DESIGNING ASSASSIN’S CREED 2

GDC 2010

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

230+ features to produceSchedule doesn’t allow iterationsMust be Commercially successful

and Critically acclaimed

“Fail early, Fail often”CURRENT MOTTO:

FAIL

Assassin’s Creed = Fastest Selling New IP– 8+ million sold– Mixed reviews

THE ORDER

AC2: Objective:–Repeat the commercial

success–Answer every criticism of

the first game

230+ features to develop– Economic System– Revamped Fight System– Hiring Factions– Notoriety System– New Assassination techniques– New Mission structure– Villa management– Prince of Persia-like maps– Etc…

SCOPE?

Short Timeline made even shorter by a Scope

revision asking to INCREASE the number of features:

– Project started early 2008– Scope Revision in September 2008– In stores November 2009

CURVE BALL

300+ developers 3 internal studios across the world

ENORMOUS TEAM

UBISOFT MONTREAL

UBISOFT SINGAPORE

UBISOFT ANNECY,

Linear Missions

Core Game VillaFRANCE

What can be done:

To achieve our ambitious results?Produce everything first pass?

1. Identify and focus your efforts on core of your game.

2. Have a Strong Documentation Structure.

3. Use Play Testing and Data Tracking to validate designs

Keep the Design focused on the right things

DECIDE WHAT GAME YOU ARE MAKING

Identify your Core Gameplay to create a hierarchy

in your features:1. Guaranties that you game is fun2. Helps you realize where you can cut corners

(and maintain quality)

1. Gameplay pillars – Used to create the challenge

2. Supporting features– Give meaning and depth to your core

3. Exotic Features – Change the pace

FEATURE CATEGORIZATION

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”

Keep perspective:– What is not part of the core

shouldn’t overshadow what is.

HIERARCHY IN THE FEATURES

BE HONEST…

NavigationFight

THE GAMEPLAY PILLARS NEED TO BE ROCK SOLID

Social Stealth

Fight – Based on Timing

Moves Tools

AC2 GAMEPLAY PILLARS (1/3)

EnemiesAC2 Objective – Add Tactical choices

Navigation: Focus on Fluidity

AC2 GAMEPLAY PILLARS (2/3)

Social Stealth: Social Behaviour makes you invisible

AC2 GAMEPLAY PILLARS (3/3)AC2 Objective: Crowd as a gameplay tool

AC1 Missions = Didn’t use Core Gameplays

AC2 Secret Missions = Focus on Navigation

BUILD AROUND THE GAMEPLAY PILLARS

BORING

FUN!

Gameplay Pillars have the greatest impact

on your game.

Other features can have less polish. But don’t cut them!

CASE 1: ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Don’t let satellite features interfere with the core of

your game. Side Features should highlights your

strengths, not become your weakness.

CASE 2: ASSASSINATIONSCore to what Players expect from our

game.However assassinating is not a

Gameplay!It’s the end result of the Player using

the core Gameplay within the confine of the fantasy.

Design Goal: No challenge to execute them

Remove needless frustration Reward for the Player

Understanding what game you are creating is the cornerstone of a succesful production

However, how can you communicate it efficiently to your team?

Strong Documentation Process

WHY I THINK GAME DESIGN DOCUMENTS ARE GREAT

1. Force you to think2. Keep tracks of what you have in mind3. Limit questions - people can focus on

deliverables4. It costs less to fail in documentation

rather than in production.

PROGRAMMER APPROVED!

CREATE DOCUMENTATION THAT IS RELEVENT FOR PRODUCTION

LootDescription

Gameplay Loop On Spawn/Despawn Controls AI reactions Level Design implications 

Sound/Music design Camera Player Feedback Menu/Localisation Save Games 

Looting can be done on:Dead bodies

Lootable Objects (ex: Stationary Boats, Treasure chests, box, Final List TB D ASAP)

Big Treasure chestSmall Treasure chestCovered boats / gondolas (player can't drive them)

Looting a body or an object takes [5] seconds.

The player can receive money and [keys] while looting. There's no need to loot a body twice to get both.

AC2 DOCUMENT

[x] Identify Variables we need

in Data

Remove needless debates!

BRACKETS

Very Time consuming

- 2 to 3 hours of approval meetings per day minimum for 6 months.

- Documents were kept up-to-date until the very end.

NOT THE EASIEST ROAD

However, the peopleInvolved aren’t

involved inthe creation of data:

doesnot affect production.

In 6 months:• 200 Documents

produced• Rework was kept to

a minimum (only one feature received a 2.0 revision

• Used by the Q/A team for testing the game, up until close to submission!

RESULTS

Validation through Playtests

Part 3

WHAT WAS TRACKEDQuantitative – Data Tracking + Usability

ReportsProvide concrete informationOrient the discussion on data instead of

opinions.

Qualitative – Appreciation ReportsGive context to the data you collectedMost Important (for me)Having both provide perspective

ADAPTED TO PROD CYCLE

2 major stages in Production:Pre-Alpha – Validate your Features.Post-Alpha – Smooth out the experience.

CASE 1: NAVIGATIONProblematic: Buildings went from 1-2 story high in

AC1 to 3-4 in Venice.

Climbing felt slow and the players don’t use the Free Running as much as we’d like.

Are Layout changes between AC1 and AC2 going to bite us?

Player 12 rated this mission BORING

Player 13 rated this mission FUN

Playtests proved that more Navigation = More Fun

…except if the Mission requires it…

P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16

M10 - Fun 5 Nil 4 Nil 5 4 5 5… and that Mission was rated the most funNo Use of Rooftops…

 Overall P9 P10 P11 P12 P13

P14

P15

P16

Overall Fun 5 2 3 3 5 4 5 4Difficulty 2 4 2 3 2 3 3 3Navigation                Ability to navigate his

environment? 5 3 5 2 4 4 5 5

Casual Hardcore

Note that it affected mostly ‘Casual’ Players

CASE 1: NAVIGATIONDon’t change the layout!

Hardcore Players didn’t appear to have problems Our first city (Florence) had lower buildings, so

once the Players reached Venice, they would be acclimated with the Free Running

Work on the Strong ClimbThe Character could reach rooftops twice as fast

then what Players experienced during early Playtesting – regaining the fluidity of the first title.

May 18th

June 22nd

Usage is in line with our expectations.

The players learn intuitively to use the Free Running and Climb and maximize the Navigation.

Results

Playtest 1

Playtest 4

Very Bad

Bad Ok Good Very Good

0

4

8Blending

CASE 2: BLENDProblematic: Players didn’t understand the Blend

abilityThis affected the difficulty and

appreciation of several missions and was putting in question the notion of crowd groups.Playtest

4:

Very Bad

Bad Ok Good Very Good

0246 Blending

Solution: Change the controls – blend becomes

automatic when walking in a group.

Playtest 10:

CASE 2: BLEND

Problematic:Players complained about the lack of

variety in the fight system – yet didn’t use all the moves…

CASE 3: FIGHT MOVES

We even compared the Player’s behaviour with one of our Designer

Players

Designer

CASE 4: FIGHT MOVES

Result:no solution…

Lesser focus on Data TrackingNo changes in the layouts possibleWe had to branch out to Post Launch Data

Tracking one month before going in submissionCouldn’t afford the time to analyse the data

POST ALPHA

AC2 production cycle = ZERO time to polish

Walkthrough for the main path only = 25 hours

Playtests became the main tool to identify problematic areas in the walkthrough

POST ALPHA

Playtest 15Playtest 10

Very Bo-ring

Boring OK Fun Very Fun02468 Overall Fun

Playtest 541 Issues Flagged:

31 Minor7 Major 3 Critical

30 Issues Flagged:13 Minor14 Major 3 Critical

Very Boring

Boring Ok Fun Very Fun

02468 Overall Fun

RESULTS

2 Issues Flagged:1 Minor

1 Critical

ConclusionPart 4

MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDCritically Acclaimed

91% on MetacriticMultiple Game of the Year Awards

nominations and awards Developer Awards, BAFTA, AIAS, New York Times, IGN, Gamespot,

etc…

Commercially Successful1st week sales 33% higher then AC18 million copies sold (sell-in)

When creating big budget games, mistakes can

prove extremely costly– Lead to lower quality– Create needless work– Lower morale

Designers can manage these risks by:– Determining what the core of the game

experience is and building around it– Providing teams with solid documentation

that fits with their production needs

CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS?

THANKS!

Special thanks to:Charles Randall, Jeffrey Yohalem, Laura De Young, Genevieve Laurendeau, Steven Masters, Philippe Therien.

Patrick.Plourde@ubisoft.com