"Horizon Forbidden West: Lessons, Pre-Orders, and Perfect Quests"

Level designer Dennis Micka shared his process for designing Cauldron IOTA in Horizon Forbidden West, which climaxes with the player riding the head of a Tallneck as it emerges from the Cauldron. Micka had to make a lot of mistakes on the way to the finish line, including dealing with massive technical challenges and navigating the lack of Tallneck tools. He also learned key soft-skill lessons in the level design process, such as using pre-production time well and keeping coworkers from other teams involved in the process.