We already have the second installment of Artcraft: Level Design that Blizzard offers us from its official blog.
This time, Michael "Mac" McInerney, Senior Level Designer, tells us how he and his team created and provided a backdrop to the Nagrand Zone. Among other things, Mac tells us how they work closely with the mission design team to make your adventure in Nagrand the most rewarding.
We leave you with his reflections and with the images of this wonderful Artcraft:
[azul autor=»Blizzard» fuente=»http://eu.battle.net/wow/es/blog/16520321/artcraft-dise%C3%B1o-de-niveles-segunda-parte-29-10-2014″]
I welcome you back to our Artcraft series in which we analyze the design of the areas and the environments of World of Warcraft! I'm Chris Robinson, Senior Art Director, and today Michael "Mac" McInerney, Senior Level Designer, is going to give us an overview of the philosophy of design at the highest level, focusing once again on the recreation of Nagrand for Warlords of Draenor.
Hi, I'm Mac, and I'm going to share with you some impressions about the design process of an area as characteristic as Nagrand. Our approach to level design begins with asking various questions and their respective answers. The big question we always ask ourselves is: "What story do we want to tell?" This is usually the starting point. In the case of Nagrand, what we wanted to convey is that this was a re-creation of the bucolic home of the Warsong clan. But we also had to determine the details of how to visually communicate it to the player.
The obvious answer to how we want to tell their story is "placing their houses in the environment." But that's not the only thing that makes a place a home. The Warsong are quite aggressive and self-assured, so when you enter the area, their war banners and fortified towers give you a rather unhealthy welcome. We also knew that the members of the Warsong clan were wolf riders and that they moved in large groups. This is something that we could reflect with the paths trodden by the war bands in their journeys. Their home stands in a canyon shaped by the wind, and has subtle references to Orgrimmar's distant past, with buildings and dwellings protected by the walls of the ravine. We also knew that the way they care for their wolves also reveals details of their culture, which differs from the reverence shown to them by the Frostwolf clan. We wanted to illustrate this by using moats to reflect your relationship with these animals, rather than integrating them into villages, as the Frostwolves would. All of these elements contribute to creating the portrait of the Warsong and enhancing their character.
Nagrand also has other aspects that we wanted to explore; Players had seen a distorted version of the area in Outland, so this was a good time to offer a different perspective. Giving places a historical background is among the main goals of the zone design philosophy. One of the most obvious ways to reflect history is through ruins, if they make sense. The orcs of Highmaul once reflected their power on Nagrand. Now they risk oblivion. Only a handful of remains remain of its once great civilization, as evidenced by the rickety towers and roads that you will find in the area. It is not a coincidence that the area they occupy in the zone does not exist in Outland.
Another highlight for us was the floating islands, which are one of the classic Nagrand landscapes that everyone remembers. We had to find the right key to capture that essence without giving up our narrative. One of the solutions was to create graceful geography in places, so that you could imagine yourself tearing apart and floating up into the skies, despite the vile energy. The huge arches and the impossible rock formations tend towards the magical without indulging in this completely.
The experience of the players, their feelings when moving through the environments, is something that we always keep in mind. The transit between zones or, even within them, between the small microcosms that we create, can substantially affect the players' perception of progress and the game world itself. Staying in one area too long can make you tired, but moving from one area to another too quickly can cause you to feel overwhelmed. We work closely with mission designers to coordinate players' passage through the world, to experience the big changes of environment at the best possible points, or when it seems like they are asking for it.
The challenge with Nagrand was to create enough variety within the same theme without giving up its naturalness. It is an area covered essentially by grasslands, although we knew that we could not fill such a large space with fields alone. Developing an ecology that is perceived as natural and real is another important factor in world design. Mountains flow into valleys; the edges of a forest blend organically with the meadows. The highest points are drier, with bushes and dead trees. The lower ones are more exuberant and, at times, they are flooded with water. The riverbanks are subzones themselves, covered by reed beds and thick vegetation. All these areas offer variety without breaking the fantasy we want to convey.
The way the NPCs occupy the zones must also be consistent. The sableron, similar to the panther, lives in hewn caves, under rocky arches. Herds of clefthoof roam the fields. Highmaul stretches, for the most part, through the mountainous areas. These relationships with the environment tell a story without having to resort to the written word.
When you arrive in a large area, you immediately grasp its magic and, years later, you still remember that moment. I hope we achieved that with our recreation of Nagrand.
Tomorrow Senior Level Designer Ely Cannon will tell us more about our role as level designers in creating a zone.
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