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A catalogue before a setting

The first attempt at the place where the game begins was not a setting: it was a kit of pieces. A wall, a tower, two houses, a well. And Leo in a corner, because everything is measured against him.

Published on 1 min read

Environment asset kit: wall stretch, corner, tower, guild, smithy, two houses, stable, stall, well, lamp post and loose props, with Leo on the left for scale
Environment asset kit: wall stretch, corner, tower, guild, smithy, two houses, stable, stall, well, lamp post and loose props, with Leo on the left for scale

This is where Leo’s prologue begins: the first place anyone who opens the game sets foot in. It did not arrive in one go, it arrived in layers. This is the first.

The first attempt was not a setting: it was a catalogue. A stretch of wall, a wall corner, a tower, the guild, the smithy, two house models, a stable, a market stall, a well, a lamp post, barrels, crates, sacks, creepers.

Environment asset kit: wall stretch, corner, tower, guild, smithy, two houses, stable, stall, well, lamp post and loose props, with Leo on the left for scale

Look at the little figure on the far left: that is Leo, and he is there because everything is measured against him. A house is not “however big looks right”; it is however big it has to be for Leo to fit through the door, for the well to reach his waist, and for a tower to read as a tower and not a chimney.

Making the catalogue before the place looks like a detour, and it is exactly the opposite. With measured pieces, assembling a village is placing things; without them, every building is a fresh negotiation with scale. And a scale negotiated building by building will not survive a whole world.

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