Developer: Bend Studio
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Release Date: April 26, 2019
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Game Description: Days Gone is an open-world action-adventure game set in a harsh wilderness two years after a devastating global pandemic. Play as Deacon St. John, a drifter and bounty hunter who rides the broken road, fighting to survive while searching for a reason to live.
Roles: Mission Designer/Open World Content Designer
Mission Content
As a mission designer, I owned, authored, iterated and polished several missions to completion. Here are a few noteworthy missions of mine.
He Can't Be Far
This is the opening mission of the game and it involves a high speed motorcycle chase. Deacon follows behind his buddy Boozer in pursuit after Leon, a murderer and drug dealer. This mission balances hooking the player into an exciting situation along with teaching basic bike movement.
Special challenges with this mission included:
Offering sufficient interest to the action on screen without adding excessive difficulty
Utilizing rubberband mechanics to allow players a chance to catch up while ensuring A.I. always functioned properly
Scripting specific movement for the A.I. in order to evade obstacles or drive off road
Special challenges with this mission included:
Offering sufficient interest to the action on screen without adding excessive difficulty
Utilizing rubberband mechanics to allow players a chance to catch up while ensuring A.I. always functioned properly
Scripting specific movement for the A.I. in order to evade obstacles or drive off road
They Will Never Stop
This mission centers on a climax of the ripper story, where the Lost Lake encampment is being burned down in a vicious attack ordered by Carlos. I was especially motivated to try and sell the brutality and totality of the genocide throughout the town. Deacon is initially tasked with rescuing a group of hostages, after which he merely needs to reach the infirmary to end the mission. Because of this, I ensured that no matter what path Deacon took to get to the infirmary he would encounter a number of rippers.
Special challenges with this mission included:
Transforming tranquil Lost Lake into an ongoing war zone
Giving the A.I. building siege tasks while not occupied with Deacon
Selling the scope of the conflict that the story was exploring
Special challenges with this mission included:
Transforming tranquil Lost Lake into an ongoing war zone
Giving the A.I. building siege tasks while not occupied with Deacon
Selling the scope of the conflict that the story was exploring
You Got The Wrong Guy
I was particularly excited to make combat bike missions such as this one. The goal of these missions is to provide content for players to combine both high speed motorcycle driving along with combat against multiple enemies. In this case, you are tasked with securing a thief alive so that he can be brought back to camp.
Special challenges with this mission included:
Scripting bikers to take jumps and drive offroad
Working with the Vehicle A.I. team to get multiple bikers to work off screen
Designing a system to allow the biker to be tied up properly no matter where he gets KO-d
Special challenges with this mission included:
Scripting bikers to take jumps and drive offroad
Working with the Vehicle A.I. team to get multiple bikers to work off screen
Designing a system to allow the biker to be tied up properly no matter where he gets KO-d
Open World Content
In addition to mainline missions, I also authored multiple bounty jobs that players can receive from camp leaders. As with my mission content, I owned, authored, iterated and polished them too completion. Here is an example of one of them.
It's a Goddamn War Zone
All bounty jobs involve killing a specific enemy and bringing back proof of the kill to the camp leader. For this job, however, I decided to mix things up by having the bounty target be hiding in a camping area. Furthermore, the target's goons are in combat with freaks, giving the AI a greater sense of purpose and adding intrigue for the player when they step into this battlefield.
Special challenges with this mission included:
Creating the illusion of dynamic A.I. interactions through scripted events
Managing spawn locations to keep the area feeling populated without hurting performance
Taking the player on a long tracking route without invoking tedium
Including a roof-drop method to discover the bounty target early
Special challenges with this mission included:
Creating the illusion of dynamic A.I. interactions through scripted events
Managing spawn locations to keep the area feeling populated without hurting performance
Taking the player on a long tracking route without invoking tedium
Including a roof-drop method to discover the bounty target early
For something a little different in the Days Gone world, check out my work on a DLC challenge.