David Di Giacomo
Where to hear and read about David Di Giacomo1 episode or test
David Di Giacomo is the artist at Arkane who built the Clockwork Mansion and its mechanisms for Dishonored 2, working alongside level designer Dana Nightingale. The most useful thing to learn from his work is how a moving space gets built: the designer prototypes the core idea first, and the artist builds mechanisms that stay playable mid-motion.
David Di Giacomo: the story and the lessons
1What David Di Giacomo built at Arkane
Di Giacomo built the Clockwork Mansion and its mechanisms. He was the artist on the shape-shifting level in Dishonored 2. Dana Nightingale designed the layout and gameplay beats with flowcharts and prototypes, and he built the mansion itself.
The sources describe this split of roles but do not give his own account of how he worked. Most of what they say about the level's thinking comes from Nightingale.
2The mansion he built and the design behind it
The mechanisms had to work as moving spaces, not two states. Every prototype was built around what can happen during a transformation, not only the before and after. That is why changes are slow and players can slip through gaps in the walls while rooms move.
The in-between moment became a playable space. Nightingale describes it as "all the possibilities that happen during the transition."
The build began as rough prototypes with no layout. Only the inventor, Sokolov's role and the clockwork soldiers were fixed. The team prototyped different moving rooms and layouts first, and the map grew out of them.
The one fixed emphasis from day zero was that the player can be inside the building's mechanisms.
Jindosh's bedroom grew from one whim into rotating rooms. It started as a bed where Jindosh pulls a lever and, three seconds later, finds a bathtub behind him. It became three rooms with two configurations each, built around a rotating part in the centre.
Two hidden closets reward players who watch the mechanisms. The lab mechanism works realistically even though many players never notice it.
Dishonored 2 Devs Explain the Clockwork Mansion
Shows how Arkane planned and built the shape-shifting Clockwork Mansion: prototype first, give players several ways to read and use the space, and cut scope without losing the core idea. The worth-watching example is the mansion itself, from its rotating rooms to the ideas that were dropped, like the ethics obstacle course and the maze with destination panels.
Di Giacomo built the Clockwork Mansion and its mechanisms. He was the artist on the shape-shifting level in Dishonored 2. Dana Nightingale designed the layout and gameplay beats with flowcharts and prototypes, and he built the mansion itself.
The sources describe this split of roles but do not give his own account of how he worked. Most of what they say about the level's thinking comes from Nightingale.
The mechanisms had to work as moving spaces, not two states. Every prototype was built around what can happen during a transformation, not only the before and after. That is why changes are slow and players can slip through gaps in the walls while rooms move.
The in-between moment became a playable space. Nightingale describes it as "all the possibilities that happen during the transition."
The build began as rough prototypes with no layout. Only the inventor, Sokolov's role and the clockwork soldiers were fixed. The team prototyped different moving rooms and layouts first, and the map grew out of them.
The one fixed emphasis from day zero was that the player can be inside the building's mechanisms.
Jindosh's bedroom grew from one whim into rotating rooms. It started as a bed where Jindosh pulls a lever and, three seconds later, finds a bathtub behind him. It became three rooms with two configurations each, built around a rotating part in the centre.
Two hidden closets reward players who watch the mechanisms. The lab mechanism works realistically even though many players never notice it.