Okay, so in the past few weeks we’ve gotten a lot of great suggestions for the “stretch” environments. We’ve taken some time to sift through them, consider how well they fit into fiction / geography of the first Grim Dawn (in sequels you’ll travel further across Cairn to more exotic locations) and estimate how much art / dev time they’ll take to produce. On the KS we originally stated it would be an above-ground environment and an underground, but later decided it would make more sense to let you choose any two art-sets, whether it be for above or below ground.
We’re going to conduct two consecutive polls since some of these suggestions will take more work than others and we could be overwhelmed if you ended up choosing two of the biggest ones. This first one will be more expansive and then the second will contain many of the same options plus a couple more. Note that these art-sets will probably not be done for alpha and will be completed for beta or final release.
Here are descriptions of the options for the first poll:
Evil Forest
Like a normal forest but more eviler! Lots of creepy dead trees, dim lighting and swirling mists. I imagine it would make a nice home for thorned horrors and were-creatures.
Battlefield
Scorched earth, trenches and haunting remnants of epic battle. Craters steaming with the remnants of potent alchemical weapons. Twisted metal and charred bodies scattered about broken engines of war.
Ch’thonic Void
Occasional, randomized portals will allow players to travel to regions of the Ch’thonic Void, which will be a dark and twisted landcape of obsidian rock, ash, bones and lakes of blood, crackling with chaotic energy and swarming with enemies. Odds of surviving to find the exit portal… not good.
Sewers
Sewer system underground set for creating a twisted network of dank, dark sewers underneath towns and cities that lead off into forgot areas where various types of unsavory humans or foul creatures have taken refuge.
Catacombs
An underground to attach to our above-ground graveyards. Walls hollowed out to house the bones of the dead, family mausoleum chambers, mass burial pits and rooms with elaborate shrines made out of bones. No doubt you’d stumble upon evidence of necromantic rituals or even covens of necromancers enjoying a resurgence now that the empire has been destroyed and there are no authorities to keep them in check.
Shipyard
A section of city where big ships were built, now silent and eerie. Old hulls rotting in the harbor, big cranes overhead, half-finished vessels up on platforms.
Railyard
Train tracks and old, primitive engines and train cars, some on rails, some lined up waiting to be repaired or scrapped. A old train depot fallen into ruin.