Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13, will be talking about the “living world” of the upcoming Mafia 3, and the lessons learned during development of the game.

During the game developers event in San Fransico, the Game Developers Conference, Hangar 13’s system designer, Seth Rosen, will explain how the team is trying to create a game that surrounds the player with life. The design session will also highlight the lessons that Deck 13 learned while developing the “living world” of Mafia 3. Additionally, Elizabeth, BioShock Infinite's companion character, will also be looked at.

Games offer new worlds to players for them to explore and interact with. A game's world is a set and the player is the lead actor--as amazing as starring in a one-person show might be, a world that surrounds the player with life can be far more immediate and engrossing. Environmental storytelling does a great job of hinting at lives past, but AI actors with systemic behaviors are the key to demonstrating the life of a level right in front of the player. The presence that these performers and their interactions lend to the experience help the player to believe in the world itself. The talk will look at the systems driving Elizabeth, BioShock Infinite's companion character, and the "living world" of Mafia III, relating lessons learned during development and giving guidelines for bringing a level and its occupants to life.

Mafia 3 set in a reimagined New Orleans in 1968. “The Mafia franchise is known for its immersive sense of time and place, and for presenting compelling stories about life within organized crime,” said Haden Blackman, studio head and creative director at Hanger 13.

In Mafia III, we are introducing players to an unexpected new anti-hero and an iconic city to explore, all within a hard-boiled drama set during one of the most turbulent years in American history.

Mafia 3 was announced back in August of this year. The game is to be released in 2016 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game is being developed by Hangar 13, a new development studio under the 2K publishing label. 12 minutes of narrated gameplay from the game, can be checked out right here.