By all reports, Obsidian Entertainment’sAvowedis set primarily in the Living Lands in the studio’s world of Eora. What little information about the Living Lands can be gleamed fromPillars of Eternityand comments made by the developers indicates that the game’s setting will be on the frontier of Kith civilization, with the Living Lands inhabited by diverse, loosely formed communities and composed of a great diversity of biomes.
Even thoughRed Dead Redemption 2is not an RPG, Obsidian could learn a lot about creating a diverse and compellingly threatening frontier from the game. There are many parts ofRed Dead 2’s design philosophy which should be considered when putting together the Living Lands forAvowed.
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Dynamic Frontiers
Red Dead Redemption 2’s map sizeis around 29 square miles. For comparison,Skyrim’s map covers around 14.3 square miles.Avowedis rumored to have a map far larger thanSkyrim’s which could make it important to look at some of the waysRed Dead Redemption 2handled a world on such a large scale.
ThoughRed Dead Redemption 2has many mysteriesand a huge amount of encounters and interesting characters to be found all across its map, there is one key mechanic it also uses to make the world feel dynamic and exciting in the gameplay that remains in play even when the player has completed all of the quests in the world. The game’s bounty system tracks the player and their crimes, and not only will lawmen pursue the player, but even after they have escaped different lawmen will wait for them on the highway to take up the pursuit again if the player is ever found.
Avowedisn’t a western, butthe Living Landsare described as a “lawless land where communities band together, fall apart, and fight petty wars with each other constantly.” By implementing a dynamic faction system where different groups recognize the player for their actions and will even hunt them down or aid them in the wilderness depending on their reputation could go a long way towards making the Living Lands feel lived in, as well as taking advantage of their ever-shifting political situation in the lore.
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Creating Communities
Not only didRed Dead Redemption 2’s map have a great diversity of biomes, but Rockstar also made sure that the diversity of its environment was reflected in the flavor quests and random events. Even the most extreme, silly, and sometimessupernatural encounters inRed Dead 2are flavored by the location.
In the New Orleans inspiredSaint Denis, for example, the player can come across a feeding vampire in streets that resemble the creepy Old World architecture of the real city and its many presentations as such in media. The player can come across a UFO when visiting a shack in a region more closely resembling the isolated mountains of Montana or Colorado to the west where far more of those stories take place.
Although the communities of the Living Lands are ever-shifting,Avowedshould look at howRed Dead 2gives the different areas of its world distinct cultures and influences.Avowedshould make sure that the different settlers of the area have brought very different architectural styles, for example, and should play with how these styles have adapted differently to the frontier. It is likely the Kith brought their worship ofthe gods of Eorawith them to the Living Lands, and seeing how their culture and religion is warped by frontier living could be interesting.
The dwarves have a strong colonial presence in the Living Lands, and it would be interesting to see how their customs and architecture adapts differently in the swamps and jungles of the Living Lands as opposed to the region’s icy mountains or grasslands. IfAvowedcan create a frontier that feels as dangerous and diverse asRed Dead’s,Avowed’s setting of Eoracould have a unique flavor that helps distinguish the fantasy RPG from its next-generation rivals.
Avowedis in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
