Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2 marked a number of firsts in my career.  It was my first project with Ubisoft Toronto, my first AAA title and my first fully Open World game.  The latter of these was the most challenging, as until this point I had focused on mostly linear, story-focused action games.  I had to adapt quickly to the very different approach needed to create awesome open world missions and environments.  If I were to describe the role of the level designer for both, it would be as such:

  • The linear level designer acts as the creator of the ghost house within the carnival, they carefully pace out each scare for maximum effect, knowing precisely when and from what angle the rider will encounter any of their diabolical tricks and traps.
  • The open world level designer creates the carnival itself, scattering irresistible temptations around the space, inviting the attendees to engage with it at their own pace, in the order they’re most comfortable with.

When developing our layouts, our mandate was to afford the player with a 360 approach, creating a relatively equal experience regardless of how the player chose to engage with our layout. I applied this approach to my two layouts, the Palo Alto Canals and Prime_Eight Bunker.

Developed By

Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft Montreal

Platforms

Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC

Role

Level Designer

Duration

July 2015 – October 2016

Responsibilities

BUNKER BUST

  • Mission design & Scripting
  • VR Puzzle ‘trap’ design, scripting, prop placement & art polish
  • Layout design, blockout & optimization
  • Scripting support for Co-op gameplay

PALO ALTO CANALS

  • Layout design, blockout & optimization
  • Scripting support for Co-op gameplay

Both of my layouts began life as part of the Hacker War main operation, however, later in development the Canals were cut from the operation to help streamline the main operation. It lived on as a location for the Co-op focused Free Approach Arena mode. I was responsible for taking a set of non-descript tunnels, and converting them into a fully functioning 360 approach layout. To achieve this, I blocked out the layout in 3DS Max, ensuring that it fit within the constraints imposed by the road network that was above the layout. The footprint of which shipped essentially untouched, including the three tunnel entrances and the attached service building. I was then responsible for implementing all mission logic, obstacles, gameplay ingredients (hackable and interactable objects), vehicle placement & AI patrols. Prior to shipping, I filled in for my Level Artist who was incredibly busy polishing the greater Palo Alto area by performing final polish and optimization on the Canals geometry.

The Prime_Eight Bunker went through many iterations, originally consisting of an exterior infiltration beat, followed by a full interior layout with multiple objectives. The latter was reduced due to similar aforementioned streamlining measures later in development. The final gameplay flow involved the original exterior infiltration, followed by a marquee VR puzzle. The exterior was built in collaboration with the world team at the Paris studio. I collaborated directly with their level artists and level designers to curate the final realization of my block out, ensuring it fit with my AI set up. The puzzle itself was one of my fondest achievements on WD2. It involved solving 4 simultaneous VR puzzles within a time constraint while the villain Lenni cackled and taunted Marcus. The cherry on the cake for this sequence was collaborating with a Toronto level artist to build wires and fuse boxes that matched the placement of the VR puzzle nodes. The layout that shipped was a set-dressed, polished version of my block out mesh. On top of this, the bunker layout also had to serve as a Hackerspace (WD2’s version of safe houses) that was unlocked upon completing Hacker War. This added an additional layer of complexity onto the implementation of the layout as both versions use the same base geometry with individual lighting and dressing passes.

Watch Dogs 2 was the most comprehensive and challenging project of my career up to that point. That being said, the challenges were well worth it. I learned so much from so many talented people and improved in leaps and bounds as a designer. The skills I learned on WD2 have since been taken, built upon and applied to my work in both complexity and volume on Watch Dogs: Legion.

Bunker bust Screenshots

Palo Alto Canals Screenshots

Bunker bust Gameplay Video