Asgard's Wrath 2 (old)
On Asgard’s Wrath 2 (Sanzaru Games @ Meta), I worked as both a level designer and the traversal systems designer. Below are details of each level I designed as well as each traversal.
LEVEL DESIGN
As a level designer for Asgard’s Wrath 2, I designed a total four story levels, three of which were set-piece type levels, plus some smaller levels for the games Async Mode. The aim for the design of each level is to have the player be immersed in the moment to moment gameplay and narrative, have clear messaging for what the player needs to do to progress, be rememberable and introduce gameplay elements in a satisfying way.
RED CHASM
This level was the first set-piece level for Asgard’s Wrath 2. The level is built around the god Sakhmet chasing the player across a ruined bridge. I designed this level with the goal of it feeling like a Disneyland ride.
Being in VR + first-person, I had to design this chase sequence with the adversary being ahead of the player. This was also the first level after the player has obtained the grapple ability. Although there are setups introducing the grapple in this level, I also added a variety of other gameplay elements to keep the level interesting. Finally, I scripted and laid out all the sequencing of Sakhmet and her encounters along with some other props for this level. More details to share in the future or upon request.
THE OBSERVATORY
Placed around the half-way mark of the game, I wanted this level to surprise the player and break-up the flow they have been accustomed to up to this point.
To shake things up, I decided to introduce ‘moving levels’, where the entire level itself can move and change states. The Observatory exterior area uses this moving level for interesting puzzle design, while the Observatory interior, uses god scale astrolabe where its rings can spin and rotate, making for unique traversal gameplay. All props in this level where scripted by me. More details to share in the future or upon request.
TEMPLE OF SAKHMET
A thrill ride level has the player chasing down and grappling up the beast that is pulling Sakhmet’s temple. The goal of this level was to make the player experience feel epic and simple.
Designing this was interesting as we had to place the players path on an already existing and animated beast. We wanted the player to feel the sense of scale and slight tension by having the player scale up the beast before the surrounding sandstorm closes in.
TEMPLE OF OSIRIS
A classic RPG dungeon comprised of many new gameplay elements, narrative moments and mix of puzzle, combat and traversal.
I first wanted this level to have an eerie feel at the start then transition into a more whimsical feeling towards the end. For the puzzles in this level, the goal was to introduce a version of a puzzle early then scale up its complexity in later setups. More details to share in the future or upon request.
SYSTEM DESIGN:
PLAYER TRAVERSAL
I was also the traversal designer for Asgard’s Wrath 2. Here I worked with a team of engineers, animators, SFX and VFX artist to bring the movement to life. The goal for the traversal system was that it would be free or greatly reduce any VR jank, clunkiness or oddities while also being thrilling, flows well, simple to use, accessible, well messaged, responsive, believable, comfortable for VR, visceral, contextual, can chain with other traversals and work well with other gameplay and puzzle props.
GRAPPLE
The grapple needed up becoming on of the most fun gameplay aspects of the game. The grapple worked with the Quest’s motion controls as the player gestures their weapon/grapple whip towards a anchor to initiate the grapple. We designed the grapple for both grappling onto surfaces and chaining two or more grapples together mid-air. More details coming soon or upon request.
WALL RUN
Wall running was also a fun traversal that can be initiated with a simple button press (along with meeting other conditions). The player can even jump from wall to wall while wall running adding for thrilling and complex setups. More details coming soon or upon request.
HILL SLIDE
The hill slide was another thrilling traversal. In order to sell the feel of the player sliding, believe able animation, slight haptics and dust kicking up all added to making this traversal feel good. The player also had the ability to steer laterally which allowed for level designers to make interesting hill slide setups. More details coming soon or upon request.
SQUEEZE THROUGH
Designing a squeeze though traversal was interesting for VR. We mulled over how canned or interactive it should be, and how to make it appealing enough for later game setups. In the end, we decided to have the player face forward and not the wall when going through and pull themselves forward by grabbing grab holds aligned on the crevice walls. If it became to tedious for players after repeated use, we had a built-in option for the players to skip it and teleport to the other side. More details coming soon or upon request.
SLIDE UNDER
Slide under is meant to be quick, simple, smooth and add some more variety to the overall traversal bucket for players and designers. At first there where concerns of dipping the players head low in VR for the slide under, but it ended up working out very well. More details coming soon or upon request.
HURDLE
The hurdle is another quick, simple traversal. Here we had to make sure the player can hurdle at both a very close and somewhat far distance. To make this work, at close range we changed the animation and tuning so its less of a hurdle and more of a slide over. More details coming soon or upon request.
CLIMBING
Climbing worked out very well as a traversal. Climbing was designed to be immersive yet responsive. The decision to not add any artificial weight to the character as they climb was a good choice as it made climbing responsive yet still feeling believable. Also when climbing to the top onto a surface, having the player gesture pull themselves up in a quick seamless manner also ended up working over very well, and noticed more VR games starting to use the same method after our game released. More details coming soon or upon request.