Gotta add Olympus Map Update 2 (Season 12) to this fine list!
So in 3 years, I shipped:
- 2 Map Updates
- 3 Town Takeovers
- 2 Arena maps
Not too shabby...
Over the last 3 years, it's cool to look back on everything I've designed for Apex Legends and how I've learned and grown as a dev since I started 3 years ago!
TTs
- Octane's Gauntlet
- Wraith Labs
- Mirage Voyage
-World's Edge MU2 (Season 6)
Arenas:
- Party Crasher
- Overflow
Over the last 3 years, it's cool to look back on everything I've designed for Apex Legends and how I've learned and grown as a dev since I started 3 years ago!
TTs
- Octane's Gauntlet
- Wraith Labs
- Mirage Voyage
-World's Edge MU2 (Season 6)
Arenas:
- Party Crasher
- Overflow
Man I love Blocktober! Here's some blockouts of Octane's Gauntlet I designed for
#ApexLegends
. The whole design started from the idea of 2 giant ramps and a ring of fire.
This was a fun one to make and was my first AAA shipped content.
#Blocktober
#Leveldesign
As Apex Legends S12 is upon us and Olympus MU2 will be live soon, just wanted to shoutout all the great folks who helped bring this Map Update to life!
Lewis Walden and I Army of Two'd this update through some rough patches but it was the work of several people to pull this off
Finally shipped this beauty, My magnum opus! This is, without a doubt, the coolest thing I have ever designed and couldn't have wished for a better team to do it with! All departments poured their hearts into this and it shows. The Mirage Voy'age is live now in
@PlayApex
Tuned into a random Apex stream playing Arenas today to them saying how they loved Overflow, said it was the best Arena map
Me: AYYYYYY ☺
Moments later they started playing Party Crasher and said how they hated it, asked who tf thought it was a good Arena map
Me: ayyy 🥲
😂
LMAO 🤣 The official "Art of Apex Legends" book talks about Octane's Gauntlet and uses the image I posted where I definitely meant to leak Revanent before he was announced/released... 😶
I always thought it was a great shot, and I guess I'm a published photographer now? 😎📸
After 3 years, today was my last day on the
#ApexLegends
team. It's been a crazy ride and being part of this team and seeing Apex launch and evolve has been life changing!❤️
I got to work and learn from my
#1
dream studio, and I hope our work continues to be enjoyed and inspire!
This is sick and a really cool representation of what is actually new in Olympus MU2 (as changes can be tough to notice to some)
Thanks to the OP! This MU was way ambitious from a Dev standpoint already otherwise I would've changed more, maybe next time🤷♂️
Way back in Season 5, I found Patrick cosplaying as a bunch of Legends and thought it was the funniest thing in the world.
I can only find Wattson these days, does anyone know where I can find more Patrick Apex Legends cosplays pics because these belong in a museum! I need more!
Happy
#Blocktober
all!
I've got some blockouts from my last work on Apex Legends, Olympus Map Update 2 from Season 12
This was a tough one for various reasons, but mainly because we created a whole new zone to expand Olympus, which had tough elevations/heights to design around
Ayyyy the Olympus changes I designed for next Season are finally revealed!!!🥳Written by yours truly😉
These were some ambitious changes and was a tough challenge to pull off for various reasons, but so pumped for everyone to actually play it!
Can it be Feb 8th yet?!?!?!
Olympus is back, but it looks a little…different 🤔
Mad Maggie’s sabotage has left the city in chaos—and the Legends will need to adapt if they want to survive.
🔗:
Booted up Apex Legends for the first time since leaving Respawn and I realized I lost my Dev Badge and Dev Holospray... Pain
Now what will I do when I kill someone?! Tbag without throwing a Dev Badge?? Barbaric!😤
Brb, going to call my Mom to make sure Im still a special boy 🥲
Hearing how devs for Halo 3 got flaming helmets is what lowkey made me want to be a developer someday. Today, we finally got some Dev swag on Apex 😎
Feels good rocking the Dev Badge and getting some wins with my friend Nick on the map update I worked on 🤙
After a little over 4 years, today is my last day at Respawn
Been quite the journey here, worked on some awesome stuff with awesome folks, and being part of the team when Apex Legends launched will forever be a core memory for me ❤️
Excited to start a new adventure next week 🍻
Excited to release my first map update and see it in the wild. Learned so much working on this and can't wait for everyone to play it!
But RIP The Mirage Voy'age, until we meet again, sleep well sweet prince
World's Edge has been revamped with new pathways, rocket launch sites, blast walls, and more!
Read on to learn more about the map updates and changes coming when Season 6 launches on August 17. 👇
📄:
First time since March 2020, I worked from the Respawn office today. It was beautiful 🥲
I got upgraded to a VIP Lead office with a view too. The Lead paycheck comes with the office too, right?
Feels like a lifetime ago since I was working in the office, but so happy to be back
Here's the blockout I did for Wraith's Town Takeover (Labs) for
#ApexLegends
Design goal: Create a Bunker style area for CQ engagements but offer more options for attacking/defending the area. And a giant Portal in the sky for new gameplay experiences
#Blocktober
#Leveldesign
I've been affected by this round of layoffs after Ridgeline Games was shut down today.
Doing SP stuff for Battlefield was fun and learned alot this last year, hoping everyone can land on their feet
If you have some Level Design roles, hit me up! Im looking for my next adventure
I got my job at Respawn because a friend pointed me in the direction of one of McCord's "We're Hiring" Twitter posts. Never thought I would get the job, but here I am.
Long story short, if any positions here interest you, shoot your shot, might changed your life!👍
I've got 2 positions on the
@PlayApex
design team that I'm looking to fill!
A Technical Designer (scripter) and a Level Designer.
Read thread for what these jobs are like:
I remember pitching the first blockout of "Party Crasher" (Mirage Voyage crashing in a city) for Arenas and
@MonsterclipRSPN
telling me that it has to be Canon then...😐
Like my Father always told me growing up:
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it too"
We’d wish you luck, but in Arenas, there isn’t any. This is a true test of skill. 🏹
Drop into a new action-packed 3v3 game mode, take to the skies as new Legend Valkyrie, and master the new high-precision Bocek Bow when Apex Legends: Legacy launches May 4!
Has it only been 2 years?! Holyyy that feels like forever ago, time flies...
Octane's Guantlet was the first thing I shipped for Apex Legends (and the first thing I made in the game industry), this event will always hold a special place in my heart ❤
The Iron Crown event started 2 years ago today in Apex Legends – the first-ever Collection Event.
👤 Solos
👑 Classic skins
🪓 Bloodhound Heirloom
💉 Octane Town Takeover
Even after the 100th time, it's always so cool to see my designs in the cinematic trailers and stuff outside the game.
Excited for the changes to Olympus for Season 12 to be officially revealed. Stay tuned 🙃
More blockouts for
#Blocktober
! This is from
#ApexLegends
Arena map, Party Crasher
As the 1st LD to explore what custom maps could be for Arenas (Apex's 3v3 mode) Party Crasher was my 3rd design, but showed promise and taught us several soft rules to follow for future Arena maps
Another
#Blocktober
post! This time for Phase Driver, a massive POI I designed for Apex Legend's S12 Map Update for Olympus MU2
It's a large teleporter that players could interact with to get high-tier loot & was designed on top of previously unplayable space on the map, aka air
Unreal I get to see the Octane Town Takeover I designed in a trailer and playable to the public!! My first shipped AAA content and it's so cool seeing people play it! Really excited for Solos too!!
Declare your right to rule. 👑
Stand above the rest in limited-time Solos mode, score unique cosmetics, launch into an adrenaline-fueled town takeover designed by Octane himself, and more.
Hearing how devs for Halo 3 got flaming helmets is what lowkey made me want to be a developer someday. Today, we finally got some Dev swag on Apex 😎
Feels good rocking the Dev Badge and getting some wins with my friend Nick on the map update I worked on 🤙
Ever wonder what Level Designers do on Apex Legends? Well check out my online Portfolio! Spoiler alert, it's a lot lol
I finally had the time to update my portfolio🥳:
- 2 Map Updates
- 3 Town Takeovers
- 2 Arena maps
Everything shipped is a team effort!
This is my last week at EA. After 5 1/2 years, it's been a fun ride working on cool IPs!
But Im excited to announce I've accepted a position on an awesome team at ProbablyMonsters as an Advanced Senior Level Designer!
Thank you to everyone who boosted my resume and reached out!
I've been affected by this round of layoffs after Ridgeline Games was shut down today.
Doing SP stuff for Battlefield was fun and learned alot this last year, hoping everyone can land on their feet
If you have some Level Design roles, hit me up! Im looking for my next adventure
Starting at the bottom of Bronze 4 this season, I finally got to Diamond in Ranked Apex solo-queing mainly, which im told is the highest rank in the game? Making me the best in the world? 🤔
Almost poetic my Diamond entry game should have been a 2k damage-win but darn KRABERS!!!
I am super pumped to announce that I have accepted a position at Respawn Entertainment as a level designer!! I am honored and excited to be joining such a talented team of people and I can't wait to get started!
Huge thanks to everyone who has supported me and helped me develop!
I think I just hit the peak of my career, I've made it as a YouTube Thumbnail Image... So many people I want to thank and for believing in me thru this journey🤩
Was going for a 3K game and ended up with almost 5300?!?
Almost had the win if SOMEONE *stares at
@RSPN_JayBiebs
* didn't throw and die...
Almost had the 1v3 win too, but SOMEONE *stares at Lifeline's rez shield* didn't get in the way...
But what a game, new personal best!🥳🥳
Wanna drop hot? Shall I recommend the new Singh Labs location (Wraith Town Takeover) now live in
@PlayApex
This was a blast to design. Brutal, fast, and chaos is the name of the game here!!
Listen to the voices in the Apex Legends Voidwalker event, featuring an exclusive Wraith Voidwalker skin, a secret underground Wraith town takeover, an all-new limited-time mode, and more!
Step into the Voidwalker event now through 9/17.
Just realized the other day marked my 4 year anniversary at Respawn! 🥳
Time flies, but also, its only been 4 years? Feels like Ive been here my whole life at the same time
Been a crazy ride looking back at everything I was a part of here, from Apex Legends to something new now
I'm happy to see others are having a good laugh about the map name like I did 😂
I named the map "Party Crasher" before I even started to actually build the level because the theme was too funny and fitting
Pretty sure the name is the main reason this map is being released...🤔
Played a game of Apex Legends at midnight (my birthday) and the first game as a 24 year old was a pretty sweet win, even in my old age my reflexes are still sharp. Year 24 on this earth off to a great start, hopefully this luck continues...🤞
I just completed my 1st week
@ridgelinegames
as a Level Designer, helping create their Battlefield campaign!
Super excited to continue learning single-player designs with this ambitious team on the BF IP.
So much cool stuff to explore and learn here, I'm excited to dive in!
So grateful to have helped shape Apex into something special. Apex & the team has been a huge part of my life and it wasn't an easy decision, but time to move on to another adventure & continue to challenge myself & grow.
I'll still be at
@Respawn
just working on another project
Real talk, trying to capture what makes Apex combat so addictive and fun into a 3v3 setting and making custom maps to support tactical, balanced gameplay designed for BR was the most challenging task I've had to do professionally, so far at least 😂
Happy its finally announced🥳
Obviously, the prototype is much different from where we are now! All the changes stemmed from our push to extract as much depth as we could out of the mode.
@RoboB0b_
did several iterations of the shop/economy/scoring system, and
@Alex_Graner
tried several styles of maps
I have taken my first steps into Adulthood, I have framed a picture for the first time! 🥳
Thought it was time to grow up and mature as I approach 27, so I got this amazing gift framed
It's a bunch of "me's" around my Apex's magnum opus, the Mirage Voyage, such a work of art 😍
After 2 & a half years, the Respawn gym is open again! Upgraded & with a fresh new paint job!
So many memories from a lifetime ago, it's beautiful 🥲
Plenty of room for more Respawn memorabilia tho, preferably ones I can take home with me too, it'll help me lift better... 😃
Seeing the community interact with all the wacky things on this floating wonderland has been amazing, I'm just happy to see people have as much fun with the Mirage Voyage as I did working on it. Cheers Party People, til we party again 🍻
A send off party for Mirage's voyage! 😢🍻 Thanks to everyone who participated! Idea thanks to Asymmetricsquid on Reddit. We await her return
@PlayApex
@RaymeCVinson
@Respawn
Feels like forever since I worked on this map, time is weird these days, but out of all different types of maps I prototyped for Arenas, I loved the smaller, rapid skirmish maps. Overflow is my favorite for that reason!
Excited to see how it plays tomorrow!
The floor 🔥 is 🔥 lava 🔥
Well, some of it. New Arenas map, Overflow, arrives tomorrow with the start of the Thrillseekers Event. Let's see if you can take the heat.
- Halo Infinite Multiplayer launch
- Getting some Apex Legends & Respawn love from someone in public over lunch
- Mirage Voyage getting some love in a company meeting
-then getting this PS5 email?!?
Absolutely the biggest vibes for a Monday to get me thru this week ❤
Kind of poetic, but today is my 3 year anniversary at Respawn and McCord was the one who took a chance on me, probably wouldn't be here without him.
Worked with so many talented folks here, so fortunate to have worked with them and witness Apex's launch internally. Time flies...
Today is my last day at
@Respawn
.
11 years, 11 seasons of Apex, 11 shipped maps. I thought that was neat.
It's tough to leave a game and a team that you love.
But, it's time to do something new.
No plans quite yet. Going to walk the Earth for a bit and recharge. Stay tuned!
I was nervous for this MU to ship, bc in the ~6 months it took to make Olympus MU2, we only had 3-4 real playtests on it, mostly with bots too. No one reason, WFH is just hard
So all design decisions were from my own intuitions of what works for Apex.
Glad it's working a bit 😊
Haven’t really seen many positive posts about this first split, but it has gone super fucking good. Control LTM success, Olympus changes feel really good, balance changes have made ranked/comp viable for many different comps that each find success. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
So fortunate for everything I got to work on for Apex Legends and being able to work & learn from all the dope people here.
Couldn't have asked for a better team, project, and community to start my career with! Here's to whatever is next!
Excited to support Apex as a fan now!❤️
I still get excited whenever I see folks enjoying stuff I've made years ago. Obviously everything I've shipped for Apex was a team effort and I couldnt have done it without the awesome folks on the team!
Excited to see what the future holds and what other cool stuff I'll work on
Oh wow. Ten minutes, folks. Don’t be the guy who opens fire. Show
@Alex_Graner
how much we appreciate his hard work, until the Voyage is back where she belongs.
100 Million?!? This is nutty to be a part of!!!🥳🥳🥳
Thanks to everyone playing! So cool seeing the video highlight some of the best in the community and wait... wait... hold up... 👀👀👀👀
The Artists absolutely killed it on all the Arena maps but especially Party Crasher as it went from a dull, destroyed city-scape to a vibrant, Vegas-style night map
@jakevirginia
@bmolson17
@antimatik
Robert Taube, and Paul Tran all knocked it out of the park!!!
I remember seeing
@Respawn
reveal Titanfall at E3 2013 when I was in high school and being blown away! Still one of the coolest reveals ever! Since then Respawn has been my dream studio to work at. Never thought it would happen so soon. Still waiting to wake up from this dream 🛌
10 years
@Respawn
. Wild. From a dirty office with broken glass to a few pretty okay games. Love you OG Respawn fam, whether you're currently with us or not. ❤️
Going into Prowler Town in the center of Storm Point is like going into a dog park covered in peanut butter, im just passing thru, leave me alone! LMAO
Apex Legends, where even the AI 3rd party you...
Might need that Skulltown treatment 🤔😂
Ohhhh this takes me back to my first few months at Respawn, was really cool seeing Olympus come together from the very beginning!
I remember the first Olympus playtest with some of my 1st BR designs in there 😬... there's a reason none of them shipped with Olympus' final form 😂
#ApexLegends
Olympus, May 2019. ~5 months into development. Still had a LOT of change to come, but it was starting to find itself.
None of the PoIs were final. We were still trying to solve a floating city layout at a high level. There were LOTS of gaps and not enough walls. 🤣
Lots of emotions today, but all the best to
@RodneyReece7
@videorespawn
@yamp_ish
These guys are Legends and it was an absolute pleasure working with you all the last few years! Thanks for everything and best of luck on your next adventures!
g2g cry about something else now 🥲
A ton of people had a hand in bringing this update to life, but the art team I worked with on World's Edge MU2 was top-notch and helped flesh out a lot of my designs/blockouts, wouldnt have been possible without
@jakevirginia
@Leah_Augustine
@rude_richard
to name a few, cheers 🍻
Are the map designers for World’s Edge and the Season 6 changes on Twitter?
Those guys are the real mvps and I’d actually love to know who’s behind it and follow them on twitter.
Last game of season 8, BRING ON SEASON 9 BABY!!!
Not used to randoms hopping on the mic just to compliment me... So this is what it feels like to be cracked???
But the real question is, what should my Streamer name be tho??🤔😆
BRO!!! Much love
@NiceWigg
for real!
I would have loved to tackle more like the Energy Depot/Gardens part of Olympus along with other stuff, but the changes I wanted was already way over ambitious
Hopefully, this'll be good first steps for more later tho
Overflow was the first time that Ive actually placed any easter eggs in a map for Apex Legends, didn't realize people found some of them until recently
Glad folks like
@GamingMerchant_
liked them! This one is a lowkey reference to the Mirage Voyage hottub
So that's what my voice sounds like... Can I exchange it? 😂
But it was a lot fun talking with these guys about some of the stuff I've worked on for Apex Legends and my modding work.
I can also cross "Be on a Podcast" off my bucket list now too, which is pretty cool 😎
This week’s episode of Dropping Spicy is live! We interview
@Alex_Graner
and learn about what he does as a Level Designer at Respawn! His work in Apex included Octane’s, Wraith’s, and Mirage’s Town Takeovers! Check it out here:
Being a Certified Pizza Lover since birth and needing to take a leap into adult hood since I turned 26 today (🥲), I made pizza from scratch and it was life changing! 😍
Had to eat it on our finest china too as im an elegant adult now 😌
For the record, totally understand why they take dev badges away, just sad because I always liked throwing it down and interacting with people that way
Always led to "interesting" engagements 😂
Was fun while it lasted
Adding a whole new Zone to Olympus meant pushing out existing POIs (may not feel like much, but was a tough task)
The purpose was to expand Olympus' South side, offering more playable space/new routes (red arrows below) & slow squads down from rushing Labs (Zone 7) as easily
When I first heard about this VGA release idea back when I was still designing the Mirage Voy'age, I thought they were joking... Mirage on the big screen doing MoCap live announcing the Mirage Voyage update on stage??? Oh boy am I glad those mad lads actually did it tho!
Lighting is absolutely amazing in the new areas of Olympus and that's due to these Lighting Rockstars!
@WorkMachine3D
and Nu-Lee Han
A lot of back and forth to get a cool aesthetic while supporting gameplay needs, and it came out so beautifully! Especially the new POI, Terminal
Phase Driver was a tough, massive POI to design on an already tough MU to take on, mainly because of designing around existing POIs/routes & elevations where no playable geo existed before
Lots of iteration for this one!
Proud of the team that helped bring this one to life tho!
The new Zone 16 called "Shifted Grounds", we experimented with what if Olympus' artificial terrain plates glitched out
What could that look like while still supporting clean/balanced gameplay that offered new ways to play at new & old POIs? Exploring & designing that was tough
I love
#Blocktober
but it's been a busy month for me, but here is my contribution. It's a block-out of a MP map inspired by Modern Warfare I did in
#UnrealEngine
. Supposed to be an Iraq city with a focus on the Domination game mode with elevated lines of sight
#leveldesign
These are just the folks I worked with directly, there are so many others who's involvement is needed to pull off Map Updates like this.
This was a super ambitious MU and I'm so excited to finally see it go live!
Cheers Team, you all are actual Living Legends!!!🥳🥳🥳
I went to Anime Expo for the 1st time and cosplayed as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things, all my friends said it wasn't anime, but right outside the convention center was GIANT Stranger Things posters... Check Mate!
But Sexy Steve killed it and got tons of photo requests 😎
QA helped find so many issues with the map as moving existing POIs out and adding so much new geo to a floating map as complex as Olympus is no easy task.
Yifan Li and his team of QA folks helped catch some huge bugs in this MU that players will hopefully never be burdened with!
And here are some final pictures from the area as it shipped in Season 2. We have an amazing art team here and couldn't have done it without the whole team!
Am I crazy or was the Black Widow movie like... not good at all? Was hyped to see it for the last year and finally see Taskmaster in the MCU but holy... they fumbled that character hard imo
Haven't seen a character done that dirty since Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine🤔😬
Seeing these kinds of stats is dope!!! My first game of
#ApexLegends
was a win BABY!! My first game of Pubg was also a win, but who's keeping track... 😎
Script, FX, and Audio all did some awesome things this Map Update and these fine folks absolutely killed it! Did some dope stuff never done in Apex before!
@RyanEhrenberg
@SamanthaZero
@jhilmanaudio
Was a blast working with them and seeing their work come together so perfectly
This update literally would not have been possible without
@jakevirginia
and his leadership, 11/10 guy, would definitely work with HammondBoy again, even if we're not making Hammond stuff🤩
Y’all should follow and spam
@jakevirginia
who lead the map update for Season 6
@PlayApex
! He also did the Harvester in Season 4, you could almost call him a
#HammondBoy
⬜️🟦
MU2 started with us 3 as these 2 helped drive things from a higher Lead perspective:
@videorespawn
@DigitalGuido604
Can't forget the awesome producer who was always helping me solve some of the worst issues I've experienced at Respawn: Logan Miller, my personal firefighter❤️
I'll probably tweet out additional blockouts of specific POIs/areas from this update and some Arena maps I shipped for Apex as I have a few blockout images of them and LOVE
#Blocktober
Hype hype hype!!! Super excited to see all the change ups as a player next season!
But also return of a "fan favorite"?! 👀👀👀
If it's what I think it is... im excited and honored! 🥹
We are so excited about this year of
@PlayApex
and want to take a moment give a sneak preview of the next Season in this special dev diary.
To all the players and creators who have supported us over the last four years, thank you.
Read on about Revelry:
Party Crasher went thru alot of last minute redesigns and was deemed the Sacrificial Lamb as it needed to release with Arenas' launch
All it's teachings we learned during it would be applied to future maps. It wasn't perfect, but I learned a lot & proud of the team for this one!
Welcome to World’s Edge, a new Apex Legends map where molten heat and chemical ice collide. 🔥❄
Join our cast of Legends – including the newest Legend, Crypto – on the dropship as they’re whisked from Planet Solace towards World’s Edge on Planet Talos.
FINALLY!!! Diamond rank BABY! Saw those sweet gun charms and ranked rewards and I had to get into Diamond for ranked
@PlayApex
! Can't wait to get demoted in a few days...
.
@Geoffkeighley
, my man, Mirage here! Saw the
#GameAwards
noms. Wanted to let you know you forgot one, "Best Competitor in a Battle Royale Based on Humor and Good Looks". We all know who's winning that one, am I right?. Alright buddy, see you soon!