Upcoming Area #1: Project Lensmoor Snow-land

I'll be touching upon the areas I'm working on from now on.

Overview

The current area I'm working on a small to moderately sized wilderness themed area located in the frozen north of Lensmoor. Without going into details: if you've ever played Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind's second expansion called Bloodmoon. Try thinking of Solstheim, that is somewhat close to the feeling I'm trying to convey.

Challenges

I'd say the number one challenge when building an area has to be describing an identical area through multiple rooms. Its very easy when you find differences, markers, points of interest, but when you are describing your sixth virtually identical room, it gets difficult.

In good taste you don't just copy-paste the same description over and over, unless your intention is to confuse the player; instead you find creative ways to reword the existing rooms so that although they look the same, you know the difference while traveling through it.

Tips for the Future

My policy is that every mob, be it an arctic hare or a traveling peasant, every one has to have a past. Reason? Nothing is randomly placed. Everything exists within the zone's story for a reason.

That said, if you are a story-nut, you may learn significant things should you choose to employ View the Past on mobs more than just rooms or objects.

Conclusion

While it will be a stand-alone zone, that section of the world is by no means complete, and schedule permitting I would like to revisit it for a Project Lensmoor Snow-land Part 2.