How to build a Dungeon: ESO devs break down Oathsworn Pit design process Zenimax Online StudiosA behind-the-scenes look at Oathsworn Pit, one of the new dungeons available in The Elder Scrolls Online\u2019s new DLC, Scions of Ithelia. The Elder Scrolls Online turns ten in April this year, and festivities are already in full swing. With the Orsinium DLC available for free throughout March as part of the celebrations, it\u2019s a perfect time for players who haven\u2019t delved into the lore of Tamriel\u2019s Orcish tribes and their connection to Malach to explore it. So, that\u2019s exactly what we did, taking a deep dive into the design of the new dungeon, Oathsworn Pit alongside Elder Scrolls Online\u2019s Creative Director, Richard Lambert, and Lead Encounter Designer, Mike Finnigan. Aside from the fast-paced and exciting combat encounters, the new dungeon also offers players a closer look at Orcish culture, and what it takes to live up to the lofty Code of Mauloch. Starting with the story \u201cInitially as we\u2019re coming up with the stories, it\u2019s fun to brainstorm,\u201d explained lead encounter designer, Mike Finnegan, speaking on the ZOS philosophy and design process. \u201cWe start from a story element, so we always start from the perspective of what is this place, what does it do, why would you be here?\u201d \u201cWhat is the player going to learn?\u201d Lambert added. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a series of connected hallways and rooms,\u201d Finnegan continued, \u201cit\u2019s a function to that place, and what does that mean?\u201d \u201cOathsworn Pit is a traditional training ground for Malacath followers, and it\u2019s separated into three Lodges.\u201d Each Lodge is a place where Orcs engage in rigorous training, learning to defend themselves and their home, beginning with their bare knuckles in the aptly named Lodge of the Fist, then moving on to the Lodge of the Axe to further their martial prowess with weapons. Finally, the belly of Oathsworn Pit is the Lodge of the Forge, where each orc will craft their own weapon, worthy of spilling blood for Mauloch. The dungeon\u2019s story takes players on a journey through these training grounds. An enigmatic group of Woodelves, known as the Recollection, are responsible for the chaos at Oathsworn Pit. Alongside the orc Bazrag, the players are tasked with driving the betrayers from the pit\u2019s halls. \u201cIf you\u2019re familiar with the game and you\u2019ve done Orsinium or Wrothgar, you may recognize Chief Bazrag,\u201d Mike Finnegan said. But this Woodelf force is \u201ca new faction of enemies,\u201d players haven\u2019t met before. \u201cWhat we typically like to do in dungeon content though is introduce stuff that may be relevant throughout the year\u2026\u201d he added, \u201cyou may see some Recollection people later on in the year, and we\u2019re kind of introducing them here.\u201d Bringing Tamriel to life On top of the fun throwbacks to past key characters, and fresh antagonists, the dungeon\u2019s scenic environments are breathtaking. A giant statue of the Orc God and Daedric Prince hangs suspended over a giant pit in the middle of the complex, and the rugged mountainside of The Reach rolls off into the distance, lending to the immense feeling of scale. The environment in each level gives players a real reason to explore and take in all the glory of the level design, with rewards for those willing to take their time, from opportunities to unlock hidden secrets or deal ruthless sneak attacks to unsuspecting Recollection forces. \u201cWhat we try to do in dungeons, especially the later dungeons we\u2019ve done, for people that like to go off the beaten path and explore, we try to give people avenues to do that,\u201d Finnegan explained, showing off some of the interactive level design and NPC co-op options. \u201cIt also gives us the opportunity to create a more well-rounded experience, we can tell different stories and other stories which are related.\u201d Both he and Lambert agree it\u2019s \u201cabsolutely\u201d worth taking the time to dive into the secrets Oathsworn Pit has to uncover. \u201cThis side content, particularly in this dungeon is a really cool story element,\u201d he told us. \u201cWe explored the orc culture quite a bit in Orsenium and Wrothgar. This allows us to explore that aspect of them that\u2019s specifically related to the worship of Malacath.\u201d Designing the Pit The team aims to \u201cdelineate different environments\u201d whenever possible, Finnegan continued. \u201cSo, the Lodge of the Fist was outside, the Lodge of the axe was inside had those Orsinium elements to it, this area\u2019s also inside, but adds the fire and the forge elements.\u201d The idea is to ensure players can clearly tell where they are, just by looking at the dungeon\u2019s visuals, making it easy to navigate through and explore those hidden mysteries. Then, of course, there are combat mechanics to consider. Understandably, for a dungeon dedicated to the Lord of Ash and Bone, boss fights can get hectic in Oathsworn Pit. With the environment and fight mechanics providing additional hurdles to conquer on top of just damaging the boss. There are traps to avoid, totems to destroy, and persistent elemental effects which can vastly shrink the size of the combat arena if you\u2019re careless. \u201cGenerally, we try to lean into our core combat mechanics, the aspects of combat we think make the game the most fun. A lot of those are movement, blocking, dodging, interrupting.\u201d Finnegan says, discussing the philosophy behind the level design. \u201cWe want to make sure what we call wombo combos, too many things happening at any given time without players being able to discern.\u201d Making every mode \u201cA lot of what we do is readability, we\u2019ll design the encounters to blend in the core combat and challenge players in specific ways, but also spend a ton of time focusing on making sure that it\u2019s readable and they know what\u2019s happening.\u201d As Finnegan sees it, he wants players to learn how attacks or terrain might affect combat. \u201cWe want to teach that before it matters.\u201d Lambert elaborated further on the process for designing a dungeon encounter like Oathsworn Pit. \u201cSo, a lot of times when the team is coming up with mechanics, they design them up front and then they start thinking about what ones they can take out for the different difficult modes so that it can be accessible to as many people as possible.\u201d Oathsworn Pit arrives alongside The Bedlam Veil, with the Scions of Ithelia DLC, launching March 11 for PC and Mac, and March 26 for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to build a Dungeon: ESO devs break down Oathsworn Pit design process Zenimax Online StudiosA behind-the-scenes look at Oathsworn Pit, one of the new dungeons available in The Elder Scrolls Online\u2019s new DLC, Scions of Ithelia. The Elder Scrolls Online turns ten in April this year, and festivities are already in full swing. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}