Brimstone Sands is a new zone featuring new enemies to fight and new stories to uncover. Players explore ancient mysteries with Imhotep, battle powerful Sand Demons, and delve into Ancient Ruins to face the vigilant Anubian Guardians.
I managed development of the following:
- External art support for the zone, rewards, and themed store items.
- Internal art support for our new weapon, the Greatsword.
- VFX support for a new cohort of enemies
- VFX and ship-readiness prep of our first 20-player raid, the Sandwurm.
OUTSOURCING PRODUCTION
External Development I managed for Brimstone Sands included architectural concepts for the settlements, concepts and models for armors and weapons both in-game and in the store, concept and models for themed tents skins, and furniture items for player housing. I also tracked the budget and invoices for these contracts in addition to two co-developers contributing to the zone expansion.
There were significant global challenges in 2022 that complicated external development.
Covid was still present and once disrupted a whole vendor art team working on our store content as well as internal concepts being delivered late. Mitigating this took a combination of moving assets between vendors and internal artists.
When Russia declared war on Ukraine in 2022, we had vendors on both sides of the conflict.
I rallied our team, noting that we will expectedly have complex feelings about it, making myself available to talk. We agreed that our Russian partners were separate from the conflict and we would continue working with them as long as Amazon permitted it.
I advised vendors in both locations to prioritize safety of their team, retaining their contracts but lining up contingency plans in case the work needed to be pulled, which did happen shortly after when sanctions were enacted, blocking collaboration with Russian companies.
The remaining assets were either finished by the team if far enough along or sent to one of the other vendors lined up. We were able to deliver on all commitments in time for implementation while prioritizing vendor safety.
THE GREATSWORD
The Greatsword is a powerful two-handed weapon like the Great Axe or War Hammer.
On the Outsourcing side, Great Sword support included concepts and models for 45+ Greatsword variations both in game and as in-store cosmetics.
On the VFX side, this was our most complex weapon to date. An offensive and defensive stance set it apart in terms of gameplay, while unique visual traits make it feel even more distinct. Stance differences are primarily depicted through visual effects. This helps the player immediately recognize their active stance based on color. This also meant twice as much VFX content, which required freeing up the schedule and splitting between artists where possible. Whether fighting groups of foes with wide sweeping strikes or single targets with a few specialized skills, the VFX make the Greatsword feel larger than life.
SANDWORM RAID
Players enter the Arena of Shah Neshen the Devourer, and defeat the massive sandwurm for elite rewards in a challenging new PvE game mode for 20 max-level players. Topple the mighty beast and wear your exclusive Sandwurm hides with pride.
My support for the Sandwurm included Outsourcing art for rewards including a full armor set (3 variations) and a full weapon set (17 at the time), and final ship-readiness prep for the combat itself (polish, playtesting, and bugs).
I also managed VFX for two different releases of the Sandwurm; one breaching out of the sand in the open world and the full combat raid.