Development Info

• Team Size: 300+

• Genre: Action Adventure, Sandbox

• Engine: Proprietary

• Release Date: August 30, 2015

Design Challenges

Multiple Game Modes: Each of the three levels I created for the Toybox Hub had a different gametype and required me to keep my mind open and flexible.  Designing a 2D Sidescrolling Brawler is very different than designing for a 3D Randomizing Platformer or 3rd person arena shooter.

Fun and Balanced: My responsibilities on the game included working on weapon balance and the costs of items, powerups, and their upgrades.

Modular Design: As a Toybox level, my directive was to make a level that a player could use with the tools available to them.  I had to push the envelope and think of how to utilize the new tools in addition to the older tools in new ways.  Such a restraint was a challenge that made me reevaluate my thinking processes constantly and I believe helped me make the best levels that I could.

Game Summary

Disney Infinity is an action-adventure game with physical toys, open world creation and story-driven gameplay. Characters, playsets and other features are brought into the game using figurines and discs with the included Infinity Base.  There are two main modes in this game: Play Set and Toy Box. Each playset is essentially a self-contained world with its own gameplay, based on a specific film or series with recognizable characters and storylines. Characters from one world cannot enter into another world, but players can put any characters together in Toy Box mode. Toy Box is a sandbox mode that players can fully customize and explore.

My Role

As noted above, the levels designed for the Toybox Hub are levels that are supposed to give players an idea of what is possible with the new tools that are available in Infinity 3.0 and new functions some of the old ones now have.  Not only did we have to make a fun level, we had to do it in a way that a player could deconstruct and be inspired by.

Heroes Ascension: A tower with 21 sections of randomized platforming elements with thousands of unique combinations

• Designed multiple systems for platforming sections to be chosen at random, and then not repeated for the rest of the challenge

• Designed 30 different platforming segments for randomized gameplay selection

• Implemented event scripting

• Designed level layout

• Lighting, skybox, and music selection

Urban Brawler: A Double Dragon inspired side scrolling brawler, complete with destructible cars, boxes, and barriers

• Implemented repeatable encounter design and scripting

• Designed level layout and pacing

• Balanced pickup placement

• Conducted playtests and feedback requests

Paintball Monstrosity: An old fan favorite brought into Infinity 3.0

• Designed and blocked out a multi tiered 3rd person shooter arena

• Implemented pickup systems and encounter design

• Lighting, skybox, and music selection