Diablo IV | Vessel of Hatred
Associate Level Designer (2022-2024) Blizzard Entertainment
As part of the Open World Level Design Team I was responsible for planning, designing, and implementing the exterior playable space for Diablo IV’s first expansion zone - The Jungles of Nahantu.
Throughout this process I coordinated deeply with the Exterior Art, World Design, Quest Design, and Activity Design teams to execute on the team’s vision for the open world content.
Open World Level Design
The core executable work for this role was sculpting large areas of terrain and using a mix of procedural biome-painting and hand-placed block-out meshes to define the playable Navmesh.
Planning and map creation was the bulk of most supplementary work. Our team collaborated closely on the layout and placement of POIs, Dungeon Entrances, Quest Objectives, Zone/Subzone Boundaries, Server Transition Areas, and the Roads/Paths connecting them.
Our team’s core Design Pillar was to maintain an optimal playspace for the fast-paced monster-packed gameplay. In addition, allowing the player mount to maneuver around comfortably and smoothly.
Playspace metrics like pathing angles, inclines, widths, and preserving flat open areas for increased Monster Spawners and Activity/Quest content were the main focuses of iteration.