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GAME INFO
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy MMORPG Platform: Microsoft Windows Release Date: June 3, 2014 |
CONTRIBUTIONS
Position: Associate Content Designer (Contract) Duration: May 2013 - January 2014 (8 months)
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Levian Bay Post-Cap Public Event ZonE: Star-Comm Basin
My Contributions - Daily Quests
I was responsible for designing and implementing 5 repeatable daily quests for Star-Comm Basin, a level-cap public event zone that rotates between 3 invading enemy factions fighting for control of Star-Comm Basin; Marauders, Ikthian, and Strain. Each invading faction provides unique public event for which large groups of level-cap players can participate. Available daily quests depend upon the controlling faction at the time and are thematically consistent with their associated public event. Mechanically, I was limited to pretty standard derivative MMORPG kill and collect gameplay.
My challenge was to design repeatable content for level-cap players that was compelling, interesting, and fun, in spite of familiar mechanics and the redundant nature of daily quests. I was able to leverage WildStar's quirky narrative and vibrant universe to create some interesting performance beats and apply a fresh paint of coat to established tried and true quest mechanics. Working on WildStar was really fun for me because its theme provided me with the freedom to leverage humor as a tool for fun which sometimes helped compensate for a compromise we had to make on a mechanic due to restraints and limitations.
My challenge was to design repeatable content for level-cap players that was compelling, interesting, and fun, in spite of familiar mechanics and the redundant nature of daily quests. I was able to leverage WildStar's quirky narrative and vibrant universe to create some interesting performance beats and apply a fresh paint of coat to established tried and true quest mechanics. Working on WildStar was really fun for me because its theme provided me with the freedom to leverage humor as a tool for fun which sometimes helped compensate for a compromise we had to make on a mechanic due to restraints and limitations.
Wildstar-Online - Star-Comm Basin Deep Dive - Public Event team lead breaks down Star-Comm Basin from the INVASION Nexus content drop
Hat Trick
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Type: Spell-Use and kill
Description: The Grimvoid Marauders appear to be drawing power from the strange headgear they’re wearing. The SCS-001 Sustainer has ordered you to proceed to the Grimvoid Workshop and remove the Marauders’ neuro-enhancement hats. This should weaken them and make them vulnerable to your lethal attacks. Objectives:
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This quest was born out of totally silly suggestions in one of the public event design team brainstorm discussions. In an attempt to provide deeper narrative motivation for the marauder presence at Star-Comm basin, we started cracking wise about power-enhancing pirate hats and holographic parrots. This theme inspired my Hat Trick daily quest. I had to build a new spell that draws a chain beam from the players hand to the Marauders' heads, removes their pirate hat and their buff, and spawns a hat projectile that arcs back towards players. I used a pull animation that already existed for every player race and gender.
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Contain the Strain
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Type: Combat (Holdout defense)
Description: You have been instructed to use a signal flare to deploy a Strain analysis device inside the Collapse in order to gather Strain contamination level readings for the Caretaker. Objectives:
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For this holdout objective, I wanted to build something that exhibited a visual reputation of the holdout stages and progress in the physical world, not just on the HUD. Players must defend scanbots from an enemy onslaught as they continue to collect data. As players progress through the stages of the holdout, more scanbots teleport in visually representing progress and escalation.
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Aqua Hysteria
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Type: Activation/Collect
Description: SCS-001 Sustainer would like to analyze the purity of aquaplasm (otherwise referred to as primal water) collected from the Ikthian vents at Purewater Station. Objectives:
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For this collect quest, players venture into the aqueous Ikthian territory to collect aquaplasm samples. I created and placed vent geyser objects which launch players into the air to collect the aquaplasm samples suspended above. If players are lucky, they'll run into a beloved lopp treasure hunter who is scouring the vents for precious "shinies". I also implemented the lopps to drop some useful items for players before running off as they have no interest in the un-shiny items they've uncovered. Alternatively, players also have a chance of being ambushed by Ikthian aggressors.
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Strain Vaccination
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Type: Activation/Combat
Description: The augmented wildlife in Levian Bay are threatened by the Strain. The SCS-002 Abider has instructed you to proceed to the Star-Comm Broadcast Core and inject the animals’ food supplies with a vaccine. The vaccine should provide the creatures with a temporary boost in their resistance to the Strain. Objectives:
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For this daily quest, players must inject augmented animal food supplies with a vaccination that is supposed to protect them from strain infection. Once players do this, a hungry augmented animal appears. I set this up to randomly select between all the prevalent animal species in the area. If the vaccination is successful, the satiated animal runs off and no harm is done. There is a small chance that the vaccination fails, causing a violent strain infection in the subject and immediate hostility towards players.
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Don't Shoot the Messenger!
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Type: Activation/Spell-Use
Description: Many of Star-Comm Station's constructs in Security Sector Prime are being controlled by the Surveillance Avatar. As such, SCS-003 Deviser has instructed you to play a message for them that should place them under the Caretaker authority. Objectives:
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In this quest, players must spread the good graces of the Caretaker by converting all the constructs under the control of the mad Surveillance Avatar with a Ground-Targeted Area-of-Effect spell I created. Players must also silence the Mad Avatar control terminals which are corrupting the station's constructs.
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Malgrave Post-Cap Public Event: Critical Containment
Every four hours, the reactor core in Malgrave's Containment Facility R-12 becomes unstable, unlocking a 3-stage event that pits Dominion and Exile players against one another in a race to stabilize the core. "Critical Containment" includes one of five possible 20+ player world raid boss battles. Besides bragging rights, the faction to complete the first stage of this event receives a zone-wide harvesting buff.
As a member of the public event team at Carbine, I worked on "Critical Containment", which was one of the most ambitious event proposals the project had seen at the time. Player participation scale, incentives for faction competition, path-specific objectives, and the event's recurring replayable nature were design goals that made "Critical Containment" a unique challenge during its stage of Wildstar's development.
As a member of the public event team at Carbine, I worked on "Critical Containment", which was one of the most ambitious event proposals the project had seen at the time. Player participation scale, incentives for faction competition, path-specific objectives, and the event's recurring replayable nature were design goals that made "Critical Containment" a unique challenge during its stage of Wildstar's development.
My Contributions - Event Objectives
I was responsible for designing and implementing Preparations objectives for Soldiers and Scientists and environmental hazards throughout all of the event's exterior spaces as well as staging throughout the event. I was also deeply involved in regular brainstorm participation, play testing, and and feedback to support this event's goals of scale, path participation, and replayability.
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Event 1: Preparations
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Event 2: Breaching the Facility
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Dominion Arkship Destiny Tutorial
I was selected to join the tutorial team to help with staging the important Dominion Arkship tutorial zone while still maintaining my full responsibilities as a designer on the public event team. During this time, I lifted the Dominion experience, adding life and character to Arkship Destiny with interesting staging and vignettes along with quest polish and bug fix support.
My Contributions - Staging & AI
- Victorious finale walk on bridge to Emperor Myrcalus - custom AI package and spell behavior
- Holodeck Staging - Dominion recruit simulation entrance vignette
- Vignette for Barry, the lovable Dominion recruit turned Dracus who attempts to escape his fate
- Quest polish & bug fix support
- Regular playtest and design feedback through detailed notes
Finale: Celebration Bridge Walk to Emperor Myrcalus
While working on WildStar, I always strived to inject more environmental reaction for players than some of the more static environments of many MMO's I had played. A prime example of this is the staging I implemented for the Arkship finale. When players complete their Arkship trials, their triumph is rewarded with a visit to the Emperor Myrcalus. We foreshadow this moment with a celebration walk over a bridge past a multitude of Dominion crewmembers of all races. For this sequence, I was not satisfied with the typical practice of playing randomized animations that had no regard for player proximity. Instead, I built new AI behavior for these NPC's that set them to their idle animation states in the absence of players, but caused them to turn to face players who are close, and trigger the collection of celebratory animations. I had to implement this through an existing spell system and account for varying animation duration of all race and sex character combinations. Because of this, each race/gender combination needed a unique spell to cast on players when they entered the activation radius. I also implemented a client only spotlight that follows players as they walk across the celebration bridge.
Holodeck Simulation Entrance Vignette
I implemented this vignette which teleports a group of Dominion recruits of random race and gender combination who march in a single file formation towards all of the simulation entrances. Here, they each stop and greet their superior officer for orders and a weapon after which they run into the simulation for combat training. This vignette periodically repeats itself. Use full screen mode on the video below for legible dialogue text.
Barry Vignette
Barry is a friendly mutated Dracus and his friends secretly plot to smuggle him off the ship to safety. One of the players on the forums really enjoyed this one! Use full screen mode on the video below for legible dialogue text.
Misc Staging & Performance
Northern Wilds - Sadie & med-Bot
I had the opportunity to do vignettes and staging throughout various parts of the game beyond the Arkship. It was an awesome chance to inject some more humor into the world through character dialogue. This example demonstrates a cold medical bot's extremely poor attempt at comforting a pregnant Sadie Brightland as she endures labor. Use full screen mode on the video below for legible dialogue text.
Farside - Bio-Dome 4 - Jetpack Firefighters
My very first task at Carbine was to implement some NPC staging and performance in the Dominion settlements of Farside's Bio-Dome 4. One of my goals involved creating firefighter NPC's to put out a raging fire on a Dominion research structure in the desert. After I created ground-based firefighter NPC's that used existing hazard suits, a rifle model, and a super appropriate water spray effect, I was not satisfied with their intensity and distribution. A huge fire was raging over this dome shape building, and landlocked firefighters just didn't seem inadequate. I decided to make a flying version of the firefighter NPC, overriding it's default state from standing to swimming, and I attached a jetpack object to their backs, with a modest flame effect to justify their hovering behavior.