Lead World Designer
Game Development non-profit organization - Arma III Modding
December 2017 - December 2020
December 2017 - December 2020
Founded in October 2017, "Projets Edaly" is a non-profit organization deticated to game modifications with over 20 specialized members, dedicated to creating and modifying multiplayer game environments.
As a Lead World Designer on the Arma "RPG" Project I was in charge of the organization at micro and macro scales of the game world. From layout and flux of players to terraforming of terrain, I organized the work of a team of six on more than 144 km² of playable area.
This project is a complete modification of the base game ARMA 3 including homemade:
maps, assets, game experiences, etc.
maps, assets, game experiences, etc.
Having joined a team that had already started the preproduction of the project for 3 month and using a production pipeline from their previous modding projects on Arma 3, I had to adapt and reorganize the production methodology.
The initial modeling of the map was created in L3DT by members of the team that were used to it. Based on initial intentions I analyzed and set up the global layout of the map for player flux, points of interests and itineraries that led to multiple modifications of the initial modeling of the map.
Once the height map was set I had to organize and follow the work of a team that went up to 6 members at the end of production, on a map of 144km² and limited to modding tools.
As a lead world designer, in addition of the management role, I had to coordinate with the 3D artists to create assets usable while maintaining a historical and narrative coherence within a restricted scope. The interaction system of the mod being different from the base game it meant replacing all original assets with interactions (doors, windows, ladders, etc.) and with a limited production not having full-time artist in a context of a development in a non-profit organization.
This context also implies that the team I managed had other occupations outside of development and I had to plan ahead with the limited availability and motivations of each member.
Example of work area - April 2018
Original terrain made in L3DT
Terrain Builder the main Arma 3 Tool used
Each member of the world design team was put in charge of small areas. I then integrated them using Terrain Builder (Arma 3 Tools). Constant exchanges were needed within the team as I was the only one able to terraform the terrain, place roads and high density areas (forests, jungles, etc.) using Arma 3 Tools, to avoid conflicts in Data.
Those small areas where often shared between different members of the team to avoid too much differences from one area to another and to keep fresh feedback constantly from all level designers.
In addition to flux of players that needed multiple iterations, environment biomes changes & replacement of areas for coherence were needed to ensure a smooth experience to player and allowing them to feel in a Caribbean island set in the sixties.
On the project I also assisted on the side in multiple fields such as the historic timeline of the island, its lore and secondary Game Design mechanics.
The mod being still under development I can only share few screenshots from multiple devblogs, the rest being under NDA. You will find below few screenshots shared for the announcement of the arrival of the all-in-one pack on the Steam workshop for early 2022 and a link to the official website.
Devblogs and more available on Edaly.fr
