For Titan Quest II we set the goal of creating a lush, inviting, handcrafted world for the player to explore. In this devlog, we want to take a closer look at the inspirations behind our world. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44490409/ab811e1514e06b31cbf50305616a908f2765c216.jpg[/img] [b]Starting with the classics[/b] Naturally, the original Titan Quest was our first point of reference when building the world of Titan Quest II. The original game is a classic for a reason, and its vibrant, welcoming world is still a stand-out among action RPGs. A lot of that is due to the game’s unique mythological setting, which uses ancient Greece as a backdrop for larger-than-life stories of adventure, gods, and monsters. We want our world to capture that same feeling of fantastical adventure across a picturesque Greek landscape, so we looked closely at the original game as well as the vibrant natural environment of Greece itself when concepting the game’s world. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44490409/aa02e2e9b3fd6d32c9f3556b5c7e773a310dff73.jpg[/img] [b]A dash of fantasy[/b] In addition to the natural environment, Titan Quest II is full of mythological locations. These are places where monsters or magical beings dwell. Sometimes, they take the form of towering structures built by the gods themselves. Once again, we’ve taken real-world inspiration from ancient Greek temples and villages, but we want to give them a larger-than-life mythological twist. While some of the game’s locations are recognizable from history, Titan Quest II’s version of these places is decidedly fantastical. Just as ancient Greeks saw the hand of the gods working in their lives, Titan Quest II’s world is one in which all the gods, monsters, and magical beings of Greek mythology are real, and this approach allows us to portray locations like the Messenian Coast and Sparta in ways you’ve never seen them before. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44490409/117b95ecd0e86a849b146a51005b4a8232817865.jpg[/img] [b]Building a handcrafted world[/b] In Greek myth, heroes never knew what they might encounter when they landed on a new shore. Parts of the world were known, but parts remained mysterious, full of danger and magic. We wanted to bring that same feeling of discovery, adventure, and danger to the world of Titan Quest II. We use the term “handcrafted” to describe our world because we want every place the player discovers to feel purposeful and distinctive. There should be a payoff for wandering off the beaten path, so our designers have built the world by hand, without procedural generation, to catch the player's eye and draw them toward unique, memorable adventures. Many of the most interesting parts of Titan Quest II’s world are not signposted at all! They’re there for players to discover on their own. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44490409/9505126a33cd433306f9433afcf6e7e34cfb09d8.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44490409/93f0f5b4a2e5efe91320070d36effbdc82c97990.jpg[/img]