Diablo IV
Role: Dungeon Design Intern
Duration: May 2024-August 2024
Engine: Proprietary
Studio: Blizzard Entertainment
What I did: I created multiple procedurally generated dungeons; Within these dungeons, I dictated gameplay flow, implemented multi-wave combat encounters, boss battles, objectives, and special events, and level-designed bespoke rooms.
Overview
As my first professional project, I worked as a dungeon design intern at Blizzard Entertainment through the SPARX (sophomore-specific internships) program. Over 15 weeks, I learned Blizzard's proprietary Diablo engine and tools and created multiple procedurally-generated dungeons and the content to go in them. This content included narrative quests and their objectives, events and vignettes, monster populations, and custom designed tiles. I developed both my technical and personal skills during this internship, including communication, giving and receiving feedback, and collaboration.
Additionally, I designed and scripted a dungeon monster vignette that shipped with the game’s latest major expansion, Vessel of Hatred, and contributed to ideation for future Diablo dungeons and content.
Case Study - Creating a Dungeon Quest
One of my main intern projects was to create a written pitch for a quest that primarily took place in a dungeon, and to design said dungeon in engine. For this pitch, I wrote a quest plot with a main objective (both narrative and literal) and sub objectives, designed the dungeon layout, difficulty ramping, gameplay flow, combat encounters, and events. I then chose which art tile sets, enemy types, and set pieces would best fit my narrative and environment. Finally, after iterating based on feedback from my lead, I created and scripted this dungeon in engine using Blizzard’s proprietary procedural generation tool in conjunction with their quest, combat, and event systems.
This project was particularly exciting because it allowed me to use many different skills under the design umbrella (quest, level, combat, systems) and tie it all together into a game-ready experience. I also got the opportunity to playtest with my teammates and implement their feedback into iterations of my dungeon, which helped me grow as a designer and better anticipate player reactions and expectations.
I cannot include any photos of my dungeon, prototypes, or engine tools due to my NDA.
Key Takeaways
My internship at Blizzard was my first professional experience, so I learned a lot about the AAA development process and how to work in a real studio. I grew in many ways during my time at Blizzard, but one of the most important was my confidence and comfortability asking questions.
When I first began working, I was terrified of appearing incompetent or taking up too much of my coworker’s precious development time. However, I soon learned how difficult it is to learn a new engine, new tools, and new design process, and had to reach out for help. I was met with nothing but kindness and support, and quickly grew much more comfortable popping over to my neighbor’s desk for help, or sending a question in the dungeon team’s slack channel.
Asking questions is an important and necessary way to ensure you are doing your best work, are aligned with your team, and understand the game’s direction and pillars. Once I had the confidence to reach out for help whenever I needed it, I was much more efficient and deepened my understanding of the tools and my team’s design processes!