There are only two and a half more weeks left before we release the game to the public, and this week’s post will be about the world design, what went into it, how it evolved, and where we got our inspirations from. [h1][ORIGINAL PLAYBACK TRANSCRIPT][/h1] [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/d2b90dc42432e48176539e20c56222fe038d3639.jpg[/img] When we first decided to write the game, the main thing we wanted to capture was the feel of finding an ancient relic from a forgotten time and place, so me and my friend Manfredi decided to go somewhere that reminded us of that. We got in his car, I showed him all the concepts I made, and we drove down to his summer vacation home in Maremma during the cold and wet fall of 2015. It felt like a ghost town. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/1aea8250e296bfa816bcc809212f472fcf653954.jpg[/img] [i]Manfredi and Giulio at Elba island, across the Maremma swamps in front of the recently collapsed abandoned mining pier structure in 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvWo4oX4BVY[/i] Even though we didn't have much experience in game design, we decided to create the world so it would feel very different depending on the location you decided to play in first. We wanted to make a hard game like the ones that we played at the time, without it being excessively clunky or frustrating. We tried to add some modern game design to the formula, while keeping a rough, but somewhat realistic AI to make everything feel a bit more organic. As a final approach we decided to stick with the feel that you would find in popular or b-series horror, science fiction, action, and adventure movies from the 80s, mixed with our personal childhood memories, in addition to many locations we bumped into throughout the years: [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/5c9da483cedc72682f55e16eccdfac9f95c6ca0a.jpg[/img] [i]different locations that inspired us throughout production[/i] When we finished writing the draft we were hyped, but it wasn’t till 1 or 2 years after that week that we were able to start production. That's when I got together with Giulio Perrone and Daniele Vicinanzo, after jamming out a mini-game in less than a week (full free game here: https://lmenchia.itch.io/enter-the-moshpit). It was a very simple kind of game, but because it was so easy and fun to do, I acknowledged that this was the right team to move forward with. The final version of the world is divided into 5 main parts: Introduction [b]crash area[/b] (tutorial), [b]Ancient Ruins[/b], [b]Forgotten City[/b], [b]Unholy Lab[/b], and the [b]Castle[/b]. Each area has its own kind of gameplay: [b]Ancient Ruins[/b] is more focused on melee fighting, while [b]Forgotten City[/b] more like an action shooter, and [b]Unholy Lab[/b] has more of a puzzle/stealth kind of vibe. Each world has different hidden items that overall help you throughout the game, in different ways depending on which one of the worlds you decide to pick first. All of this is built in a way to make the gameplay somewhat different every time, as well as slightly unpredictable. Even though the story is technically linear, our goal was to create an experience that feels somewhat different every time, so part of the game is also procedural. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/90a73750b371d887a7faeb8b7343c134bcd10416.jpg[/img] [i](top left) very early design idea of the Unholy Lab [EAST] made with anything we could find; (top right) early sketch of the world; (bottom) final map of the world[/i] Because of this, now we have the world changing in the background based on where you will be in the map, rather than just having a random background behind you. The following pictures rotate around the castle in the distance as an example, first one from the ship crash [S0UTH], second one from the Ancient Ruins [WEST], Forgotten City[NORTH], Unholy Lab [EAST]: [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/5a1617f1029b33b2d6ce88bbda37d9227f01ec98.jpg[/img] And if you want to be more specific about the location that you’re at while playing, you will be able to access the map from your personal Human-Interface-Device by pressing the ESC or START key. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33903428/a72a40484557f94130e0d4069c484d4da86068ff.gif[/img] [i](world locations from left to right) ancient ruins[WEST]; forgotten city[NORTH]; unholy lab[EAST][/i] Having said that, hopefully when you play you will be aware that the whole world is not completely random, but carefully thought out in a way that the journey will always feel somewhat coherent. This is all for this week’s post. If you found this somewhat interesting, keep sharing: that will make more of a difference that you might think. Next week we’ll be talking about boss fights and the whole spiritual meaning behind The Eternal Castle. Over and out, Leonard http://www.theeternalcastle.net/