Open world design has dominated videogame settings for over a decade, and you can learn more about that legacy by reading our feature on the. However, more goes into building your favourite spaces than slapping Caspar David Friedrich’s painting ‘Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog’ on the mood board.for a artistic example.
Kornatka quips, “I don’t think I’ll surprise anyone by saying that superbly crafted worlds in movies like Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, Judge Dredd, The Fifth Element, or Akira have all served as inspiration for me.” The crown jewel is the titular city, a huge, densely layered space which players finally reach in act three. In particular, the city’s design rests upon what Namdar describes as “one of the old Larian creeds.” He explains, “Every building needs a story, a secret, a cellar – preferably also a little garden but in Baldur’s Gate that didn’t make a lot of sense.”
While the wilderness has fights sprinkled like glitter alongside scintillating conversation, and the Shadow-Cursed Lands see you scurrying between bright spots, the final act’s city was designed more in the vein of “a classic dungeon grinder with house-to-house navigation, lots of cellars, underground areas, .”
To put it another way, the Traveler has gone from being a stranger in a strange land with a horizon of opportunity ahead to forging bonds that give them a reason to stay – or at least keep them and you, the player, coming back.Movement mechanics are another essential part of the bigger world-shaping picture, so let’s shift gears. We spoke to William Barr, the director of, about the studio’s wheelie exciting upcoming project, Parcel Corps.
Parcel Corps refracts modern-day mundanity through a funhouse mirror. Barr says the team were going for a “Transatlantic-type vibe” for New Island. “Being based in the UK, we are most familiar with cities and architecture over here,” Barr admits, “but the weather here sucks, and the ‘blue skies, ’90s arcade’ aesthetic has more of an American, West Coast feel. So we kind of merge those two aesthetics together.
Far from over: Baldur’s Gate 3 grows grander with frequent updates. Don’t hold your breath for totally fresh DLC though.Namdar delves into the main city’s central design challenge: “You always have to deal with the density of events and navigation. Players, including myself, always get lost in cities. You need a natural way for players to orient themselves in a dense environment.”