GAME OF THRONES

Level Designer
June 2010 / December 2011

Scroll down for a list of tasks.

Developer
Cyanide Studio (France)

Publisher
Atlus (NA)
Focus Home Interactive (EU)

Release date
May 15, 2012 (NA).
June 8, 2012 (EU)

Platforms
PC
Xbox 360
Playstation 3

Engine
Unreal Engine 3

Genre
Third person action role-playing game.

Metacritic
58%

Official website
http://www.gameofthrones-rpg.com/

Official description
Game of Thrones is a big role playing game developed by Cyanide for PlayStation® 3, Xbox 360® and PC. The game is based on the famous series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, which has already sold over 15 million units around the world, and which HBO® has recently adapted into the critically-praised TV series Game of Thrones.

TASKS


Level Design
  • Design and building of the City of Riverspring, one of the three main hubs where a third of the game takes place.
  • Design and building of Riverspring Castle, interior and exterior, including a separate Godswood.
  • Design and building of Riverspring Undergrounds, including crypts, jails, an hidden lair, and secret passages.
  • Design and building of a Brothel, used in two locations (King's Landing and Mole's town).
  • Design and building of an Inn, used in one location (King's Landing).
  • Addition of life and small events in Riverspring along all the story stages.
  • Placement of loots and collectibles in Riverspring.
  • Placement of secrets doors everywhere.

Level Scripting
  • Scripting of main and secondary missions after design with a Mission Designer. They all include navigation, fights (location, patrols and number of enemies), loots, events of all kinds and dialogs directing with NPCs.
  •     Chapter 2: For all the days gone by (MM)
            A crisis situation in Riverspring with many different ways to solve it (dialog, combat...) in a micro and macro scale, with consequences on the short and long terms. There are 36 ways to solve the main event.
  •     Chapter 4: The Crown's Dog (MM)
            A chase along the streets of King's Landing. It was a challenge to set it up without creating a specific gameplay for it, lots of tricks and scripted events were needed.
  •     Chapter 6: Silence in the Ranks (SM)
            A brief mission with only dialog choices. The trickiest part was to make sure that it didn't impede on the main mission taking place on the same spot.
  •     Chapter 8: A New Hope (MM)
            A chapter focused on reflexion and puzzles, taking place in Riverspring Castle and Undergrounds. I designed three different kinds of puzzles. See below.
  •     Chapter 11: Breaking Point (MM)
            A tense situation during which the player has to keep a low profile in an occupied Riverspring while gathering allies, ending with a boss fight against the main enemy in the Castle.
  •     Chapter 11: Safer Streets (SM)
            During the occupation, many small events can be solved different ways. There is a morale choice to make between keeping a low profile and saving lives. There are also consequences on the long term.
  •     Chapter 12: Fight Fire with Fire (MM)
           It starts in the Jails with the building a small force of NPCs the player put there during Chapter 2. Then the player infiltrate the Castle while undercover and work your way to the boss, while being confronted with morale choices along the way. It ends up with the retaking of the castle then the city after defeating a boss.
  •     Chapter 13: Rituals and Litanies (SM)
            An investigation with many suspects and outcomes. It was a real maze of variables to script and track...
  •     Chapter 15: Old Scar (MM)
             A simple flashback about one of the main characters, Alester, with few gameplay.   
  •     Continuous side mission: Self-Made Girl
             An investigation / diplomacy mission, with many choices and outcomes, taking place across multiple chapters. Debugging it was challenging.
  •     Continuous side mission: The Faith of our Ancestors
            A collection mission based on objects gained through exploration, combats, dialogs or choices all along the story. Most of them can be missed.
  •     Continuous side mission: New Bloods
            A collection mission based on people. The player can recruit NPCs during certain main events or side events all along the story. Some can be missed.

Puzzle Design
  • Three puzzles were created using Kismet (Unreal Engine's box script). No exotic gameplay have been created for those puzzles.
  • Exploration: Seven keys are hidden inside Riverspring Castle. They can be found by exploring the level and using the exploration skill of the character.
  • Reflexion: A riddle made in dialog, with correct choices to make in order to unlock a door. The Mission Designer was the main designer behind it.
  • Observation: By observing clues in the environment, players have to find the combination leading to the final hidden room by entering it in a mechanism.

Other
  • Creation of standards and procedures for the LD Team.
  • Maintenance on almost all missions.
  • Creation of the lore behind Riverspring (name included) and the concept of a medieval city sit at the spring of a main river (Blackwater).
  • Design of most of the achievements.
  • Design and placement of easter eggs in the crypts of Riverspring by putting the name of the development team members after making them lore-friendly.