The Spires of Ascension dungeon was a really fun theme to work with. We aimed to create a vast floating city in the sky above Bastion where the ascended kyrian could live in serene luxury when not performing their Shadowlands duties. The city represented the epitome of the kyrian civilization and only those who successfully completed their trials were allowed access. The aesthetics needed to reflect the ascended kyrian ideals of honor, perfection, and beauty and I'm really proud of the stunningly beautiful space we created.
I was responsible for the propping, terrain work, and city backdrop compositions.
Shadowlands offered us a unique opportunity to think way outside the box and explore WoW art in a manner we'd never tried before. We wanted each zone to not only feel otherworldly, but also to really reflect the culture and emotional overtones of its inhabitants. In Bastion - our most heavenly zone - this meant the land itself needed to evoke the kyrian's themes of honor, duty, and unending service. I think we really captured this and I'm extremely proud of the beautiful zone we created!
I was the level design point person on the zone and worked closely with the art teams and level designers to develop the environments, POIs, and visual storytelling of the zone. I also contributed on the content side with some side quests and treasures.
WoW level design is a collaboration between art and design. We are responsible for the open world and outdoor dungeons, islands, and raids. We work very closely with the environment art, prop art, dungeon art, and content teams to craft WoW's diverse landscapes and visually tell the world's stories. We create outdoor layout and composition, sculpt and paint terrain, hand place buildings and props, point light, and apply final world polish.
