Remnant 2
As a Level Designer on Remnant 2 I was part of the quest team that was responsible for taking quest ideas from paper and pitch to completion. Here I designed the tiles these quests take place on and scripted the events and encounters within them. I worked very closely with art, programming, and other designers to ensure they had what they needed from my designs to provide art, functionality, and assets to implement each quest.
Koara Kuri Nest
Here is a walkthrough of one of my quests that takes place in Yaesha’s overworld. Rather than combat or a traditional puzzle, I use ambient storytelling, audio and visual cues, and indirect hints to guide the player through a natural puzzle.
When the player first enters this POI they’ll hear a peculiar set of warbles, something they’ve never heard before, which alludes to the Koara Kuri upon it’s nest.
What happens here is if the player visits the bird in the nest and then wanders far enough, the Koara Kuri will let out a loud cry and take off, which can be seen if anyone is close by. Keen players may here or see this and think back on the bird.
As they progress further in the overworld to one of the dungeon entrances on an end tile, they’ll hear that same strange warble again. Somewhere perched nearby is the Koara Kuri watching them away from the nest.
If the player has it in their mind that the bird has left the nest and either backtracks or progresses further through the dungeon, exiting back out into the overworld behind the nest tile and opening the backtrack door, they can visit the nest again and collect their reward.
Injection Tile and Root Nexus Siege
Here is another walkthrough showcasing two of my quests in the Forgotten Field side dungeon. First in the video at 6:00 is one of my injection tiles, I wanted to provide multiple levels of exploration and nested secrets with a pair of mini-boss aberrations in a tight, cover based fight.
Next at 15:12 is the Root Nexus Siege. Here the player is suppose to destroy the Nexus and free the Laemir, with waves of enemies spawning based on health thresholds and the amount of damage the nexus takes.
There are two ways to play this fight, dumping everything into the nexus at once and spawning the entire encounter as seen here, which is more intense, or damaging the nexus incrementally and managing each wave as they come.
Bone Harvester’s Lair
This quest uses the tile based system to generate a dungeon around three quest tiles which have a harvester nest in each. The goal is to disturb each harvester and clear the nests, with a chance for one of the three to spawn a tougher Aberration version.
This stronger version is what drops the anklet for the Dran husband’s quest at the start of the dungeon. Player’s may choose to end it there or continue to the other two nests for greater reward.
The nests themselves can roll in different locations within the quest tile to add to the hunt. The Harvesters favor ambush tactics and can disengage from combat and enter any one of the sewer grates in the dungeon, emerging back out from another to attack from behind.
I wanted it to feel enclosed, unnerving, and a little nasty going after these creatures. The cramped space, tunnels, and darker lighting necessitates the flashlight and adds to that sense of horror.
Town Turned to Dust
A gauntlet quest that has players carrying a cursed Fae Spirit through the sewers. There are nested secrets in the abandoned settlement to reward thorough exploration (the video doesn’t show them all).
There is a weapon hidden in the back of the settlement, players have to wade through the water under the stairs that lead up to the spirit, then climb into a room inside the structure at the end of town.
Another chest is located on the second story above the canal in the center of town. Players will have to jump across the gap between the left and right balconies to find.
The gauntlet itself sees players fighting through three sluice gates where each one activated spawns a wave of increasingly difficult enemies. Whoever has the cursed spirit draws more aggro and if they are downed the spirit can hop to the next closest player.