How The Intricate, Secret-Packed Destiny 2 Collector's Editions Are Made

Lots of video games are launched with collector’s editions, however few are as concerned as those who accompany Destiny 2 expansions. The universe of Bungie’s shooter MMO is extremely dense and has seen reams of lore and tons of secrets and techniques come and go over its 10-year historical past. With its collector’s editions, Bungie interprets a number of the expertise of uncovering Destiny’s story and unlocking its secrets and techniques into bodily objects. A Destiny 2 collector’s version would not simply include a statue of some real-world model of an in-game object you possibly can put in your desk–it’s additionally normally stuffed with lore, mysteries, and puzzles that supply further rewards and a deeper understanding of the sport world.With the collector’s version for The Final Shape, the following massive Destiny 2 growth and the fruits of the final 10 years of its story, Bungie appeared ahead at what’s coming within the story–the ultimate confrontation with the Witness, the story’s final villain, contained in the ever-present god-like robotic, the Traveler. But it additionally appeared backward to the unique Destiny and the way far gamers have come. The package deal consists of objects that match each themes. There’s the Entelechy lore e-book, a compilation of items of details about the Witness compiled by Eido, an Eliksni scribe who was an enormous a part of one of many seasonal tales final 12 months. And there’s an autograph e-book signed by and stuffed with well-wishes from varied in-game characters, a few of whom have solely appeared in deep-cut lore entries.The Final Shape marks the fruits of the 10-year story arc that started with the discharge of Destiny in 2024.The centerpiece of The Final Shape Collector’s Edition is a reproduction of the primary Destiny’s social area, the Tower, which is a real-life model of a reproduction statue seen in-game within the workplace of Commander Zavala. It additionally options three small collectible figurines that signify the three leaders of the Vanguard: Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6.The Final Shape Collector’s Edition, as with the others Bungie has designed, is a collaboration between a number of totally different groups, as Bungie Consumer Products director Katie Lennox defined in an e mail interview with GameSpot. The Consumer Products crew takes the lead and consults with builders from different disciplines, together with the artistic, narrative, sport design, and advertising and marketing groups, she mentioned. A lot of the individuals from these groups responded by way of e mail to GameSpot’s questions on how collector’s editions come to be.”Each collector’s edition must be grounded in the release’s overarching narrative storyline,” Lennox defined. “Because of our product development timelines, this means we are engaging with the development teams very early in their processes to understand the creative and narrative goals of the game content and to identify unique and compelling opportunities for collectibles that we think would delight our fans.”Collector’s editions are main undertakings, she mentioned, and might take greater than a 12 months to finish. Because of the lengthy lead time, the Consumer Products crew is all the time engaged on not less than one.”The process for any product, including a collector’s edition, starts with the game,” mentioned Alex Dixon, senior supervisor of Product Development. “For some products, our team already knows the character or in-game content that we’re basing it off of really well. Other products might be based off new, unreleased content. Regardless, we always revisit our digital world and get in the weeds with the digital assets and the greater narrative surrounding them to make sure that we are keeping every detail in mind for the final product.The Final Shape Collector’s Edition”Next, we take into consideration the medium we’re translating this digital merchandise to. Some objects are a extra direct translation, like lifelike statues; for others, like plush, a design needs to be tailored to the kind of product. The supplies, colours, and manufacturing methods all play a component in serving to the product really feel as correct as potential to the in-game model. Finally, we pattern the product primarily based off the design we have created, tweaking and adjusting the place wanted to get to a ultimate product the crew is happy with.”The biggest part of The Final Shape Collector’s Edition is its Tower replica, which is more than just an ornament for a desk or a shelf. Switch it on, and it lights up and plays sounds that issued from the public address system while you were hanging out there in the game.The Tower is one of a few items Bungie has produced that uses near-field communication (NFC) to hide extra secrets. Placing the figurines on top of the Tower, alone or in different combinations, while it’s switched to “scanning mode” causes it to play voice lines from the original game.The NFC capability also hides a fun mystery. When you open the collector’s edition box, you’re only presented with two figurines, even though the package was marketed with three. Placing the Zavala figurine in a specific spot on the Tower opens up a hidden compartment to reveal the Cayde-6 figurine.The Hive Ghost replica and Psychometer included in the Witch Queen Collector’s EditionNFC was also a major part of The Witch Queen Collector’s Edition, which included both a replica of a Hive Ghost from within the game, and an object called a Psychometer that was designed to read the resonance of certain items. Tuning the Psychometer while certain collector’s edition items were placed on top of it would produce different sounds, which gave story hints about the expansion. It gave the sense of uncovering secrets in the same way that characters used to conduct their investigation in the expansion.”Our crew has actually loved enjoying with NFC and dealing this expertise into particular interactions between objects that ship within the contents of a collector’s version,” Hausermann said. “We are all the time attempting to determine fascinating methods to please our gamers and embody some secrets and techniques to resolve or carry one thing thrilling and new to the product.”A chance to tell storiesSomething that elevates Destiny 2 collector’s editions beyond those of other games is the way they add to the overall story told in the game and lore. Most of them have included their own dedicated, printed lore books, with stories that build on whatever’s happening in the expansion with which they’re paired. The lore book that came with the Shadowkeep Collector’s Edition dealt heavily with a strange alien artifact that had been discovered on the moon in Destiny 2’s distant past, for example. The Beyond Light Collector’s Edition included a journal penned by Clovis Bray, a character who previously appeared heavily in the lore and who was central to the expansion’s new location, Europa.Eido, the Eliksni Scribe of House Light, is a central character in the story of The Final Shape Collector’s Edition.For The Final Shape, Bungie used the collector’s edition to fill in some backstory about the Witness. Its lore book, “Entelechy,” was created specifically for the collector’s edition, narrative designer Lynne Qiu said, rather than being something repurposed from elsewhere in Destiny 2.”The artistic transient was to jot down a sequence of entries wanting on the Witness’s backstory and motivations, together with a obscure suggestion that it may be written by Eido,” Qiui said. “While we had a locked-down idea of what the Witness was and the way it got here to be, I had a number of freedom to discover what got here earlier than, and the way its previous impacts its current. Nothing crucial will ever be unique to a collector’s version lore e-book to keep away from locking gamers out of essential story beats. So, whereas studying the collector’s version lore e-book might supply deeper perception and private tales, it is supplemental studying, quite than required!”There’s also something of a concern about including spoilers in the story told in these packages, senior narrative designer Hannah Filipski said. While The Final Shape doesn’t release until June 4, the collector’s editions are already in players’ hands, and it’s usually the case that many will receive the packages well before they have a chance to actually play the game and encounter the story naturally.While the collector’s editions don’t include any story that’s drastically important for players to understand what’s happening in the game, they do provide opportunities for Bungie to dig deeper into some of the deeper ideas and themes at play in the story in lore.Eido’s research in the collector’s edition provides new details about the backstory of the Witness.”I feel there’s all the time extra tales that we wish to inform than might presumably slot in anyone place, and the collector’s editions are an important place for in-depth explorations of actually deeply philosophical stuff,” narrative designer Johannah O’Halloran added.Memory laneWhile The Final Shape Collector’s Edition adds to The Final Shape by providing a better understanding of the Witness as a character, much of the package is more nostalgic, with a focus on the original Destiny and the familiar locations players have spent time in over the last 10 years. In addition to the Tower replica, there’s the autograph book, which features personal messages from several Destiny 2 characters. There are also coupons for the Tower’s iconic spicy ramen restaurant, a place players pass by frequently and the location of several story moments in the lore, and even a few Polaroid photos Eido snapped while searching for information about the Witness.The decision to look back at Destiny 2 wasn’t a matter of worrying about spoiling what was to come, Filipski said, but of getting across the feeling that the upcoming mission has incredibly high stakes for everyone players have met in the game.”The extra highly effective driver to lean in direction of nostalgia was that the Vanguard had no concept what was going to occur as soon as they went via the portal [into the Traveler],” Filipski said. “It’s honest to say that that is the type of mission somebody goes into anticipating they will not come again from it. While growing the collector’s version, we centered on how the individuals of The Last City and of Sol would specific their appreciation for these happening probably the most harmful mission with absolutely the highest of stakes. We wished gamers to really feel immersed whereas studying via the autograph e-book, seeing Eido’s unhealthy selfie, flipping via ramen tickets and different ephemera–to really feel how on a regular basis residents see their Guardian’s heroic acts. It’s one thing we do not usually get to discover within the sport however appealed to the Narrative crew in a deeply private manner.”Eido’s message to players and her Polaroid selfie found in The Final Shape Collector’s Edition autograph book.Destiny 2 collector’s editions always have what feels like a personal link to its characters. Often, they include messages “written” by key figures for an expansion–The Final Shape’s kicks off with a letter written by Eido, and past expansions have included personal messages and journals from series mainstays like Ikora and Eris Morn.The autograph book in The Final Shape’s physical package takes that feeling a step further. To capture the feeling that Eido was wandering around the Tower, talking to important people, Bungie delved pretty deep into the lore. Characters who have only ever appeared in the text of lore books or in weapon descriptions are present within it, helping to give a sense of the breadth of Destiny 2’s world, even if many of these characters have never appeared on screen. As to how the team chose which characters would appear in the autograph book, O’Halloran said the process encompassed both early plans from the team and some ideas that popped up as the book was being conceived.”From the start we wished to tug from a variety of character sources, and we wished there to be enjoyable little surprises–people you won’t anticipate to listen to from, or who would possibly solely have been in a single or two lore tabs, alongside fan favorites that we knew for certain can be welcomed,” O’Halloran said. “The very first thing I did after I understood the scope was run to the remainder of the crew asking for a wishlist of bizarre characters they’d wish to hear from, and it was a extremely broad listing! That’s one thing I really like about Destiny, that there is one thing fascinating in our lore for everybody. Even the characters who have not proven up a lot have some devoted followers on the market someplace.”Once I had a list of characters who might appear in the book, I came up with ways they might run into Eido. (And double-checked with our historian to make sure I wasn’t resurrecting anyone by accident!) As I was going through the list and writing out messages, even more possibilities came up organically–sparked by design conversations with team members–or ways that characters might interact.”Making the sport world really feel realA smudged autograph message penned by Mithrax, an alien character in Destiny 2.The autograph e-book, nevertheless, goes even additional to make Destiny 2 lore characters really feel lifelike, and their relationship with the participant considerably extra private. It’s not only a sequence of textual content messages that characters have left behind; it is made to look as if every character really signed the e-book. It consists of visible components that think about what the characters’ handwriting would possibly appear to be or what prospers they may have left on the web page. In the case of non-human characters, there are different components left behind within the e-book, as properly.”I absolutely loved working on the lore and autograph books for this collector’s edition because it really was this wonderfully collaborative process where one person’s idea would inspire another person’s and that person’s ideas would spark something in someone else and so on,” Consumer Products visible designer Jordan Dalgarn mentioned. “It led to fun questions of, ‘How would a member of Caiatl’s mighty Cabal actually go about signing such a small book?’ ‘What does this character’s handwriting look like?’ ‘What would so-and-so say here?'”The e-book is meant to be a kind of thank-you from the individuals of The Last City, who gamers work to guard as a part of Destiny 2’s story. As such, it features a sequence of drawings of Guardians, ostensibly accomplished by kids who dwell there.Dalgarn and Consumer Products growth supervisor Chris Hausermann confirmed the drawings in The Final Shape Collector’s Edition actually have been made by kids–the builders’ youngsters, the truth is.A bunch of kids’s drawings included within the autograph e-book have been made by the builders’ youngsters over the past 10 years.”Yes, just about all of these youngsters’ drawings have been accomplished by the kids of Bungie staff,” Hausermann said. “A few my son’s drawings from elementary college are in there. Even the paw prints of my cat (Duchess Henrietta Pickypants) discovered their manner into the e-book.””It was just a ton of fun to collab over and it was also just so heartfelt every step of the way,” Dalgarn continued. “The autograph book, in particular, is meant to inspire our Guardians on this epic journey into the unknown, so everything we put into this book had to come from the heart. I know everyone involved poured themselves into it; not only to narratively support and rally behind our Guardians as they prepare to face arguably their greatest foe, but also to celebrate and champion our community and our journey together with the players.”More than meets the attentionThe autograph e-book is a enjoyable visible factor that calls again a lot of Destiny 2’s deep story components, however it’s greater than only a cute nostalgia trip–like the Tower reproduction, it hides secrets and techniques of its personal.Secrets, the truth is, are among the many most compelling elements of a Destiny collector’s version, they usually’re usually hidden behind puzzles gamers have to resolve. Some of these puzzles are comparatively minor and straightforward, and each collector’s version features a few that cover redeemable codes for in-game emblems. Others are so complicated, they require the cooperation of an enormous a part of the Destiny 2 group.”The puzzles must be extensions of this rich world, its characters, factions, and secrets. With that in mind, we brainstorm various ways to tie these puzzles to objects that feel as though they fell right out of the game world and into our players’ hands,” Dalgarn defined.Puzzle mock-up drawings offered by Bungie.Engineering director Michael Williams works on Bungie’s Central Technology crew more often than not, however he has a “sideline” engaged on designing collector’s version puzzles.”For emblem puzzles, we want them to be a fun discovery process that a single person could do or describe to a friend in a single sentence,” Williams mentioned. “We want these puzzles to feel as ‘in-universe’ as possible, so it’s important to make them fit thematically, and even think about who might be embedding the codes. Puzzles related to Clovis Bray should feel different than something from Ikora.”One further problem is that emblem codes are primarily random strings of numbers and letters, so becoming them naturally into the collector’s version content material could be tough. Early on, we chat about supplies out there, places we might work puzzles in, and non-puzzle imagery the collector’s version would possibly embody. I take that and draft up 4 to 5 ‘programmer artwork’ variations of puzzles we might combine, and the group talks via them. Then the crew takes that artwork and makes it look unimaginable. In some circumstances, they take the concepts to superb places–in the most recent collector’s version, the artist turned an concept for a robotic pawprint into an unimaginable maze. In not less than one case, the crew took my artwork as-is, as a result of they felt it match the texture of the character!”Some collector’s edition puzzles have gotten incredibly complex, however. For Shadowkeep, the collector’s edition included a sort of puzzle box called a Cryptoglyph, which could be opened like a combination lock using clues hidden within the package. Inside was a piece of paper directing players to a website, where they could access a tiny sliver of an image. By all sharing the images they found, the Destiny 2 community was able to stitch those slivers together to reveal an entire additional lore book related to the expansion. Williams said that particular puzzle was one of his favorites.Destiny 2 players used documents included in the Shadowkeep Collector’s Edition to uncover the combination that opened the Cryptoglyph, but that was only the first step of the puzzle.”For extra complicated on-line puzzles, I strive to consider how the group will take part,” Williams said. “I like to consider it as an enormous jigsaw puzzle, the place everybody has a chunk to offer, even when they do not know methods to assemble it. Our group is sensible, and you’ll give them nearly any near-impossible problem and they’re going to clear up it.””We put a number of work and love into the lore e-book and the autograph e-book to assist convey that connection between the characters of the sport and the participant,” said Dalgarn. “Smudges and intentional little imperfections in a personality’s handwriting all lend to that and assist us ship these puzzles in such a manner that goals to tug the participant into the sport with out them ever needing to fireplace up their console or PC. We all the time need the puzzles to be difficult however rewarding, so we do what we are able to to ship visible clues or hints to assist information gamers with out outright giving them the solutions.”In a lot of ways, Destiny and Destiny 2’s collector’s editions have grown with the game as Bungie has dialed in exactly what Destiny is. They weren’t always quite so involved or complex, but as the game has grown to encompass deeper stories, more fleshed-out characters, and greater mysteries, so have the physical packages evolved to follow suit. The collector’s editions have changed to bring more life to the game, in many cases physically manifesting things that have only existed on the screens and imaginations of players and developers.”There’s one thing magical about holding one thing that you’ve got skilled solely digitally for a very long time,” Dixon said. “The Consumer Products crew has a really enjoyable job, however we take it severely. We need our gamers to really feel that each one of our merchandise authentically specific the digital world and characters that they’ve come to like.”