Wheelman
Midway Studios – Newcastle
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Mission Designer
Project Overview
Back in 2007, I joined Midway Studios – Newcastle as a Mission Designer on Wheelman, my first professional design role in the games industry. Coming from a background in first-person multiplayer modding, my experience with Unreal Engine allowed me to hit the ground running on my first commercial project.
Wheelman was an open-world action-driving game starring Vin Diesel as undercover agent Milo Burik. Set in Barcelona, the game combined vehicular combat and high-speed pursuits with on-foot action, with a strong focus on cinematic set pieces and exaggerated vehicle abilities.
I designed and implemented roughly a quarter of the game’s story missions, primarily across the early and middle stages of the campaign, in addition to two late-game boss battles. The project was my introduction to professional mission design, open-world development and visual scripting using Unreal Engine 3 and Kismet.
Mission Designer
Midway Studios – Newcastle
Unreal Engine 3 and Kismet Visual Scripting Tools
24 March 2009
PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
From the mission: “Interviewing Felipe”
From the mission: “Getting the Job Done”
From the mission: “Defeat Felipe”
From the mission: “Recover the Documents”
From the mission: “Bringing It Home”
From the mission: “Stand and Deliver”
From the mission: “Balance of Power”
From the mission: “The Big Distraction”
From the mission: “Defeat Felipe”
Responsibilities
As a Mission Designer, I was responsible for designing and implementing story missions using Unreal Engine 3 and Kismet.
My work combined mission scripting with level design, using locations throughout the existing open world as well as building and adapting spaces from primitives and existing art assets to support bespoke gameplay.
I also developed mission-specific gameplay systems, scripted in-engine cinematics and designed tutorials around Wheelman’s core mechanics.
- Designed and implemented roughly a quarter of the story campaign
- Scripted mission logic, gameplay systems and cinematics using Kismet
- Designed vehicular and on-foot action sequences within the open world
- Created and adapted level spaces to support bespoke mission content
- Designed tutorials introducing and testing core player mechanics
- Designed and implemented two late-game boss encounters
- Designed and scripted the Xbox Live and PlayStation Network demo
Selected Work
Tutorial Mission Design: You Scratch My Back
“You Scratch My Back” was my first professional mission design and served as both a tutorial and showcase for the Airjack, one of Wheelman’s signature mechanics. The mission also introduced players to escaping police pursuit through evasive driving.
It was one of the first missions to reach beta and became a test bed for the game’s approach to tutorials. Its combination of core mechanics and varied gameplay also led to it being regularly used during press tours and demonstrations at trade shows.
Systemic Mission Design: Interviewing Felipe
“Interviewing Felipe” challenged the player to frighten a passenger through increasingly dangerous driving while maintaining enough speed to prevent his escape.
I scripted a “Scare-O-Meter” that rewarded increasingly dangerous driving, with the mission eventually teaching and testing the Super Boost before concluding with a police escape.
During production, we recorded Felipe’s dialogue while the actor watched a “perfect run” of the mission, a technique subsequently adopted for other missions in the game.
Boss Mission Design: Recover the Documents
“Recover the Documents” was one of the most varied missions I worked on, moving from an on-foot firefight into a motorcycle pursuit across Barcelona, through the underground metro system and ultimately into a boss encounter against a speeding subway train.
As a late-game mission, I wanted to give players opportunities to exercise the abilities they had acquired throughout the campaign rather than prescribing a single solution. This extended to the final encounter, where I supported multiple methods for damaging and ultimately destroying the train.
Additional Mission Work:
“Bringing It Home” / “The Big Distraction” / “Defeating Felipe”
My additional mission work included a semi-truck pursuit built around destructibility and vehicle-specific mechanics, a heavily scripted police convoy mission, and an on-foot pursuit leading into a semi-truck boss battle against Felipe.
I was also responsible for designing and scripting the standalone Xbox Live and PlayStation Network demo. This featured a bespoke mission that combined the first half of the mission, “Frantic” with the second half of the mission, “Introducing Benito”.
Game Trailer
Reception
Wheelman received particular praise for its high-speed driving and cinematic action, with Game Informer awarding the game 8.5/10. In 2013, the magazine revisited Wheelman as part of its “Cult Classics” series, highlighting its over-the-top vehicular action and set pieces.