{"id":2564,"date":"2026-02-14T22:19:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T06:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/?p=2564"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:34:57","slug":"witherbloom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/witherbloom\/","title":{"rendered":"Witherbloom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20%\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/widget\/2838030\/\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"646\" height=\"190\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hub and base-building mechanics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Hearth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Contributed to prototyping efforts on our hexagonal tile based building systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"is-style-dots wp-block-separator alignwide has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Levels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">The Outpouring, Floor 1 of the Sanctum of Harmony<br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">As seen in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/KF-ozj6FvWo?si=fHjzBQ8IFiBRKWOk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Nine Dots Backstage #3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/KF-ozj6FvWo?si=fHjzBQ8IFiBRKWOk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"689\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1024x689.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1024x689.png 1024w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-768x517.png 768w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-1536x1034.png 1536w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image.png 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">I joined after the concept stage for this level, and helped environment artists realize and remove any lingering constraints from original designer&#8217;s vision. <br>Once first art iterations were completed, I aligned the player flow with new constraints that had been hardened during iteration on other dungeons.<br>Environment artists and I collaborated on delivering combat-ready gameplay spaces.<br>My role including Encounter Design for planning, implementing, and tuning all combat.<br>I populated survival resources, interactables, and critical quest objects.<br>I also authored Blueprint for 8+ multiplayer-ready level actors seen in level.<br><strong>Tools used<\/strong> <strong>as a level designer<\/strong>:<br>&#8211; World Partition<br>&#8211; Data Layers<br>&#8211; Gameplay Abilities<br>&#8211; Flow Graph<br>&#8211; Narrative3 aka Narrative Tales<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"is-style-dots wp-block-separator alignwide has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">The Scatter, Floor 2 of the Sanctum of Harmony<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\" style=\"min-height:553px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"357\" height=\"673\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-2566\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png 357w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-159x300.png 159w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Multiple island hopping loops<br><br>[more details closer to release]<br><br><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-right\">You&#8217;ll have to wait to see more: <br>at least until the second floor <br>of this dungeon is shared with <br>all our fans in the near future!<br>&#8211; JD<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"is-style-dots wp-block-separator alignwide has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Act 1 Narrative implementation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"is-style-default wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-scaled.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-scaled.png\" alt=\"A hooded figure looms heroically in the centre of an action-packed image, with large sword pull out behind it. The white mask they wear has a wide red vertical between the eyes, and down to the split where the mouth is. Witherbloom appears in stylized letters\" class=\"wp-image-2565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-scaled.png 2560w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WBRebrand-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">I owned and implemented much of the quest and dialogue scripting for Act 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">I templated or standardized our implementation approach across 3 designers by <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">identifying and documenting the ideal functional patterns<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">applying these patterns across all similar cases in content plans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">tracking application of solutions across various content areas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">testing to quickly resolve where previous solutions had begun to fail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hub and base-building mechanics The Hearth Contributed to prototyping efforts on our hexagonal tile based building systems Levels The Outpouring, Floor 1 of the Sanctum of Harmony As seen in Nine Dots Backstage #3 I joined after the concept stage&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[21,42,18,13,28],"class_list":["post-2564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-showcase","tag-dungeon-crawler","tag-ever-curious","tag-indie","tag-third-person","tag-unreal-editor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2564"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564\/revisions\/2647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dodgethis.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}