Destiny 2: Season of the Witch

General Information

Role: Senior Activity Designer

Genre: MMO, FPS, Live Service

Engine: Proprietary Bungie Engine

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

Developer: Bungie, Inc.

Release Date: August 22, 2023

Tools

Overview

During the Season of The Witch production I served as an activity designer on the Altars of Summoning activity and took multiple encounters from concept to finished product. Additionally, I assisted with the early scripting, testing, and iteration of multiple puzzles in The Imbaru Engine. Throughout production I worked closely with all Feature Owners as well as World Art, Tech Design, VFX, Audio, Test, and other teams to ensure feature goals were met and a high level of quality was attained.

Responsibilities

Took encounters from concept to polished final product:

  • Created and pitched concepts
  • Wrote and maintained detailed documentation
  • Prototyped and iterated on puzzles
  • Designed, scripted, and iterated on combat encounters
  • Polished features and fixed bugs

Collaborated with other disciplines:

  • Worked with the World Art team to identify arenas to place the encounters and make adjustments to complement the combat and gameplay present
  • Worked with the Feature Owner and World Art to find creative ways to reuse spaces and reduce scope
  • Coordinated with Tech Design, VFX, and Audio to request assets necessary to create the intended experience
  • 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 three combat encounters and two puzzle prototypes during the season's production cycle. All Altars of Summoning encounters featured high replay value and could be played in multiple arenas within the activity. They also needed three different levels of difficulty where certain combatants were added or replaced to alter the intensity in addition to system changes.

Altars of Summoning - Lucent Tribute Encounter

During the Lucent Tribute encounter in Altars of Summoning players summon an enormous knight boss, Alak'nar. In order to damage Alak'nar they must first weaken it by defeating special "Tribute Bearer" Hive wizards to gather tribute which can then be deposited at a plate under a flaming totem. The encounter features two mechanical rounds where the totem is randomly chosen.

Altars of Summoning - Void Keepers Encounter

During the Void Keepers encounter in Altars of Summoning players must destroy shielded void crystals in order to stop the flow of screebs into the arena then defeat the abominations that were using the crystals to summon the screebs. There are three rounds of crystals and abominations which increase in intensity and culminate in a boss abomination.

Altars of Summoning - Solar Hoarders Encounter

During the Solar Hoarders encounter in Altars of Summoning players must kill "Crystal Hoarder" enemies to take their solar crystal they hold and bring it back to various deposit points. As players carry the crystal, they take solar damage forcing them to manage their health until they acquire a specific seasonal upgrade. Players must reclaim 5 of these crystals in an environment that becomes increasingly frenetic as more crystals are deposited.

The Imbaru Engine - Cunning Test + Strength Test

I helped concept and prototype the first two puzzles in The Imbaru Engine.

In the first puzzle, the "Cunning Test", players must determine which hive rune indicates safe chests and open only those chests. Opening any chest with another rune will instantly kill them. This is demonstrated to players over two rounds with increasing complexity, first with two chests and a one-step solution, then with three chests and a two-step solution. Finally, players are tested with a large number of chests hidden around the room and a three-step solution. (00:00 – 01:42)

In the second, the "Strength Test", puzzle players must follow a path shown by the direction passive enemies are facing and shoot the correct enemies in the sequence. Knights indicate the next combatant should be killed while explosive thrall indicate one combatant should be skipped. (02:24 – 03:43)