Today, under the guidance of level designers Lino Claudius & Viktor Pekar, we delve into the steppes and what you can expect to encounter in them.

May 24, 2016 at 3:30 PM by Enya

The steppes are a rough environment. Whereas the swamps are green and full of life, the steppes are a dry wasteland. But there is a glimmer of hope within the badlands; oases pop up every now and then, refreshing everything and everyone surrounding them. If you need hide or fiber, the steppes are the place to be.

Today we’re taking a look at what you might find along your journey in the steppes, along with level designers Lino Claudius and Viktor Pekar.

Level designers build the world of Albion, they jokingly call it “playing God”. Using assets made by the art department, they create the puzzle pieces of the world and fill it with small “stories”. It is up to the player to fill in the blanks and guess what has happened.

Below you will find a few of the steppe scenes created by Lino and Viktor. Feast your eyes!

Road through Hell

As Lino kindly puts it, the steppes are an “unfriendly area to live in”. Setting up camp when travelling through this abyss can be quite dangerous, which is why nomads put up their site near a canyon. They have now moved on, abandoning their camp, and continuing their journey. Or perhaps they just slipped and fell…

Lino Claudius studied Game Design at the Games Academy. After graduating, he started working for Sandbox Interactive and is now responsible for creating and laying out the scenes and stories in the world of Albion Online.

Dried-Up River

Once a flourishing river, the water has disappeared and the land has gone dry.

Abandoned Camp

Once used by animal farmers, this camp has been deserted for a while. The remnants of the camp still remain, slowly being taken over by the steppe. It looks like the farmers left in a hurry. What happened here will remain a mystery – but it does make you wonder...

Viktor Pekar is a former programmer who has studied Computer Science, before going to the Games Academy and learning Game Producing. He is working for Sandbox Interactive as a Level Designer. His main focus is putting together the puzzle pieces created by others.

Fall of Death

“Accidents happen – even in Albion,” Viktor commented when showing this scene. The question what events transpired here will not be answered, but it certainly does not look good!

Like what you see? More information about the flora and fauna in the steppes will follow in a future developer news!

What do you think about the steppe biome so far? Let us know in the comments below!