Besieged | Vincent Charland

ASSASSIN'S CREED - BESIEGED

The mission takes places in 1241, in the sieged city of Esztergom, Hungary. The protagonist, a member of the Cuman tribe in pursuit of revenge against the mongols for destroying his village, needs to rescue prisoners from Esztergom's armory, captured by the mongols. With the help of Rogerius of Torre Maggiore, he will need to take back the armory from the mongols, and help the prisoners and civilians escape while he searches for more information on mongol leaders.

DESCRIPTION:

Create a Blackbox-style mission from a fictional Assassin's Creed title.
Design the Blackbox section of the mission using SketchUp.

RESTRICTIONS:

Solo Project
The mission must take place during a specific time period : Central Europe (1240-1242), during the Mongol Invasion.
Mission Budget: No exotic mechanics, 1 scripted event and 2 cutscenes.
Keep an architectural approach throughout the project.
Respect the established universe of Assassin's Creed.
Production time allowed: 4 weeks
Development completed in: around 40 hrs

CHALLENGE:

It was the first time that I had to design a map for an open world game and a Blackbox-style mission. I then decided to play many recents entries in the Assassin's Creed franchise to learn more about its designs and how they approach Blackbox-style missions. I also researched multiple gameplay videos of the same missions to see how differently the players approach the mission and apply that knowledge to my design.

DESIGN INTENTIONS:

Give the player the feeling of experiencing fighting in a historical battle (Siege of Esztergom) and have an influence on its outcome.
Since the player's character is able to climb almost any surface, he has a lot of freedom of approach when it comes to how he enters the Blackbox area.
Give access to multiple ingredients and tools to the player to give him the opportunity to be creative: ropes to cross gaps, high grass and hay stacks to hide, assasinate and approach more stealthily, cover walls in destroyed buildings to avoid being spotted.
Encourage the player to get to high ground to survey the area and plan his moves by reaching the highest tower, allowing a great view of his surroundings.
Maintaining historical accuracy as much as possible while giving the feeling of fantasy by pushing a narrative that puts the player at the front of the action.
I made sure to place enemies around the map correctly to maintain a balanced challenge no matter where the player decides to enter from.
The alarm (fire pit) that the enemies can use to call reinforcements has been put in the middle. Putting it there ensures that no matter where the player enters from, disabling it will remain a good challenge. The same can be said for the Elite patrolling the central part of the area.