For this module I was responsible for one of the two new adventure zones; Dwarven Valley. Due to the positive feedback from module 2, these two adventure zones were designed to be as open world as possible (up to this point adventure zones had been very linear). I was responsible for the aesthetics of the zone, level design/layout, all world building including terrain work, prop placement, lighting/atmosphere, subsequent polish passes, and the PvP capture point assets. All large structures were kit bashed by myself using a module kit created by another artist. The terrain material pallet was created by another artist.
These adventure zones are 4x bigger than other maps in game, and posed a new challenge for the team. With longer open site lines and non-linear level layout, we would run into issues that weren't present in other zone creations. By use of a good texture pallet and increased terrain tessellation, we were able to use the terrain much more effectively, letting us use few meshes and achievement much better draw calls when viewing an extreme site line (which are everywhere).
Originally this was to be our first open world PvP zone. however, the idea as turned down and the adventure zone was to be scrapped. After a one week conversion, the existing PvP layout was altered to something much better suited for an adventure zone, which was than green lit. Dwarven Valley & Icewind Pass would be the first adventure zones to feature PvE w/ an open PvP section of the zone. I would also use this map to also test player feedback on seamless exterior to interior spaces; the results were very positive.
Dwarven Valley
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