At the same time, we’re building two different worlds, using two different methodologies. One is a gameplay obstacle course, in which we present the players with a range of hurdles and problems they need to overcome. The other is a believable slice of the world, an illusion of reality filled with little stories and details for players to explore. Combining gameplay and narrative in world building is a challenging, but infinitely fun and rewarding process.

Of course, getting it right the first time is almost impossible. World building (like most creative work) is an iterative process which requires constant refinement. Defining the scale, pacing, or difficulty of the zone needs a lot of testing, so it’s usually a good idea to build out a level on a macro scale first to get a sense of the place as a whole, and later worry about populating it with assets, lighting and decor. Planning ahead and accounting for modularity and reusability of building blocks and assets cuts a lot of time in production and allows for greater freedom to play around and experiment.

We’ll cover some specific techniques and tools for rapid world building in the next post. Stay tuned!