Building up the pressure
Find the owner of the brewery along with his stash. Turn a series of valves to build up pressure in a tank, then release it all at once and watch it blast through the roof. Climb up through the opening—drunk—and make your way to the treasure.
Liquid Courage was my very first assignment on Far Cry 6. Having just wrapped up on Starlink: Battle for Atlas, I was keen to bring something fresh and new to the brand. I started by researching breweries, especially in Cuba, to see what kind of interesting gameplay I could create.
Three pipes connect to a central tank, called out by a small platform. Each one leads to a valve in the room which you have to turn.
Each valve presents a different challenge to access them. One is located right beside the main tank. You can get to it by either vaulting over the railing or crouching under the platform.
Another is hiding behind some boxes. My original design had the boxes blocking the valve, requiring you to break them to access it.
The last valve requires you to climb along some pipes, crouching in some areas to avoid overhead obstacles.
Once you've turned all three valves, release the pressure in the main tank and watch it blast through the roof like a rocket—an idea inspired by MythBusters. I later requested rocket-themed branding for the brewery.
The tank releases beer on its way up, causing you to get drunk and making the following navigation challenge a little more interesting. Through the newly-created hole in the ceiling, you can grapple up to the attic.
Navigate through the nooks and crannies of the attic to reach the treasure.
When I moved to the missions team, I handed off Liquid Courage to another designer. I always keep my documents up to date, scripts tidy and well commented, and world entities organized, so the process was painless. The version that appears in the final game is very close to my original prototype.