Shadowlands: Maldraxxus - Level Design
For Shadowlands, I was the Level Design Zone Point for Maldraxxus. I designed the map layout and flow of the zone, creating a 2D map to start and eventually blocking out the entire zone in 3D before the rest of my LD team was assembled and began defining out each space in earnest. Our vision for the zone was brought to life with the help of several talented LDs, Environment Artists, Prop Artists, and Dungeon Artists, all working together to create this oozey, fleshy, skeleton-filled land of war, home of Necromancy and defenders of the Shadowlands. I hope you enjoy this journey through Maldraxxus.
Additional Level Design:
https://www.artstation.com/saralwons
https://www.artstation.com/travishickman
https://www.artstation.com/garyplatner
https://www.artstation.com/igerdes
https://www.artstation.com/jahlswede
Environment Art:
Matthew Heyman
https://www.artstation.com/praxispixels
https://www.artstation.com/arylia
Prop Art:
https://www.artstation.com/jordtron5000
https://www.artstation.com/alexquinbyart
Dungeon Art:
https://www.artstation.com/patrickburke
https://www.artstation.com/dawnson
https://www.artstation.com/pixelatedkiwi
Luis Armstrong-Torres
Visual Development:
Jimmy Lo
Cole Eastburn
The player starts their Maldraxxus adventure in the Theater of Pain, a large arena where monsters captured from outside realms are brought in for Maldraxxi warriors to test their mettle.
The Seat of the Primus, a massive statue seen all across the zone, is the Necrolord Covenant Hall.
Additional LD by Ian Gerdes. The entrance to the House of the Chosen is heavily fortified, prepared for any invasion.
Additional LD by Jestry Ahlswede and Ian Gerdes. The mood changes once inside the House of the Chosen, where magma is fed into numerous forges in order to create the many weapons that the Maldraxxi use to keep their armies well equipped.
Glutharn's Decay features my favorite biome of the zone, a swampy, mushroom-coated space that is simultaneously icky and beautiful.
The hub in this space, Renounced Bastille, is where players will come across a former enemy turned ally.
Several Necrolord houses have attempted to tame Glutharn's Decay in the past, eventually abandoning the swamps for higher ground. Only the House of Plagues ever managed to truly live side-by-side with these particular natural landscapes.
Lately, the House of Rituals has been sending its troops into the swamps, hoping to find more precious Anima within its untamed landscape.
Additional LD by Sara Wons. Many great creatures have attempted to bring low the armies of Maldraxxus, but none have yet succeeded.
Slimefalls feed the many shallow ponds throughout Glutharn's Decay.
Clandestine rituals are not unheard of within these mushroom forests.
The entrance to the House of Constructs beckons you, but you may not like what you find inside...
The House of Constructs is where the parts of any fallen Maldraxxi warriors are recycled into new, more powerful warriors, Abominations and stitched-flesh horrors.
The pit at the center of the House of Constructs is where various fleshy bits marinate before they are ready to be added to newly built warriors.
The many surgeons of the House of Constructs have different needs for their creations, this particular surgeon always has a variety of fleshy bits on hand.
Recently, the House of Constructs has been experimenting with oozey alchemical solutions to imbue their Abominations.
Additional LD by Gary Platner. The spaces leading in and out of the House of Constructs are almost as fleshy as the Abominations that reside within.
Additional LD by Sara Wons and Gary Platner. Forgotten Wounds is a large, open space where boars, bugs, and oozes all mingle beneath large hive-looking stalks.
Many creatures call Maldraxxus home, living among its hairy cracks and fleshy folds.
Additional LD by Sara Wons and Gary Platner. The House of Rituals is very protective of its Necropolis, keeping it deep within their fortified territory.