Dev Blog #10 - Designing Liminal Spaces: The Hollow Vale

Our newest zone, the Hollow Vale, is unlike anything we’ve created before. With its purple skies, winding cliffs and anti-gravitational bridges, it is by far Alderwood’s most unique and strange space yet. Rules no longer apply here, and for lead level designer Michiel Werring, that was exactly the point.

“The Hollow Vale is the strangest thing I've built in a long time and has allowed me to really get back to level design being more than just recreating real spaces. I've really loved doing that. And I hope the player doesn't get too lost, but at the same time, I hope they can lose themselves in this astral sea and just enjoy not being on Earth for a bit.” -Michiel, Lead Level Designer

In this blog, we'll meet the the team responsible for building this new zone and share a few sneak peeks of what's coming! Artists create the textures, visual design, and assets of the world while Designers help determine the flow and player feeling.

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Designing the Hollow Vale was no short process. Considering how different it is from the rest of Alderwood, creating the zone came with new challenges, choices and creative steps.

Before development kicks off, Michiel worked through over 10 pages of documentation. These pages outline what the world should look like, what gameplay is possible within it, and the kind of story we want to tell. Immediately it becomes clear that the logic of traditional environments can't be applied here. This freedom comes with challenges, though. Without natural geography to anchor the space, the team built the Hollow Vale by asking questions:

• How old is this place?

• What controls it?

• Why does it look the way it does?

Before concept art begins, Michiel starts by creating rough sketches using existing assets and resources already available to the team. But once concept artist Florian Zenz jumps in to help visualise the space, the project evolves rapidly. Between Florian’s work and Michiel’s direction, the early visual identity of the Hollow Vale quickly begins to take shape.

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The result is a collection of concept sketches filled with impossible structures, spiralling rock formations, and liminal architecture that becomes the Hollow Vale’s visual identity. Florian's concept work inspired Michiel and the team - you'll be able to see that in several prominent areas of the level!

One of the team’s biggest goals with the Hollow Vale is to create disorientation without frustration. We want players to feel uncertain and curious while still understanding where they are. Michiel describes good design as “information transference,” the art of naturally guiding players through landscapes with landmarks, silhouettes and visual language.

The Hollow Vale gave the team an opportunity to experiment with the impossible. Because the space exists outside the natural world, the team could explore ideas like self constructing bridges that assemble as players progress through the zone. Much of the technology behind these bridges was developed by Tobias Werring, our senior technical artist.

Alongside this, the zone’s murals server as another opportunity to design in ways the team hasn't explored before. The murals themselves were created by Evelina, who experimented with the concept before the feature was fully solidified. What started as placeholders soon became an integral part of environmental storytelling within the Hollow Vale. When you explore the new level in chapter 5, be sure to watch your surroundings for hints at the lore!

“We wanted to help players understand what was happening without simply telling them the answer.” -Michiel, Lead Level Designer

In the Hollow Vale distances become skewed, spaces warp around the player, and you might question what’s real! With Chapter 5, players will finally have the chance to step into the Hollow Vale themselves, and we can't wait for you lose yourself within the mystery.

Equinox Homecoming