FMP Blog Chapter 6 (Production - Worldbuilding) - Open-World Level Design Showcase

This week I strived to achieve one of my other targets for this project, which was to "Construct a high-quality aesthetic of varied environments (both physical aspects such as different fauna, flora, creatures and weather, as well as cultural aspects such as man-made architecture, settlements and landmarks)."

I researched cultural aspects that I could add to the map and decided to add landmarks, shrines, and other monuments that suggests that the world has a historical and religious past, and that it existed before the player entered it.

I also researched the "Spatial Presence Model" (Schubert, 2009), which helps to grab the attention of the player due to stimuli (interesting and aesthetically pleasing things within the map). The player will then actively participate in the artificial world because they want to. Making the world believable and full of cultural points of interest helped a lot in this regard, and was compounded further by the technique I employed last week of explaining each areas' origin through post boards throughout the level.

Schubert, T.W. (2009). A New Conception of Spatial Presence: Once Again, with Feeling. Communication Theory, [online] 19(2), pp.161–187. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2009.01340.x.