Summary

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a third person cover based looter shooter with a focus on co-op game play. The game was developed by Massive Entertainment and co-developed by multiple studios. In the second game the setting is based on the central area of Washington DC. Compared to the first game it is a complete 1:1 scale of the city and the story takes place during the summer, about 6 months after the outbreak in NYC.

I worked on the game from the pre-production phase all the way to release. I stayed on the project post-launch for a short period of live debugging as well. My main responsibilities was the Foggy Bottom zone, Side Missions, Control Points and open world design in general. I worked on pre-production for several Side Missions and the one I had ownership for in production was Historic District Attack in West End.

Specifications

• Developed by Massive Entertainment

• Engine: Snowdrop

• Project role: Level Designer

• Responsibilities includes level script, layout design, world content distribution, loot placement, side mission design, world logic setup, encounter design, world puzzles.

• Contributions: Foggy Bottom Named Zone, Historic District Side Mission, Control Points, open world puzzles for collectibles & rewards, additional content in West End and Constitution Hall zones.

Mission Summary

I worked on Historic District Attack from pre-production until it was fully realized and ready for shipping. The core idea of the layout was to have a non-linear approach to the space, yet with the mission structure the player is funneled through a linear flow. My intention was to preserve the feeling of a civilian community neighborhood, while dividing the area into several dedicated combat spaces.

Before the art pass the layout underwent several iterations, where last addition to the mission was the rooftop segment. That part finalized the layout design and mission flow and brought a stronger variety for the mission. It made the mission more linear, but created a richer experience and it became more engaging to play. It was also improved the foundation to support the narrative intentions of the mission.

During the art pass I collaborated closely with the artists to keep the intentions of game play and narrative intact.

A big part of the design was also the logic of the mission. I was responsible for the enemy encounter setup, world interactions, triggering in-game sequences and audio. Finally I added support for other open world activities upon mission completion so the space could be utilized in multiple ways.

Mission Specifications

• Mission Type: Side Mission

• Named Zone Location: West End

• Contributions: Layout design, logic implementation, audio implementation, world interactions, loot placement, encounter design.

• Collaborated with level designers, environment artists, light artist, VFX, narrative design, audio design and animators up to the launch of the game.

• Environment art credits:

  • Catherine Jonsson

  • Dianne Botham

Activity Summary

Taxi Graveyard is a Control Point activity, which is the largest encounter type of the open world experience. Initially I took ownership of the location during early production when it was in a rough shape. I finalized the layout and player flow while taking advantage of the large physical space.

This provided a wide array of player options and combat planning. The players had the possibility to reach the rooftop space and engage from above. They could also choose from various approaches and combat lanes on ground level to encourage co-op game play.

The art pass had some larger iterations and I collaborated with the artists to make sure the layout, reward and combat intentions remained intact.

Since the world location of the Control Point was relative close to two large Main Missions, I collaborated with mission level designers and leads to make sure there we were aligned on all levels.

Activity Specifications

• Open World Activity: Control Point

• Named Zone Location: Foggy Bottom

• Contributions: Layout design, world logic setup, encounter design and logic, loot placement.

• Collaborated with level designers, environment artists and light artists up to the launch of the game.

Activity Summary

Sleeping Giant is the second Control Point that I worked on in the Foggy Bottom zone. The implementation was quite challenging due to some restraints of the world location and its relatively small footprint. Compared to Taxi Graveyard this one is smaller in size and the combat scenario is more intense as a result.

I decided early to have two different player approaches; one from ground level above and the tunnel entrance below. The verticality was both to provide player options and to optimize the use of available space in the location. The two different paths was also for increased connectivity to the systemic features of the open world.

Activity Specifications

• Open World Activity: Control Point

• Named Zone Location: Foggy Bottom

• Contributions: Layout design, world logic setup, encounter design and logic, loot placement.

• Collaborated with level designers, environment artists and light artists up to the launch of the game.