Battle for Azeroth: Nazjatar - Level Design
Level Design on WoW is a highly collaborative process where we work with 3D environment artists, 3D prop artists, quest designers, dungeon artists, and other level designers in order to put together a fully realized world for players to explore. As Level Designers, we are responsible for dictating zone flow, sculpting the terrain, painting down terrain texture and color, building villages and other points of interest, and hand placing 3D art assets to fill the world, making it feel vibrant and alive.
I worked on a few specific POIs in Nazjatar, including the Alliance hub of Mezzamere and Queen Azshara's Imperial Garden. I was also responsible for the initial art demo of the kelp biome which can be seen throughout Nazjatar as well as the art demo for the POI that would become Ashen Strand.
Additional Level Design
Colin Volrath
Kyle Aronson
Jestry Ahlswede
Zach Turner
Environment Art Support
Tina Wang
Marie Lazar
Kate McKee
Gabe Gonzalez
Nick Murano
Phillip Zhang
The entrance to Azshara's Imperial Gardens.
I really liked the idea of Azshara keeping beautiful things alive in torturous states in her garden, so I decided to cover this beautiful coral tree in dozens of hungry starfish, gnawing endlessly for Azshara's enjoyment.
I used a mix of terrain textures and prop curbs in order to create these designs on the terrain which were inspired by the tile sets inside of the Azshara's Palace raid.
One might say that Azshara is a little self-centered, so I placed tributes to herself throughout her garden.
We kept a portion of Azshara's garden underwater to vary up gameplay through the space.
Another angle of the coral tree that sits at the center of the Imperial Gardens.
I built the art demo for the space that would become Ashen Strand. The demo was a small terrain section complete with props, textures, and colors that could be propagated quickly throughout the space. Kyle Aronson did the final implementation.
A peak from Ashen Strand to the Alliance hub of Mezzamere.
One of the paths leading up to Mezzamere.
I spent a lot of time carefully layering kelp against rocks and even against other kelp pieces to get these views.
We wanted Mezzamere to feel shrouded in kelp, hidden from Azshara's prying eyes.
The main entrance to Mezzamere.
To sell the idea that the Ankoan are fierce hunters, I decided what better trophy to display than a shark? How about multiple sharks?! How many sharks can I get away with?? It turned out to be 3. 3 sharks is what I could get away with.
While the Alliance are guests of the Ankoan in this space, faction identity is still important so players don't go running into the wrong hub, so these large blue banners on buildings throughout the hub were a must.
I enjoyed placing the small details in Mezzamere, from the barnacles that spiral up the rocks to the individual kelp stalks tangling together to create canopies and archways.
Large sweeping shapes are a huge part of Nazjatar, and Mezzamere is no exception.