Destiny 2: Season of the Risen

General Information

Role: Activity Designer

Genre: FPS

Engine: Proprietary Bungie Engine

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Developer: Bungie Inc.

Release Date: February 22, 2022

Tools

Overview

I joined the team at Bungie as an Activity Designer part of the way into the production for Season of the Risen and began working on one encounter in a PsiOps Battleground as well as the Lighthoarder supplemental feature for all 3 Battlegrounds. This work served as my introduction to the studio’s tools and workflow as well as my first professional foray into FPS content. During production I worked closely with other disciplines to learn more about the process at the studio and ensure a high-quality experience.

Responsibilities

Designed and Implemented encounters and features:

  • Created and maintained detailed documentation
  • Implemented and iterated on a high intensity combat encounter
  • Designed, Scripted, and Implemented a supplemental feature in multiple activities

Learned the Bungie pipeline and toolset:

  • Completed trainings to learn the Bungie toolset
  • Engaged regularly with and closely observed my team to learn the Bungie pipeline and design process
  • Actively sought information, documentation, and assistance when encountering unknown tools and features

Collaborated with other disciplines:

  • Coordinated with World Art to update the encounter space to support the combat flow and the seasonal themes
  • Coordinated with other Activity Designers to implement a supplemental feature into their content
  • Worked with Tech Design, VFX, and Audio to request assets for a supplemental feature
  • Collaborated with production to plan features, cost tasks, and identify risks
  • Worked closely with the Test team to ensure a high level of quality

My Work

I was responsible for one encounter and a supplemental feature during this seasonal release’s production cycle.

PsiOps Battleground: EDZ – Encounter 1

During PsiOps Battleground: EDZ players are tasked with investigating the disappearance of Guardians in the area. Upon arriving they find the missing Guardians killed and drained of their light as well as a Lucent Hive hunting party. During the first encounter players fight off this hunting party to avoid sharing the other Guardians’ fate. (02:24 – 05:10)

Lighthoarders Feature

Lighthoarders were special enemies present in all three PsiOps Battlegrounds which provided additional rewards upon completion of the activity if defeated. They were high health combatants which would initially be shielded by a Lucent Beacon. Once the beacon was destroyed the combatant would move to the next Beacon deeper in the encounter space and regain their shield on arrival. If players did not defeat the combatant fast enough it would despawn and players would not gain the reward.

I worked on the core functionality of the feature as well as implementation in two of three Battlegrounds and bug fixes for all three.