Narrative design

A breakdown of the work I did as a Narrative Designer & Writer at Firewalk Studios for Sony’s AAA title, Concord.

MAP DEVELOPMENT

Collaborated closely with the Level Design, Concept Art, and World Art teams to create 12 launch maps and 3 post-launch maps designed for a competitive PVP FPS style game.
In partnership with Concept Art, helped create a multi-page Map Guide to break down the intent and need of each section of a map, assessing current palettes and scope.
Prepared reference materials for the World Art team, including lists of potential asset to fit the overall theme of the map/world and signage requests in our in-universe languages.
Generated ideas and provided feedback on hero graphics created by outsource artists to ensure narrative alignment.
Partnered with World Art team to create memorable landmarks to facilitate player navigation and create opportunities for environmental storytelling that linked locales and created a cohesive universe.
[Images by Adam Alexander and Rachel Frick]

IP DEVELOPMENT & WORLD BUILDING

The overall direction from leadership was to create a grounded, lived-in sci-fi universe populated with authentic, believable, and diverse characters.
Generated world and map ideas with Game Director and Art Director in blue sky ideation phase.
Working with Director of IP and other Narrative Designers, we developed the culture, traditions, foods, factions, unique individuals, governments, conglomerates, companies, brands, and consumable goods that made up the Concord Galaxy.
Helped develop the Galactic Guide, an interactive lore compendium.
Created storyboards for early story-driven cinematics and worked closely with the Cinematics Director on composition, pacing, and tone.
Provided mentorship and feedback to other narrative designers and fostered a collaborative brainstorming environment.
[Fourth image by Sheng Lam]

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Worked with Character Art team to ensure that there was authentic representation across the gender, sexual orientation, and outward physical expression vectors.
Partnered with Gameplay Design team to weave in as much narrative into gameplay mechanics as possible, including in naming the unique special abilities and weapons of each character.
Maintained consistency of character voice across narrative channels in partnership with other Narrative Designers and IP archivist.
Wrote tonal explorations to refine individual characters’ voices and provided feedback to other Narrative team members.
Coordinated with Gameplay Animation Lead to find ways to help convey the character’s personality through movement styles while factoring in the constraints of gameplay mechanics.
Helped build in character details on weapons with the Hard Surface team.

IN-GAME DIALOGUE

Wrote scripts for PVP and PVE modes for 8 of 16 launch characters, including combat barks, flavorful match start lines, and mid-round interactions with enemies and allies.
Wrote casting materials for actors, including reference bios, sample combat barks, and monologues used in the casting process.
Acted as the Narrative liaison during cast recording sessions and provided live feedback in partnership with the Casting Director.
Iterated with Gameplay Designers to ensure that vocal expressions communicated gameplay intent clearly.
Received regular feedback from character stakeholders at the Lead and Director level.

PLAYER FACING PROGRESSION CONTENT

Asset naming. In coordination with IP, Legal, and Progression teams, helped named 1000+ character variants, outfits, accessories, and weapons.
Seasonal content. Wrote hundreds of daily, weekly, seasonal, and challenge jobs for player progression. These expanded the lore by introducing secondary characters and factions in the universe.
Character Bios. Worked with Director of IP to develop the backstory and connective tissue of each of the hero characters.
Character Poses. Collaborated with Animation Director to sketch out poses for 17 characters including multiple variations on victory, defeat, match drop-in animations, and emotes.
[Lennox image by Brad Shortt]
[Lark weapon image by Ryzin]