Development Log: Stormwind Valley

In the original game, the main action took place around a single large location — Stormwind Valley. This is the largest zone in the project, containing several points of interest and key areas tied to the story and world exploration.

One of them is the Lower Gates of Arknam. Unlike in the original game, the city of Arknam now has two entrances: one leading toward N’akhzeran, and the other into Stormwind Valley. This adds more freedom of movement and variety in how players navigate the world.

New Location — Orc Camp

One of the new additions to the game is the Orc Camp. According to the lore, the united orc clans had repeatedly tried to storm Arknam — unsuccessfully, until they managed to find a way around through the sewers.

After the city invasion, the forces split: Dork and the green orcs remained in the sewers, while Shorka and the brown orcs stayed in the camp on the surface.

t’s a logical progression of events, especially compared to the original game, where orcs would just suddenly appear in Noria’s Tavern out of nowhere — which I never really liked. What do you think?

Updated Location — The Forest

The forest is the place where the player first encounters the Witch. In the new version, Lambert’s house has been relocated there — it now sits within the forest, rather than out in the open field as it did before.

I think it makes much more sense: the lumberjack should live in the forest, not in the open fields. These small changes help make the world feel more coherent and believable.

Devenannt and Noria’s Tavern

In the original game, Devenannt was a mining town.

In the Rebirth version, I decided to place the mines closer to the city itself to make things feel more logical and convenient from a logistical standpoint.

Additionally, I moved Noria’s Tavern to the road between Arknam and Devenant. This adds a sense of the story: miners can stop by the tavern after their shift, and travelers and wanderers can find a place to rest on their journey between the two cities.

This kind of placement makes the world feel more alive and believable — everything is where it logically belongs and serves a clear purpose.

The Lake

Not far from Arknam, in a low-lying area, there’s a lake. It was originally intended as just part of the environment, but now I have ideas for a dedicated questline — for example, a quest involving slimes that inhabit the water and its shores.

In general, the lake offers great potential for various events: Unusual encounters at night, Hidden stashes at the bottom, Ghostly silhouettes in the fog, Or even cultist rituals performed under the cover of darkness.

It’s a space full of opportunities for atmospheric moments and gameplay discoveries.

Lighting and Day/Night Cycle

At the current stage, the Arknam location uses baked lighting. However, this approach doesn’t work well for large open areas, as it consumes a lot of memory and makes it difficult to achieve the desired atmosphere.

In the next release, I plan to switch to real-time lighting (you may have already seen this in the video). This will provide greater flexibility and allow me to implement a fully functional day/night cycle.

The system is still in testing: time may either pass in real time (similar to The Witcher 3, with moving sun and moon), or the day will be split into three parts, as implemented in Don’t Starve Together.

My main goal is to achieve the most atmospheric and visually appealing result with minimal impact on performance.

Stay Tuned!

DEV VIDEO: StormWind Valley WIP (YouTube)