Dev Blog #7 - Alderwood Under Your Feet

Beneath Alderwood lies another world. Caves and mines have always been a crucial part of Alderwood’s history and identity. We designed them intentionally to intrigue, and if you’ve joined us for Early Access, you may have noticed how important they’ve become in our latest quests!

From the beginning, there was always a plan for a hidden world full of caves and secrets. We intended to create a hidden world that players would gradually descend into, both physically and emotionally. Today our Senior Technical Artist, Tobias Peulicke, explains how Alderwood’s caves are created!

This is the team responsible for carving out our caves! Artists create the textures, visual design, and assets of the world while Designers help determine the flow and player feeling.

Caves in Equinox: Homecoming follow a very different design process than our surface levels. When our open world is designed, we begin with a blockout and discussion between level design, narrative, art and other disciplines. Together they determine who lives in a space and how players will move through it.

“Caves don’t have to be neat. Real caves are messy and unpredictable, and that’s what makes them interesting.” - Tobias Peulicke

Caves, however, are built with a more specialised toolset. Tobias provides the tools that make cave creation possible and begins with iterative and experimental designs. Moodboards guide the design by defining light, growth, and decoration. From that rough concept comes the blockout which answers how the space should feel, how many chambers it has, and more.

Steam post imagePlayer experience is considered early and often. Designers will identify player actions and sequence. Once the flow feels right, the cave design is refined. Lighting is added, walls and surfaces are decorated, and Tobias can add setpieces.

“Caves are a reflection of another world, one that is more cut off from the surface.” - Tobias Peulicke

A challenge with cave design is avoiding sameness. Identical underground spaces can easily feel repetitive or disorienting. That’s why we’ve intentionally designed every cave in Alderwood to feel distinct.

To us, that means each room needs at least one unique view - or set piece - players can use to guide themselves. This can be anything from a literal light at the end of the tunnel, a cathedral-like chamber, or stone carvings. These landmarks help explore without needing a map!

We still love to experiment with faux disorientation, though! Many caves loop back on themselves, interconnect or criss-cross, but ultimately lead to the same place. The goal is to never truly lose the player, but to spark a sense of wonder and intrigue that encourages exploration.

“We want to make a player feel lost without actually being lost. At the end of one cave, you may branch in paths, but those paths criss-cross each other. No matter what, you will still go to the correct place.” - Tobias Peulicke

Lighting underground is a delicate balance between building tension and maintaining clarity.

To preserve immersion, lighting is split into two categories: diegetic and ambient. Diegetic lighting has a clear in-world explanation. Think of something like sunlight streaming through an open shaft, flickering mine lamps, or soft candle light.

“By chance, I visited an old mine and saw this incredible ventilation shaft with daylight pouring through it. That moment directly inspired how light works in our caves.” - Tobias Peulicke

Ambient lighting has no obvious source. It is used sparingly. Its purpose is to support readability rather than realism. Even then, Tobias ensures that it’s always tied to something physical like a lamp or glowing water.

“Every light placed in the caves has a purpose, because in a believable world, nothing exists without a reason. If you follow this tenet, you can make much better worlds.” - Tobias Peulicke

Equinox: Homecoming launches next week on March 5th! We can't wait to welcome you all to Alderwood Island then.