A picture of Ash Canyon from the Hesistant Prospect release announcement.
Open World Design

Ash Canyon

Project:  The Long Dark / Survival Mode

Engine:    Unity 3D

Timeline:    In Fall 2020 for the Hesitant Prospect update

My Achievements as Open World Designer

Tuned gear items and wildlife spawns to ask player new questions in survival gameplay

Layered procedural generation algorithms to maximize variety in gear distribution

Assisted on a variety of other content including Hallowe’en event and Polaroid collectables

Announcement for Hesitant Prospect update

Far on the other side of Timberwolf Mountain is a difficult-to-reach area defined by steep cavernous walls and burned-out forests.
If you can navigate your way through the treacherous landscape, you might find an abandoned mine that hides treasures worth more than gold to any survivor.
Just be careful when crossing the harrowing rope-bridges. It’s a long way down!

My tasks

First pass on critical features including setup for all region to region transitions

Initial passes on all Gear items in level, excluding those from natural plant sources

Set-dressing with additional attention to add moments of wonder and surprise

Balancing passes on loot placements to showcase systems-driven survival gameplay

My other tasks for this release

Balancing work on Escape the Darkwalker—a limited time event for Hallowe’en 2020

Advocating for designer empowerment in discussions about workflow changes for level creation flow