The Outer Worlds 2 - Winter's Grasp - Marisol's Second Quest pt.2

Winter's Grasp is an OA Intelligence Facility that was overtaken by Auntie's Choice during the war. The building is in emergency lockdown, and it's full of traps and hazards.

"Showing" in addition to "telling" the player that this place was an OA facility taken over by AC was important. Tons of iconography on the entrance reinforces the story told by the NPCs here.

This was my first sketch of what I intended for the POI. While it's rough, this was useful for collaboration with the Environment Artist. The main building (top), the barracks (rightmost rectangle), and one guard shack (leftmost structures).

The player has to convince this guard to let them into the Facility, otherwise the NPCs here will be hostile to the player.

The player can skip the gate guard and find entry to the main building via this stealth route.

This is an image of the final blockout for the POI. The Main Building center-left is where the player must go for Marisol's second Quest.

This is the final result. Comparing between the 2 shows how iterative steps and polish. The artist here did an excellent job (a link to her portfolio is in the description).

During Blockout, I used these floating objects to convey the intentions of my design. Here we see (left to right) a VFX callout, the name of the room, and a Hazard Area callout. This process offered easy readability collaboratively, and easy iteration.

The small locked rooms in the building are where high-risk OA Intel is housed. The player can get loot here, but at the end of the quest they incinerate the rooms (and the intel within) and that prevents access from then on.

Navigating the Building requires the player to be on the Marisol Quest for this location. The access is sealed off otherwise.
On entry, the player is instantly met with a hazard, incentivizing exploration to find a way around it.

The way past this first Hazard is through a crouch tunnel in the room behind the door (center-right of screen).

This is how the player progresses to a room where they can disable the Hazards blocking the stairs.

This is what the player sees at the entrance to the basement. The Terminal (white highlights) has what they need to proceed, and from this vantage point, they can plan that approach. This is a "floor is lava" trap gauntlet space.

The next set of traps and hazard is on the 2nd floor (above where the player originally entered the building). They can see the terminal that will shut off the traps (highlighted green).

On this 2nd floor, the player will come across an AC employee who found his way into this Intel Room. He's trapped and asks the player for help. Marisol cautions against it.

This is how the player proceeds to the terminal on the 2nd floor. where they can clear the way to the 3rd and final floor.

This is the last trap and hazard the player has to get through to get to the main control room. This is the most complicated combo of the previously encountered setups. The player has to time these as some move and others alternate on/off on an interval.

This is the main control room.
White - another Intel Room
Red - main control terminal that shuts off this lockdown state
Green - switch that determines which rooms are incinerated

When the player clears the traps, an AC employee runs in to offer a deal. They want some of intel for themselves. The player can choose to help them, compromise and burn more than they want, or burn everything... that trapped dude dies if not freed.

The player is here for Marisol's Quest. She has clear goals, and threatens to leave if the player sides with AC instead of her here.

This is the interaction I implemented for the final choice the player makes in this quest.

The quest will succeed w/ Marisol if the player either compromises or pisses off the AC troops here. If the player does the latter, they'll be attacked when they leave the building

Outside of the Marisol Quest, this POI has a Quest that goes beyond these walls. This NPC tasks the player with fighting off some Protectorate troops who cut off these troops with others in the north part of the Region. See my Cloister entry for that info

This building originally served as the Barracks for the OA personnel here. AC has slightly converted it to add a Doctors office and a Vendor. These offer additional gameplay for the player as they continue their exploration in the game.

Environmental Storytelling is probably my favorite part of the job. I love creating moments like this where the player can see how these troops live. It's a simple yet effective way to build a sense of believability and immersion.

This is the Vendor. I worked with the Artist here to convey that AC repurposed the space. This reinforces the narrative that AC took this space. This an bite-sized example of how we collaborated in my group here.

This is the Doctor. They can heal the player, and they sell medicine that the player can use. If the player completes the quest to reconnect the AC territories, this Doctor will travel to the other AC POI. This shows the game reacts to player choice.