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WildStar Trailer
Job Summary
I started at Carbine Studios in May of 2013 as a contracted Content Designer and in under a year the studio decided to bring me on as a full-time employee. While working here at Carbine Studios, I helped ship the AAA title Wildstar, an action combat oriented MMORPG set in a sci-fi universe in the distant reaches of space. I have been a part of the content team that worked on the capital cities, Shiphands/Holiday Instances (1-5 player scaling content), and post-launch have been a part of the Live Team responsible for quickly resolving and auditing critical issues for live and upcoming patch content.
Job Specifics
- Job Title: Associate Content Designer
- Time: May 2013 – Present
- Team: 1-5 Player Instance/Holiday Team
- Team: Content Live Team
- Tools: Proprietary engine and C based scripting language
- Gameplay Scripting (c based language)
Responsibilites
- Worked on the implementation of both faction's capital city content, making them feel both alive and practical for players
- Worked on the design, implementation, polish and balance of Shiphand: Space Madness and Shiphand: Gauntlet (1-5 player scaling instances) as well as polishing and balancing the other Shiphand missions.
- Worked on the design, implementation, polish and balance of the Veteran versions of all the Shiphand Missions
- Worked on the Holiday Team post-launch designing and implementing fun and thematic events and instances for in-game holidays
- Worked with the Live Team post-launch to quickly resolve and audit critical issues for live and upcoming patch content
- Polished multiple zones worth of content to get the game ready for release including Levian Bay, Ellevar, and Whitevale
- Implemented several memorable challenges including a fully functional dance machine (similar to DDR) and a time trial obstacle course shown in video below
Instanced Content Examples
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Shiphand: Space Madness - Instanced Mission 1-5 player scaling
Space Madness takes place on the Space Station Venture which has gone mysteriously silent after a science experiment went wrong. The player is tasked with checking out what might have happened. Once aboard, the player discovers that a gas leak from the failed experiment is leaking throughout the station, causing everyone exposed to gradually lose their sanity. There are multiple different stages of sanity the player can experience in the station. Each phase introduces unique enemies that only players in that phase can interact with and see. In order to counter the gas, tanks of clean air are scattered throughout the station and will allow players to regain their sanity meter.
Video credit to youtube user Robert VanRheen
Space Madness Responsibilities
- Combined numerous props, enemies, and rigs together to create numerous different enemies for all stages of sanity
- Decorated and added flavor and props to all stages of sanity including scripting skybox and post processing effect changes on entering and exiting sanity phases
- Added environmental storytelling through non-combat NPC's, numerous journal entries, and other effects
- Designed, implemented, and balanced combat encounters through all stages of sanity in the instance
Shiphand: Gauntlet - Instanced Mission 1-5 player scaling
Pilot Taboro nervously, and vaguely, mentions a ship under distress and offers a job to come along as a shiphand. Upon arrival to the ship in orbit, the players are quickly tricked knocked out by the Darkspur Cartel. They wake to the realization that they are being held hostage and forced to play in the most dangerous reality game-show known as Gauntlet. The players must fight through several waves of bosses and other often deadly mini-games to survive. Along the way, players are able to compete against each other by endorsing products and posing for TV cameras to gain style points The player at the end with the most style points gains the bragging rights of being the crowd favorite in their party.
Video credit to youtube user Wereleaf
Gauntlet Responsibilities
- Designed and implemented the Main Event (final encounter event) including effects, flavor, combat, balancing, NPCs. Each of the 3 waves in the Main Event has two possible bosses to spawn for added replayability
- Designed and implemented the Dance Floor optional objective where players can compete in a quick time event dance competition for additional style points
- Designed and implemented Save Gauntlet Contestants from the Darkspur objective
- Designed and implemented the Gauntlet Camera NPC that gives players a selection of emotes to do for style points
- Wrote Dialogue for the host/announcer and Main Event bosses
Open World Examples
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Dan's Dancer Evolution - Open World Challenge
Dan's Dancer Evolution is a take on the classic DDR arcade games. This game is available to play in the capital city, Thayd. I designed the mini-game to be playable by a single person at a time in the open world. The player activates the console which switches out their action bar for the DDR arrows on the 1,2,3, and 4 keys. Missing an arrow or pressing the incorrect corresponding key depletes a "skill" meter. If the skill meter reaches zero, the game ends and cleans itself up. Rewards are given to participants based on how many arrows were correctly matched in three different tiers. While a player is on the machine, spectators are able to view the arrows and effects on the monitor while cheering them on like a real arcade game.
Dan's Dancer Evolution Responsibilities
- Pitched and designed all mechanics for the mini-game
- Scripted all mechanics using our proprietary (C based) scripting language
- Implemented all gameplay features (spells, AI, flavor, text, audio)
- Worked closely with the Audio team to acquire a custom audio track made for the challenge
- Synced audio and arrows on the arcade machine
- Iterated and polished based on player and tester feedback
Back to Basic - Open World Challenge
Back to Basic is a time-trial obstacle course designed to fit the military theme of the Dominion. This mini-game is available to play in the capital city, Illium. I designed the mini-game to be playable by multiple players in the open world. The mini-game starts by talking to the drill sergeant NPC. The objective is to collect all target spheres while maneuvering through the course and hazards before the timer reaches zero. If the timer reaches zero, the game ends and cleans itself up. Rewards are given to participants based on how quickly they could complete the course. There are three different tiers for rewards based on the participants completion time.
Back to Basic Responsibilities
- Pitched and designed all mechanics for the mini-game
- Scripted all mechanics using our proprietary (C based) scripting language
- Implemented all gameplay features (spells, AI, flavor, text, audio)
- Created a generic time-trial/race script that could be easily used and modified by other designers
- Iterated and polished based on player and tester feedback
