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Quest Summary

- Overlands Quest Location

Grounding Station is a neutral faction Location in The Outer Worlds 2 that contains the "Fiddling with Fulgurating Fulminations" quest. The Grounding Station is one of the sub-locations in Praetor, owned by the Order of the Ascendant, formerly owned by the Protectorate that once served as a stablization center for the Lightning Towers on Praetor. In an effort to understand Praetorean lightning and Station's technology, the quest giver (Exemplar Simon), asks you to recalibrate 5 Lightning Towers all located in various locations on the Overlands of Praetor.

Naturally the OA are neutral and willing to work with the player. The Base of the Station is heavily guarded with Order soldiers, and the front gate also has a guard that greets the player, before allowing entry. Should the player have negative standing or attack the faction, the Grounding Station also serves as a multi-level combat arena. To support the rogue negative standing players, the location also has a stealth entry route that bypasses the front gate option.

Past the base is a rocky ascent to the Grounding Station's Tower. Inside the tower the player will find Exemplar Simon analyzing data. If the player looks out towards the Overlands, the player should be able to see all 5 lightning rod towers throughout Praetor, that they will be required to visit, all providing intriguing gameplay

Design | Team Goals

The Grounding Station mostly served the purpose of World Building for Praetor. The unique quality of the planet was it's lightning ability. To sell that story and build up that idea, we aimed to use the Station as a means to show the player 1) how dangerous Praetor is but 2) how the planet used lightning as a resource prior to the war between factions that took place in The Outer Worlds 2. Additionally, the team required 1 collection quest that enticed the player to explore the Overlands of Praetor, and I believe the quest successfully achieved that, while also pushing the player to other content nearby the Lightning Towers.

Role: Area Designer

  Responsibilities:

  • Blockout area layout

  • Combat Encounter setup

  • Loot Placement

  • Collaboration w/ Art & Narrative

  • Visual Scripting/Blueprints

  • Digital Documenation & Maps

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Pod Team: 3 Devs
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Game Name: The Outer Worlds 2
Platform: Xbox, PS5, PC
Development Time: 2 years

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Design Goals for the Grounding Station revolved around making sure the space supported combat and at least one other way to access the space. 

Additionally designing and collaborating with various devs to make sure gameplay at all 5 towers felt fun and helped build the world's lore on Praetor was the main goal in mind. Creatures, factions, and the nuance on Praetor were all engaging things we used to achieve that goal with the Station.

Station Exterior
 - Quest Start

The base of the Grounding Station is heavily guarded with OA soldiers. An electric gate stands in the way of the player and a neutral exchange between a gate guard. If the player inquires about the OA Scientist up top, they'll direct you up to the Tower above where the player will find the Exemplar.

Inside the walls of the Station are neutral, OA soldiers patrolling the base for any enemy faction or hostile party. If the player chooses to fight them, the space fully supports that and stealth entry as well.

At the top of the Station Tower is Exemplar Simon also accompanied by 2 soldiers as well. Speak with him to begin the Fiddling with Fulgurating Fulminations" quest 

Early Grounding Station Concepts

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Order of the Ascendant, Exemplar Simon

Lightning Tower
Locations⚡️

The Lightning Towers are all distributed in various regions of the map to push the player out into the Overlands to explore.

The Southeast and nearest tower to the Station requires you to enter a Raptidon cave, and further ascend into a Mantiwasp Hive that's inhabited the Tower. The Combat  at the Hive is intended to make players feel like they're being attacked by a swarm of wasps.

The Northeastern Tower is missing the recalibration part, and it appears Scrappers (enemy faction obsessed with junk/scrap) have taken the part to a nearby camp where the player will need to engage in combat or stealth there way to the recalibration part needed to repair the tower

The Central Tower is built into the mountains, where the Raptidons live. The Protectorate were in active efforts to takeover Central Praetor, but are struggling with the Raptidon problem. When players arrive at the tower, they'll find Raptidons attacking Protectorate forces to display that World Building of how ferocious these creatures are. 

The Southwest Tower is affected by a series of rifts that have appeared, as a (result of the Rift Implosion in the prelude). This Tower serves moreso as a simple puzzle to gain access to the tower, as the tower has electric gates blocking immediate access. This Tower also pushed the player to visit the Rift Lab to get the gadget necessary to interact with Rifts.

Lastly the Northwest Tower is located on the shore of a electric lake. At this lake, the player will find native space spiders (Verachnid) that have taken over the Tower.

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After completing the quest and recalibrating all 5 towers, the Order Scientists rewards the player with Storm Grenades

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All Lightning Rod Map Locations 

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Speaking with the Order Scientist
- Quest Conclusion

Once the player has successfully recalibrated all 5 Lightning Rod Towers in the Praetor Overlands, the Scientist will reward the player with special Praetorean Storm Grenades and a recipe to create them as well. The grenades summon the power of the planets lightning to strike down upon foes after being thrown.

Thanks to the player, the OA Scientist can now continue his research on Praetor's unique lightning resources & technology.

Order of the Ascendant, Exemplar Simon

Gallery

Art by Scott Everts & Terry Hess

Early Blockout Images (TBD)

Design Challenges

Utilizing Gameplay Content as World Building at all 5 Towers
As mentioned above, connecting combatants and the content at each tower proved helpful when it came to checking to list of did we accomplish the themes and tell the stories we wished to tell on Praetor's Overlands. Whether it was Raptidon's tearing Protectorate to shreds, Scrappers (faction) robbing the tower for it's parts, or Rifts appearing in Praetor, it helped provide conten that connected to the game world more widely.

Grounding Station Having a Lift but Not Capable of Moving:
In early game, this exact tower was capable of moving upwards and downwards with it's retractable leg. Unfortunately the team didn't have the resources to achieve that functionality with the Tower's Lift Leg, so we made a base that supported multiple combat units. Additionally we also made a natural terrain pathway up to the tower, so give the player pace and excitement upon ascending and gaining a really sick view of Praetor. Ultimately these small details don't quite matter to players, but it's the small details and consistency, that makes for a well designed game.

Retrofitting the Station as Combat Space:
The Order of the Ascendant are naturally neutral. In the case that players went the Murder Hobo route, or just got on the factions bad side, through other means, we needed to assure the space fit well as a combat arena, with viable stealth routes to support that style of play. Since the gate was the main point of entry, having a small dugout hole to allow players a sneaky entry into the space also gives that option if needed for those that trigger combat with the Order. The quest also had to be obtainable without The Doctor, as he too could respond hostile to the player. Rather than punishing the player for being on the Order's bad side, we allow the quest to be accessible via a Terminal in the Grounding Station Tower Control Room.
 

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