Assassin's Creed Mirage

On Assassin's Creed Mirage, I worked as a Quest Designer. My responsibilities were:

Being placed in charge of the entire mercantile district of Baghdad: Karkh
Worked on enemy placements, level flow as well as paths between the POIs to ensure a smooth gameplay experience
Conceived quests by writing documentation and creating flowcharts
Worked closely with writers to ensure the story and gameplay reinforced each other
Scripted the quests in a proprietary engine, including exotic setups and custom enemy behavior
Collaborated closely with level designers, level artists, cinematic designers, programmers etc.
Mentored and taught any quest designers, new or experienced, on the project
And so much more!

I started work on the project from when it in its conception phase, seeing the quest all the way through to Alpha, Beta and Gold/final polish. With the help of my amazing team and fellow quest designers, we were able to polish the quests to an extremely high level of quality before release.

Karkh

The main bulk of my work was focused on the district of Karkh, the commercial district of Baghdad. Due to the size and scope of the work done, I have broken it down into parts below.

The Harbormaster Quest Chain

I saw this quest chain from its beginnings as words on a document all the way to its release. It focuses on Basim doing a favor for a friend, Kong, leading up to a level at the Harbor involving the large and imposing Harbormaster.

This quest chain was also played by media outlets during Mirage's preview event before release.

You can see it in the video below (from 1:23:18 to 1:44:00).

The Tax Collector Quest Chain

I initially handled this quest chain from conception to Alpha. After Alpha, I handed this quest chain over to a new Quest Designer brought onto the project. Though I did not handle it directly from then on, I was still present in reviewing and polishing these quests to ensure the quality remained at a high level.

This quest chain sees Basim following a trail of merchant harassment leading up to a puzzle-like level at the opulent Tax Collector's Mansion.

You can see the whole chain in the video below (1:44:40 - 1:59:30)

The Great Auction (Blackbox Mission)

The climax of the Karkh district, the Great Auction is one of the games' few blackbox missions: quests that have multiple paths and a special assassination event. I saw this mission from conception all the way to Alpha. From Alpha to Beta, another quest designer took over the quest. After which, I took back the quest to polish it and make final changes before release.

This complex, branching quest sees Basim exploring the vibrant and bustling Bazaar during its yearly 'Great Auction' event, in hopes of identifying his target and a way to assassinate them.

The whole quest is shown below (2:04:35 - 2:32:13)

Intermediary Missions

The missions in between those listed above. This included the prologue, mid-way and epilogue of the arc. Though not complex, these missions were important in serving as rest points for the player to gather themselves and decipher the information they have gotten. The work laid in making sure every detail was in place and checking back to these missions to ensure that the context was still relevant.

You can see these missions below. (1:14:00 - 1:20:15, 2:00:20 - 2:04:30 & 2:33:14 - 2:34:30)

The Forty Thieves

The pre-order quest from Mirage, the Forty Thieves sees Basim meet with Murjana, the daughter of the famed Ali Baba from the legendary tales.

I inherited this quest from a quest designer who left the company and saw this quest from its post-Alpha state to its finished product.