Middle-earth: The Third Age
Personal Project, April 2019
- Platform: PC
- Genre: Role-playing
- Engine: CRYENGINE V
- Development: 10 weeks
Overview
Middle-earth: The Third Age is a proof of concept open world role-playing game, based on The Lord of the Rings.
Journey across the locations of Middle-earth and play through the storyline. It is up to you to decide the fate of the One Ring.
Journey across the locations of Middle-earth and play through the storyline. It is up to you to decide the fate of the One Ring.
Level/World Design
- Defined the open world structure and content to be tuned for intended gameplay.
- Coordinated tools to enable procedural world generation solutions from both design and technical perspectives.
- Maintained an iterative workflow through implementation of various feedback.
- Created composition, lighting and shaders to match the feel and look towards realism.
Goal
Unify the level design with exploration in order to reinforce an immersive experience through atmosphere, and realize the world of J.R.R Tolkien as closely as possible to his vision of Middle-earth.
Design Pillars
Research
Since my depiction of Middle-earth strived for authenticity, it was required to thoroughly research the locations in order to capture the atmospheres and immerse the player into this secondary world.
Before I continued on with the world design, I devoted time to self studies in geology and other earth sciences, due to my visual scope towards realism and diversity.
Before I continued on with the world design, I devoted time to self studies in geology and other earth sciences, due to my visual scope towards realism and diversity.
World Design Goals
Below is a 2D preview of the digital elevation model used for the in-game world.
The fundamental goal with its design was to maintain consistent distances between the points of interests, in order to direct the player and provide sustained interest of the exploration aspect, which is fundamental for the player motivation.
The fundamental goal with its design was to maintain consistent distances between the points of interests, in order to direct the player and provide sustained interest of the exploration aspect, which is fundamental for the player motivation.
Forochel 
Hobbiton 
Moria Process
When I constructed the heightmap, it was crucial to adjust many of the proportions from the original Middle-earth map in order to fit in gameplay.
I subsequently created different heightmap elevations that replicated the original Middle-earth map, to try out the level pacing for something that could be considered a realistic and practical scale for a single-player open world.
I subsequently created different heightmap elevations that replicated the original Middle-earth map, to try out the level pacing for something that could be considered a realistic and practical scale for a single-player open world.
Workflow
Diversity was needed to enhance the exploration aspect, the map was exported and processed even further with procedural tools to define the different biomes and reinforce the unique settings of this universe. This workflow was also advantageous to maintain the metrics and consistency throughout the world.
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