Lessons from making Horizon Forbidden West's Tallneck Cauldron

gamedeveloper.com:

In Guerrilla Games' Horizon Forbidden West, players are given the opportunity to dive into what are called "Cauldrons." In the world of the game, they're automated factories that create many of the machine creatures that populate the world. In the core gameplay loop, they're meant to be fun standalone levels that reward players by unlocking the ability to turn machines from friend to foe.

These Cauldrons usually aren't located on the game's critical path, but still receive an incredible amount of time and attention from Guerrilla Games' level design team. In Forbidden West, one of these Cauldrons (Cauldron IOTA) climaxes with the player riding the head of a Tallneck as it emerges from the Cauldron. It's an incredible moment that's unlike any other in the game, and it manages to beautifully weave the game's story, gameplay, and visual power all into one memorable beat.

At GDC 2023 level designer Dennis Micka broke down his process for designing this particular Cauldron, and how he had to make a lot of mistakes on the way to the finish line.

Micka began his talk with an explanation of how the team at Guerrilla approached Cauldron design when making Forbidden West. In the previous game, Horizon Zero Dawn, all Cauldrons had a generally familiar flow. Players discovered the entrance to the Cauldron, navigated to its core, fought a boss, then exited with their new powers.

That is, except for Cauldron Xi, which flips that level flow on its head. First, players navigate the Cauldron and fight human enemies instead of machines. Then they activate the core, and have to then backtrack the way they came, fighting reactivated machines that are also battling the same humans the player fought on the way in.

Micka said this was one of the