • Jim Foronda • Kevin Riepl • Lani Minella • Mark Rein • Michiel van den Bos • Mike Leatham • Mike Verdu • Paul Meegan • Peter Hajba • Rom Di Prisco • Sascha Dikiciyan • Starsky Partridge • Stephanie Young • Steven Polge • Tim Sweeney • Will Nevins
Communities
BeyondUnreal • OldUnreal • UTPG

[1] Cannon, T. Elliot (Jul 22, 2024). ""To be a vision-setting game designer..." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[2] Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 12, 2025). ""Thanks! That means a lot!" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[3] Cannon, T. Elliot (Mar 5, 2025). ""Because I did not build it is why." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[4] "Level Designer Interviews: T. Elliot Cannon". GameSurge. Archived from the original on August 13, 2001. Retrieved July 11, 2020.

[myschareddit-5] 5.00 ^5.01 ^5.02 ^5.03 ^5.04 ^5.05 ^5.06 ^5.07 ^5.08 ^5.09 ^5.10 ^5.11 ^5.12 ^5.13 ^5.14 Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 12, 2025). ""I was a level designer." (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[6] Cannon, T. Elliot (Feb 15, 2025). ""November for me. :)" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[7] Cannon, T. Elliot (Jan 9, 2025). ""Cliff and I chatted about doing UT in Unreal V earlier this year. Epic would never bless it ;P" (comment)". Reddit. Retrieved Jun 5, 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]