Game Design Breakdowns and Case Studies

What shipped teams actually did, and what is worth stealing from it.

These are breakdowns of games that already shipped, and of what their teams did to get there.

Fallout 4 builds its levels out of modular kits and then works hard to hide the repetition. Horizon Zero Dawn was called "beyond disappointing" by testers two years before launch, and Guerrilla's answer was a prototyping loop rather than a rewrite. Shadow of War keeps two characters in sync through a takedown with an animation pipeline built specifically for it.

Hitbox Rank and Group: Sweetspots Without Scripting

Hitbox Rank and Group: Sweetspots Without Scripting

A sweetspot is simply one extra capsule and one integer. How rank and group IDs decide which hitbox wins.
I created a Steam Game in 60 hours using Blueprint. Here is what I learned.

I created a Steam Game in 60 hours using Blueprint. Here is what I learned.

The Power of Blueprints for fast iteration
The Modular Level Design of Fallout 4

The Modular Level Design of Fallout 4

Creating modular levels requires good thinking. Here is how Bethesda did it.
Complex Character Interactions in Shadow of War

Complex Character Interactions in Shadow of War

How the takedowns and finishers stay in sync.
Prototyping in Horizon Zero Dawn

Prototyping in Horizon Zero Dawn

Prototype fast, keep what works, ditch the rest.
How Game Designers need to validate their ideas

How Game Designers need to validate their ideas

Two years out, testers called Horizon 'beyond disappointing'.