
Star Wars Outlaws - AAA action-adventure game
Quest and Level Design
I worked on Star Wars Outlaws as a Quest and Level Designer. Over 3 years, I worked on 6 Quests, below I have included three key examples, a Main Quest and two Side Quests. Two where I worked as the Level Designer and one where I worked as the Quest Designer.
World premiere trailer
Senior Level Designer responsibilities
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Designing and building level locations for quests with a focus on crafting engaging experiences
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Scripting of AI and design of stealth and combat encounters
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Implementing level design ingredients and balancing them for encounters, traversals and puzzles
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Collaborated closely with quest designers and environment designers as part of a quest team
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Worked with Game and AI designers to request and feedback on level design ingredients and AI behavior
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Worked closely with the animation teams to request, feedback and implement animations for AI
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As the owner of the gameplay experience for quests - would frequently playtest and iterate on content to improve the player experience
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Maintained level design documentation and pushed for improving of pipelines, tools and workflows for level designers
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Mentored other designers and experienced with giving clear feedback for their work
Senior Quest Designer responsibilities
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Worked as a quest designer for a quest on Star Wars Outlaws called 'The Slicer'
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Created, owned and delivered a holistic narrative and gameplay experience from paper design all the way to polished final content.
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Requested features/props/animations needed for the quest and ensured there delivery
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Designed the quest structure and implemented narrative elements such as the quests objectives, characters, realization and voice lines
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Worked closely with level designers and environment artists to ensure constant alignment across the quest team.
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Scripted and maintained the quest logic, implementing quest objectives, branching dialogues, AI/NPC behaviour and checkpoint systems.
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Collaborated closely with Writers, Cinematic Designers, Producers and Animators to deliver the realization for the player experience
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Created and maintained quest design documentation along with owning the requesting of assets needed for the quest.
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Playtesting and fixing bugs to maintain fully playable quest throughout production and to ensure the highest quality player experience.
False Flag (Level Design)
This is a main quest in Star wars outlaws, Kay must take her new ship the trailblazer and use it to infiltrate an Imperial fueling station in Toshara space in order to help Crimson Dawn erase their debt to the empire.
Quest highlights:
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Introduction and tutorial for space gameplay
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Infiltrating an Imperial Fueling Station with a focus on stealth and combat encounters
Level design - Ronnie Tallon
Quest design - Acke Hallgren
Environment Design - Zack Parkinson
IGN Walkthrough:
Views from the quest
The Slicer (Quest Design)
This is a side quest in Star wars outlaws, Kay needs to upgrade her slicing kit and to do so she seeks out an expert slicer named Aila Bren. Aila agrees to help Kay but only if she steals an imperial code sequencer from an empire outpost and brings it, no questions asked, to her location. Only to have it revealed on arrival that Aila is pinned down in the middle of a heist gone wrong and expects Kay to help her escape an Imperial Compound.
Quest highlights:
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Introduction to the expert upgrade system and a new character Aila Bren
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Slicing focused mission which unlocks the the advanced slicing mechanic
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A 'heist gone wrong' that is flipped into a rescue mission
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Focus on stealth and infiltration combined with the introduction of a how advanced slicing can be used to override turrets to attack enemy units.
Quest Design - Ronnie Tallon
Level Design (Imperial Compound) - Gregor De Weger
Environment Design (Imperial Compound) - Clotilde Moussier
The Slicer Walkthrough:
Credit to Trophygamers for the recording
Views from the quest
The Mechanic (Level Design)
This is a side quest in Star wars outlaws, Kay needs to upgrade her speeder bike and to do so she seeks out an expert mechanic named Selo Rovik. Selo agrees to help Kay but only if she can infiltrate an Imperial Wind Facility and steal an atmospheric accelerator.
Quest highlights:
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Introduction to the expert upgrade system
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Speeder focused mission which unlocks the speeder boost mechanic
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Quest with a focus on platforming and traversal combined with the introduction of a wind based level design ingredient
Level design - Ronnie Tallon
Quest design - Sam Luckhardt
Environment Design - Wouter Gillioen