https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase daily 0.75 2026-09-07 https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/dnd-world-design monthly 0.5 2026-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/98df6303-8719-4c7b-9166-8e810397da88/20260816_132654.jpg Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Level and World Design as a GM - When building a combat space, I usually start with a layout in my notebook. The notebook will usually have the basic structure of the playspace, along with notation for what each part of the structure is for as a part of the world. “Is this blocking element a fountain or statue? Is this open area an alleyway with garbage bins or a liminal space with many “doors to elsewhere?”” While generic combat arenas are absolutely an option, most places that players enter into combat will have concrete details that allow me to fill out the space with information on the world they inhabit, or quietly nudge players toward creative solutions that I had in mind to make the world a little more interactive, or even engage with the setting on their own terms and insert their own creativity in a way that I get to enjoy and develop further with improv and later followups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/4c374cd4-073a-4a1d-bea1-80d5931112b6/20250906_195730.webp Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Level and World Design as a GM - Once the layout is determined and translated to the battlemap, I then plan and place the cadre of NPCs the players will have to engage with, from enemies, secret allies, to neutral figures. Enemy NPC construction is always fascinating as a corollary to the level design, as I get to ask myself questions like, “What is this character going to have as a member of a Devilish gang?” or, “What would be a very effective tool for an anti-magic capture team?” and, “How would these NPCs coordinate their movements to display their characterization?” Similar to character animations in a video game, or the flavor that embodies a character’s description, an NPC’s loadout and behaviors in combat can offer quite a bit to the players regarding their characterization: what kind of person they are, what training they’ve had (or lack), and what they intend to do after combat is over. “Secret Allies” can be an equally fun to design and play with as a GM, since often times the players (and on occasion I myself) will underestimate the ability for an NPC to contribute to their side in a battle. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/rocket-league monthly 0.5 2026-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/e8610085-7f8d-484a-9866-a9783901c7bc/NewDirverChallenges.png Feature Breakdowns and Blog - New Driver Challenges and other Seasonal Content (Rocket League) - A major highlight of my time, however, is the launch of the revamped New Driver Challenges! This was an initiative borne of our desire to adjust player expectations for the future of Rocket League, and uncouple access to Ranked playlists from the acquisition of level XP, which had many modifiers and bonus sources (like double XP weekends, rate bonuses via the Rocket Pass, and immediate rewards via Limited Time Challenges) that “uncompetitive” players could take advantage of to boost burner accounts. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/new-world monthly 0.5 2026-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/63a5a40f-d8ef-4c70-9028-2c43dc59648a/WellOfFortune_NW.jpg Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Well of Fortune & Secret of the Spores (New World) - One design that I advocated for in particular is the streamlining of potential loot drops in the PvP zone down to a single currency: Doubloons. Inventory stress is fairly common in looter-type games like New World. In the much more dangerous Free-For-All PvP zone, where death meant losing hard-earned loot, an overencumbered player would become frustrated with the “normal” process of inspecting and dismantling gear, while under duress to keep a watchful eye for other players. This design had the knock-on effect of quickly answering the question “how do we handle players losing infinite combinations of gear on a case-by-case basis?” In short, we wouldn’t need to. If no gear drops, then players can’t lose it, and the tech concerns become that much simpler. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/3b5e7a42-b047-4776-aa71-0bd0dd1cd897/SecretOfTheSpores_03.png Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Well of Fortune & Secret of the Spores (New World) - After many brainstorming and iteration sessions, we settled on the final product: players would be gifted a reusable “bottle” that they would be able to fill with “juice” crafted from spore plants spread across the zone. The resulting potion, when consumed, would give the player either offensive or defensive buffs to make both combat and the loot/crafting experience more rewarding while they explored the revamped area. I was responsible for all non-art aspects of the feature. I created the plant that would be placed in the world by the level design team (and gave feedback as needed for adjustments), I developed the buff/perk system and its technical functions, and I developed the gathering and loot economies for all the new materials and added rewards. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/diablo4-elias monthly 0.5 2026-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/1a143845-2df4-46ed-a825-4ccc20a373e9/Elias_trailer_close-up.jpg Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Elias Final Encounter (Diablo 4) - Elias’ first fight with the player had already been completed, so I took the opportunity to learn from the designer of that encounter. Elias is a summoner boss; in the first encounter with him, he summons cultists for defense and low-level demons to attack, and he previously gained narrative protection from an immortality spell. The changes I made for the final fight were centered around the player’s story progression up until that point. Elias no longer has access to his protection spell and has been pushed into a corner. Under that premise, I felt that he would expend much more energy to attack the player and become something of a glass cannon as a result. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/tony-hawks-pro-skater-1-2 monthly 0.5 2026-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/840604ee-b416-4c23-9acd-7309c6efe22d/TonyHawkChallenges.jpg Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Challenges (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2) - I built the feature through an iteration feedback loop. I would develop an idea, implement and test its technical feasibility, then share it with the systems team or more broadly for feedback, then make adjustments and take in additional ideas for further iteration. The tool eventually became so modular that it was used in several other areas of the game: shop unlocks based on player level progression, achievements, and even most of the secret content was routed through the challenge system. A noteworthy aspect of the iteration process is the development of the menu’s overall flow. The individual “tiles” of the menu had to be interactable for tracking, rewards claim, and gaining further details. The button assignments and logic for that system went through several iterations based on a balance of the needs for feature utility, the broader UX flows of the game, and what would “feel good” for players. Tracking existed so that players could self direct. “Rewards claim” existed because it “felt good” when a player was able to claim their rewards in rapid succession at one location. All of these aspects had to be balanced in a way that felt intuitive to players. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/showcase/destiny2-warmind monthly 0.5 2026-09-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/eec9f52d-e3db-465a-867d-a023d6a11f25/SleeperNodePreview.png Feature Breakdowns and Blog - Sleeper Nodes (Destiny 2: Warmind) - The system that shipped took more inspiration from my time playing the larger game. Part of the as-yet-unreleased Destiny 2 base game involved a mission that was intended to foreshadow the Warmind DLC, and the diamond-shaped game objects (pictured to the right) present in that mission inspired me to build a more freeform and less encounter-driven experience. In Warmind, players could build “keys” out of components collected from world activities, the key would be randomly generated but tied to a specific Node given via 3 words of increasing location specificity, and players would receive pieces of loot as a reward. https://www.chris-pietrocarli-game-designer.org/home daily 1.0 2025-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/a76935c4-9bbe-41cf-900d-0351fe1af78f/GameDevCollage.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/d02c3b4f-a900-4840-9003-797e17c5e248/RL_Season23.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/6a9d6f3a-ab2c-426b-a834-4db443e0dc57/NewWorldAeternum.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/a17aaf98-1766-46ca-8aba-994b1c275853/diablo-4.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/cc6e31dd-667f-4ee8-b9b5-589fcba21632/THPS12_TOUT-square-e1589329256575.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/86d8f201-0af9-40bd-88e7-4e9b8a697d25/destiny2.webp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/368e3943-df87-4737-a0a7-72ec0c4bf164/CollageOfChris.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69308896b53cf32730c623d4/f542c472-01b3-4b95-aac8-0d891394d86f/Tuck_11162025