The Godfather 2

Lead Mission Designer

As Lead Mission Designer on Godfather II, I worked with each mission designer to guide them toward the best experience possible within our deadlines. I helped them with pacing, balance and overall cohesiveness with the vision of the mission story line. I also helped keep their scope in check and track down solutions to problems so they could keep moving forward. In addition, I was responsible for personally creating the first and last main story missions of the game.

Opening Mission

I designed and built the opening venue to accommodate the rooftop cinematic as well as the party on the ground floor. These were important in setting the stage for the mission, but did create challenges in getting the kind of pacing and clarity of player direction I wanted. The large, open, party area required a lot of nav and interest node placement to keep the venue feeling full.

This opening mission also included a lot of player tutorials which required some creative solutions in the level layout. The city streets and buildings were pretty well laid in at this point, so I had to pick the path to the airport that accommodated the gameplay and then decide how best to restrict the player's path and make sure they learned everything before moving forward.

This video shows the entire first mission that I designed and implemented.

Final Mission

The Miami Airport was the first venue that I built from scratch when joining the team. It was a major landmark for the city, but also used in a few missions and other gameplay types. There was a lot to consider as I worked on the layout, but finished with a space that was fun for combat and achieved all of the content goals.

I'm a big fan of player choice, so I wanted to create an option for the player that would give them an advantage if they chose to use it. Bribing the security guard would unlock the door, giving the player a surprise vantage point as well as a safe to unlock on the way to the final objective.