MY ROLE
DICE, EA in STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
I worked on Star Wars Battlefront 2 as a UX Design Consultant for the period of Autumn 2017 until Spring 2019.
I joined the team at a hectic time, 6 months before release, and stayed on as part of the GAAS team, updating the game and adding additional game modes and content.
After the game was released, we updated the progression system for the live game, and then added new content: Hero Showdown, Ewok Hunt, The Last Jedi, Solo.
MOCKUPS
FRONTEND LANDING SCREEN
Creating simple and fast mockups for layouts, explore what content we needed and how we want to balance the information we give players to create an intuitive flow. This image is an example of a high-level Mockup I did to start the design process and easily share with the team for clear collaboration.
FRONTEND MENUS
CREATING SCREENS & UPDATES FOR MENUS
6 months before the realease date of the game, I was tasked with creating the final screens & details needed and updating final touched for the UI Artists & Coders.
The first thing we updated when the game was released was to remove the progreession system that was build around getting lootboxes with upgrading in the form of cards, to instead give players skill points to be distributed as they wished. This update needed UI in game, End of Match and on the Front End where most of the interaction would happen.
LIVE GAME FIXES
NEW PROGRESSION SYSTEM
FIXING THE GAME
At game release, the progression system was seen as the least liked aspect of the game, so as part of the GAAS team, we set out to fix it.
We designed for a new Skill Point system that players could use to unlock new ability cards.
In the Frontend menus, I opted for the points to be added across several menu steps to make the UI stand out. This way, players clearly saw the new feature and did not forget to unlock new cards when they had new Skill Points available.
GAAS + NEW GAMES MODES
EWOK GAME MODE
NEW GAME MODE 1
This was a new game mode that needed new screens and HUD information for new rules. With most players starting the game as Stormtroopers and 2 starts as Ewoks. When the Ewoks kill a Stormtrooper, that player respawns as an Ewok too.
I mapped out the screen flow for the new game mode rules with simple scenes with set cameras on the map and information on what side you are playing on. This is to add to the scary mood for the game and to explain how this game mode works.
We also simplified the HUD for the scary mood of Ewok Hunt and added new abilities for the Ewoks.
THE GAME LOOP
GETTING IT RIGHT
Since Ewok Hunt was a one-off type of game mode we wanted it to be quick, fast, fun, and scary. This meant hiding some information for the player, such as exactly where the enemy and friends are, while giving them atmospheric information such as notifications when a fellow Stormtrooper has been killed.
I also designed the game loop and screens so players clearly know if they will play as a Stormtrooper or Ewok, and what information they each should get.
HERO SHOWDOWN
GAME MODE 2
To celebrate the Hero characters of Star Wars, we created an all-out 4 vs 4 brawl game mode where players could pick whom to play between the light or dark side. The Characters and team collaboration is at the center of the game mode. With a simple system to count the kills of each team to see who is the winner.
STAR WARS - MOVIE CONTENT
THE LAST JEDI
NEW MOVIE CONTENT IN THE GAME
The first major update to the game after its release was for the premiere of the Last Jedi movie.
This included a choice all players could make, with what side they wanted to complete quests for the Resistance or the First Order.
The new planet map added was made for the large team-based game mode rotation.
SOLO + KESSEL RUN
NEW GAME MODE 3
The second movie Star Wars released in the time I worked on Battlefront 2 was Solo. With a recreation of the Kessel map location seen in the movie, we added a special game mode for the occasion.
The new game mode gets one team to extract a load of cargo from one end of the map to the ship, while the other team tries to stop them.
The game mode itself did not require any big UX or UI work, so this gave us time to update and improve the game UX in other ways. Looking at feedback from the community had become a big part of how we collected feedback for areas to improve in the Frontend.
email: anna.wii@hotmail.com