Colin Campbell Lead Level Designer
FAVORITE MOVIE?
Waking Ned Devine
FAVORITE ALL-TIME GAME?
Shadow of the Colossus
FAVORITE BAND?
The Lumineers
MOTTO?
“It takes a village.”(This is actually the level design team’s motto, in a lot of ways.)
HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN VIDEO GAMES?
I studied to be a painter and sculptor in art school. I was on a path to become someone who spent most of their time making something on my own, but it wasn’t resonating. I’d also worked in theater and enjoyed the collaborative effort of a multi-talented group of people solving a creative challenge. I had friends working as interns at a local video game company, Big Huge Games, and decided it might be something I’d enjoy. I submitted a résumé, got turned down, and kept trying until I got an internship.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON THE TEAM?
More than three years now.
GIVE THE READER AN IDEA ABOUT YOUR DAY-TO-DAY TASKS.
Most of my time and energy are devoted to building and maintaining a cohesive and talented level design team. I’m responsible for the quality of the work done by my team, their health, and aspects of their career development.
I also maintain my own content, but I can’t carry the same weight of one of my team members. I spend a lot of my time in meetings with other team members to see how they’re doing and how I can help them.
A lot of times, my day’s work doesn’t create a tangible improvement in the game. I’m successful when I keep my team members comfortable and efficient. Their talent and amazing efforts create great level design.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE ASPECT ABOUT THE PROJECT?
The team building. The work is great, but the most rewarding part is watching the team grow together. A project of this scale, complexity, and timeline requires that individuals can go through enormous growth during its life span. I love doing what I can to help that and having the opportunity to watch it happen.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF CONCERNING THE GAME?
This is my first BioWare title, and I can’t adequately express how much there was to learn. There’s a wealth of knowledge here, but everyone comes from different backgrounds—Mass Effect veterans, Dragon Age developers, folks who worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and people who are new to BioWare. Coming together to build something this complex and ambitious has been amazing. I’m so proud of this team for being collaborators.
WHAT WERE THE OVERALL GOALS IN CREATING THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE MASS EFFECT UNIVERSE?
We wanted to continue with what made the trilogy great, but also build on it. We wanted players to feel like an explorer. We also learned so much from Mass Effect 3’s Multiplayer that we carried over into this project. But the heart is Mass Effect, and it was important we didn’t lose that.
THE UNIVERSE OF MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA FEELS FAMILIAR IN TERMS OF GAMEPLAY, BUT HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?
Including a jump-jet was an exciting change for us. It forced the level designers and combat teams to embrace verticality in ways no BioWare game had done before. The levels needed to be crafted as more ambitious spaces that engaged the player in a 3D environment. It made combat more fun for the player, but also the level designers.
WHAT DID THE TEAM DO DIFFERENTLY TO ACCOMMODATE OPEN-WORLD DESIGN?
Modular palettes were a big win—creating an array of pieces that could be combined in different ways to add variety quickly. We also switched some processes where applicable. Creating a story mission—as you’ve seen in all Mass Effect games, including this one—involves a lot of feedback and review meetings. We can’t afford that same level of scrutiny on every side quest and open-world encounter because each one could be approached in different ways. We could limit that, but it hurts the player agency and experience. Instead, we made sure the team felt empowered and understood the game’s vision and tone.