Hoarders Cove
Intentions
The design of this town was to fit around the idea of a post apocalyptic settlement in the not so distant future. The idea of this map and its architecture was inspired by games such as Borderlands and Fallout, as well as cities like Rio De Janeiro and Manila.
My focus for this design was to build a town around a central hub while also providing an assymetrical approach to the town. This assymetrical design also tries to emphasise the use of verticality in the architecture as well as landscape.
Part of my intentions were also to provide connections to the various parts of the town, allowing for even the assymetrical design to be able to connect to eachother.
Context
After the world started to collapse, it’s any wonder that people started to gather together for survival. A mysterious man, known as the Hoarder, knew long before anyone else what the world would become. Stockpiling and keeping everything that happened to cross his path. Over time as the world started to falter, people looked to the Hoarder as a sense of hope for survival. The Hoarder accepted the masses with open arms preaching a mantra that any pilgrim would need to follow to be allowed into Hoarders Cove. “Civilisation is Built off Sacrifice”. These provided sacrifices allow for the expansion of the town, improving its strength, resources and overall infrastructure.
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Crushers Gate
Crushers Gate is the first time the Player would see and be exposed to Hoarders Cove. It is here that the player is met with the mantra of “Civilisation is Built off Sacrifice”. Here the player must sacrifice something of worthy value to the crusher, in order to be let into the town. Here the player would witness a sequence in which the crusher picks up the items and drops it in the crusher to which the player can access the main gate hidden by another crane and a lowered container.
The concept in designing this space was to firstly create an experience in which the player can make a choice on if they are willing to offer a sacrifice or not. This choice ties them into the rest of the game and the experience that occurs behind the walls of the city. With that the goal was to create a space where theres more than meets the eye. With the crushers gate looking like a seemingly standard junkyard it is designed to hide and take the attention away from what is hidden behind it. Secondly the tunnel which is revealed when the crane lifts the mechanism provides a funnel before reveal to the town. With a long and cramped tunnel, the lines of sight are reduced before the entire city is revealed to the player rewarding them for their sacrifice with the impressive and town full of life.
The player must place a sacrifice in order to unlock access to the main gate. Once this sacrifice has been placed, and the main gate has been unlocked, it will remain unlocked for the player at all times for them to come and go from Hoarders Cove as they please. This gate is affected by the proximity to the player, meaning that it will close once the player has gone far enough from it in order to once again hide the entrance.
Market
The Stacks
The goal around the design of the market district was to remain simple in its design and straight to the point. The space is designed to be easy for the player to get in, sell, trade, and purchase gear and be on their way without any hastle of needing to navigate through the town to do so.
The choice designing the market in this way was for the path from the front and back to not be blocked and to allow for the player to see where they are headed while in the market through the use of lines of sight. With the lines of sight in this area being longer than that in the stacks. The player is able to see the steps up to the Hoarders House from the entrance of the market, and the same works for when the player comes down the steps from the Hoarders House.
The design of The Stacks bases itself around the architecture of shanty towns and the favelas of Brazil. The Stacks serve primarily as a space of lore in the city, providing the player with tons of insight in the world of the game they would be in. Here the player would also be able to speak with people of Hoarders Cove to receive side quests in order to expand the players experience.
The choice of building the stacks in this manner provides various elements that enhance the gameplay. With the cooridor being designed to be densely packed with homes and NPC, the lines of sight are reduced in order to create a funnel before reveal for the entrance up to the Hoarders House. Secondly, with the addition to the verticality, it creates an emphasises and uneasiness for the player when first navigating through the space. This addition to verticality also allows it so that the player can traverse the town through various passages.
The Cantina
The Cantinas design was to fit directly in the center of Hoarders Cove. The design decision here was to allow for 4 Major entry points. Using the assymetrical design principle that I have established in the project, the goal for the Cantina and its entry points were to for one, allow for each entry point to access a different part of the Cove, but to also provide changes in verticality in order to emphasise the assymetricness of the space while also being able to create a functional space, where players can come to buy food and drinks to continue on their travels. Also it being being one of the only circular shapes in the town the choice in its use was to one fulfill the symbolic nature of what a circle represents. Like social circles, the dome of the cantina is to embody unity in the town allowing for it to connect to all the major parts of the town, where and the heart people can converse and celebrate.
Another aspect of its design was fueled by the want for interesting spaces in which the player can find and interact with NPCs in the world. Due to the complex nature of open world games, this space was designed for the player to experience moments of life in the intended game world.
The Pit
With a post apocalyptic town I made the design choice to put in a battle pit. The intentions of this were for one to provide opportunity for environmental story telling of the town be provided just through the brashness of the Pit. The intentions around the design of the pit were to create a space in which the player can battle against NPCs for prizes, as well as to settle disputes for the towns people as their champion. The design of the space features balconies, and elevated platforms to add a sense of spectatorship similar to that of the Colosseum in Rome, but not to high up either to provide a suprise in gameplay when more NPCs pour into the arena to fight against the player.
The reason for the design in this way was to create a space in this way was to create an area that once the gate is closed behind the player, there is only one way out, and that would be by fighting. With the highwalls and the spectators on the sides it eliminates any chance of the player being able to climb out the space once inside.
Hoarders House
The design choice for Hoarders House was to provide the town with a large space that sits atop the junk, but still be buried inside it. Also wanted to showcase that due to it being an important house in Hoarders Cove, the addition of large metal fences and towers at the wings of the house were to emphasise that this house and this space belongs to someone of power in the town.
Hoarders House is the main quest point in this town. Here the player would have their first encounters with the Hoarder where they would be the tasked with varying quests. This space was designed to have a grandeur entrance with a long spiral staircase to which they are greeted by a long straight to the front door. This choice was to create a moment where the player can see the Hoarders House up close for the first time in its full glory.
