DevBlog #6 - World Map

Hello everyone and welcome to our 6th Darfall update. It's me Lukas and today I’m going to show you the world map for the game.

We hope you enjoyed the last Legendary Items Update, where we explained how the various legendary powers can be obtained within the Darfall.

We're excited to share with you a more detailed look at the development of the survival world map for our game, which takes place on a part of the continent known as Aganor. The survival map is an integral part of our game, allowing players to test their skills and endurance as they fight against waves of enemy attacks.

To begin, we prototyped various ideas for how a survival mode in our game might look. Our first idea was to have a series of tiles, each representing a different biome and level of difficulty, that would unlock as players survived through previous tiles.



But we wanted to incorporate more lore and world-building into Darfall, so we decided to go with a full continent map where players would have to fight their way through increasingly difficult parts of the map.

Initially, we thought about creating a 2D map in the style of classical maps you might find in other games.



However, we quickly realised that a 2D map wouldn't allow us to include the kind of effects, animations, and depth we wanted to achieve. So, we decided to go with a full 3D map instead.

(Me drawing a rough shape and outline of the map and its locations)


Using Magica Voxel, a 3D modeling software, and Adobe Fresco, we drew a rough outline of the landmass and its various biomes, including forests, mountains, and deserts. We also gave each location and place a unique name to help immerse players in the game world.



Martin then created the first version of the world using these designs. After several iterations, we brought the map into the editor and added locations, models, and particles like clouds to add to the overall atmosphere.



This is how the map looks currently before the demo release. It's still a work in progress, but it's shaping up nicely. As you can see, the survival map only covers a part of the continent. The rest of the continent, including the capital, will be part of the campaign mode.



In the game, players start in Grimwick, located on the northwest point of the map. This is the first map players are tasked with attacking, rebuilding, and purging of undead corruption. As players progress through the map and complete each area, new biomes and locations will unlock, each with their own level of difficulty. Each biome - grassland, desert, and swamp - has three maps, representing three levels of difficulty (normal, hard, and very hard).

Creating the survival map was a challenging but rewarding process. We hope that players enjoy exploring the various biomes and locations on the map and testing their skills against the undead.

Thanks for reading, and we can't wait to see you in the game!

Martin and Lukas from beyond the darkness of Darfall.