Dev Blog 3: The Making of StormHaven, Part 1

Finally I get to show you all some footage of the world I have had in mind since the beginning. About half way through the month, I decided to buy myself a Wacom Intuos tablet to help with designing areas, and as I get better with it hopefully textures.

Here is a rough sketch of the world map I made using the tablet with the StormHaven area circled in red.

I plan to work on the eastern half of the continent first, so basically from the left end of the northern-most mountains east. Onto StormHaven itself.

The Lore

There is some lore behind this area, I have added an NPC named Gregory who will sit outside of the wall if players wish to inquire with him about the history of StormHaven.

According to Gregory, the bay south of StormHaven has historically experienced record breaking winds causing extreme weather conditions. Some have attributed these conditions to more than just natural causes, but nobody has been brave enough to fully explore the bay during a storm. Because of these conditions sailors and other travelers would regularly moor in the northernmost section of the bay. Over time many of them decided it was a truly unique area and stayed there.

The most notable of these was a young Lord Vysir, who is now the overseer of the territory. Although a relatively new territory, Lord Vysir had grand visions for StormHaven from the very beginning. His recruitment of skilled individuals such as Alacor and Eskell was key in this. Placing Alacor, a master combatant, and Eskell, a now famous alchemist, in the chain of command allowed the StormHaven government to have such polarizing opinions on topics that the people felt their rule has always been fair. Eventually many merchants set up shop there as well, and formed a union knows as the Artisans. This idea spread to many other territories as well, and has become a key cog in continental trade. This union is optional and has its drawbacks, so some traders decide to go it on their own. StormHaven is graced with two of these individuals, Godric and Harold. Each experts in crafting combat gear, Godric focuses on melee equipment while Harold chooses to work with archery.

Lord Vysir saw some flaws with his land, however. He realized that without education and a strong military StormHaven would succumb to the pitfalls that most coastal towns do. Many of the men who stop here are pirates or drunks, and to keep his citizens safe he designated Alacor head of military and Eskell the spokesperson for all merchants. He also had The Academy built on a small rocky hill next to the castle, which now houses some of the brightest minds in magic. The hill was unknowingly built on an old ritual site, with ample residual energy. It is not uncommon to see mages harnessing the energy of the crystals around the academy, which act as a sort of mana conduit. The Academy is led by Arlo. Not much is known about Arlo's history, but he is trusted and respected by Lord Vysir.

Thanks to a combination of it's location and leadership, StormHaven has many prosperous years ahead of it.

The Creation

I began with the blacksmith. I wanted to place the smith near the entrance, but still on the main path. This has reasoning that will be explained in a future quest.

So here is a screenshot of about half way through my first draft. I was pretty happy with the lighting effects I was able to accomplish with the furnace, and made sure to emphasize Godric's huge size compared to the player and his surroundings.

Here you will see the end of my first draft. During the Cyber Monday sales, some of you may have noticed Skull's Cel Shader go on sale. It is an incredibly useful tool and to show exactly what it is doing to my scene here is an identical screenshot without the shader active.

It is definitely a matter of taste, but I really enjoy what this tool brings to Iron Legacy.

Here we add a floor, as well as a tool bench. This pretty much how the blacksmith stands right now( the lighting isn't built so excuse the odds lines), but I want to add some more to it. I tried to stick with a minimalist approach, but It could use a little something.

Now for Harold's Archery Shop. I didn't get many screenshots, but here it is right now.

I wanted to create a welcoming feeling for this shop. Harold is the type to tell you an hour long story when you only came in to pick up your torn leather armor. He also loves talking about the bow behind him, but for some reason wont explain it's origin.

The castle took up most of my month. Between the initial design drawings, choosing all the right models and materials, and making sure everything was placed intelligently, it turned into quite the job. I'm incredibly happy with it.

I started with the entrance, and added a little flair to the courtyard. I decided to go with a relatively simple rectangle with a tower on each corner. As it developed, I knew I was onto something a little more special..

Going from top to bottom, I added a Grand Hall, Alacor's quarters, a kitchen, A Meeting/Throne Room, Eskell's quarters, and Lord Vysir's quarters. I also had the idea to link the academy with the castle to show their unity, as well as add more flair to the courtyard. Here is a top-down view after finishing the floor and walls.

I also wanted to show something for other devs reading this. I had some trouble early on with my floor panels, as they didn't appear to be tiling. However, after fully building my lighting it looked like the above screenshot. Here is a side-by-side of flooring where I built the lighting and then placed the rest:

I just wanted to add this in case anybody else was fretting over something similar. Always hit your build button before you decide you don't like what you have made.

Here we have my first rendition of the academy. I wanted to really emphasize that it was built on a magical site, so I used the terrain tool to slope a rocky texture around the floor and added crystals on the corner. I also went for an octagon shape and while I don't necessarily regret it, I wish I would have modeled it separately as on octagonal object instead of just trying to build it with angled rectangles...

Here I finished off the flooring and crystals, and positioned it properly with the bridge from the castle. I wanted the bridge to come in on the second floor of the academy (which isn't built yet)

I then evened out the rock terrain and added another polygonal shape in the center with a staircase.

After the academy was set up, I went back to the castle to finish off the courtyard.

I immediately realized it needed some foliage, some life if you will.

I added some vines to the bridge, some Maple trees to go along with the Dogwood trees, and a small flower patch at the end of the pond.

I then went on to the gate to fix the wall. If you noticed in the blacksmith photos that my gate was ugly, you'll be happy to see this:

I'm not sold on the towers, but I haven't been able to come up with anything better. I absolutely love these angel statues, I found them on the unity store if anyone is interested.

So that's everything for this month. Between the holidays and my day job, I didn't have a ton of time to work on Iron Legacy. I constantly stow ideas in my phone when I am on the go and sketch things in my notepad though, so just because you don't see it on the blog doesn't mean it isn't in the works! The next blog is going to focus on the market, where the Artisians live and sell their product, as well as the harbor. I am going to be on a vacation for about half of January, so the next blog may be a little later than usual.

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading! 2018 is poised to be an exciting time for Iron Legacy, so be sure to follow me on twitter and subscribe to the subreddit!