Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2

Background:

I moved to Seattle from Chicago to work on Guild Wars 2 as a level designer.  I also worked on content for the 4th and 5th year anniversary updates for Guild Wars.

Job Responsibilities:

For the first couple of months, I ramped up on the MapEdit tool that was used to build the maps in Guild Wars 2.  Primarily, my job was pure map and geometry creation.  For a large portion of the project, I was one of only two level designers on the entire project.  I used a height map generator to create terrain and a library of props to populate the maps.  I also textured and did the first lighting pass on my maps.  Essentially, my job was to prep the maps I worked on as much as possible before handing them off to environment art.

Accomplishments:

I laid out and designed the Zaishen Menagerie for the 4th year anniversary update for Guild Wars.  On Guild Wars 2, I worked on the following maps in the game:

  • Dungeon – Sorrow’s Embrace
  • Dungeon – Crucible of Eternity
  • Dungeon – Arah (the final version was completed by environment artists)
  • City – Rata Sum (the final version was completed by environment artists)
  • All of the Completive PvP maps in the game, including the Hub map.  We prototyped numerous game types for a long while before settling on the style of game play that went into the game.  I made upwards of two dozen different arena style maps during this time.
  • The World vs. World maps.  While doing this, I created several different keep layouts to see what worked and what didn’t in WvW.  Last, I also did a little bit of scripting to populate the keeps with NPC guards.

I also was responsible for updating the meta-data controlling where the maps existed in the world (positioning, connection points between maps, etc).  I was responsible for creating the sectors for about half of the entire game (PvE and PvP alike).  While doing this, I also created points of interest and res shrine locations.  Whenever one of the PvE content designers needed a map change for their areas, I was the one they came to for those changes.  Last, I was also responsible for updating and maintaining the wiki in regards to map creation.

Videos and Links:

Zaishen Menagerie – 4th year anniversary update for Guild War 1

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Zaishen Menagerie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/the_world/areas/zaishen_menagerie.php

Sorrow’s Embrace – Dungeon

guild_wars_2_sorrow_01
Sorrow’s Embrace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofq2jOusoUg

Crucible of Eternity – Dungeon

guild_wars_2_crucible_02
Crucible of Eternity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovo6ixyklDI

Battle of Kyhlo – PvP map

guild_wars_2_kyhlo_01
Battle of Kyhlo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS8sEFd4yTk