Destiny, Bungie's live-service sci fi shooter, is having a moment. The franchise celebrates its seventh birthday this week. The announcement of Destiny 2’s expansion, The Witch Queen, was met with much praise by both old-school and new-school Destiny fans. A franchise that has been around for so long isn't always fully formed. The game's visual language has changed over time, as have its design and story. WIRED interviewed the art team to find out how.
Early designs for a Rogue look very similar to today's Hunter class. Illustration: Shiek Wang/Bungie
Let's start by going back a little. Destiny is a sci fi "looter-shooter" game. The goal is to improve your character's abilities, solve more difficult puzzles and gain better loot, usually in the form armor and weapons. Rami Ismail, a game developer and speaker, wrote a 50+ tweet thread that summarized the entire story. You can also watch it as a YouTube video if that's your preference. Full disclosure: I have no secrets about how much Destiny 2 is my favorite game.
The game's developers, writers, and artists have the ability to take you to places that are both familiar and unfamiliar. This includes the postapocalyptic, overgrown wilderness of Old Russia, the European Dead Zone, or the partially terraformed landscape on the Jovian Moon Io. It also allows for the possibility to take you to mysterious and foreign locations like the cursed Dreaming City or the dangerous, dark Ascendant Plane. Before you can turn these places into in-game destinations, each of them must be fully developed.
