Obsidian designers discuss how they decide on the size of Avowed environments: "We don't just want those empty, meaningless space to have them"

The recent documentary celebrating Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary included a segment in which the designers discussed how important it was to create levels that were satisfying for both players who rushed through them (possibly on an airboat) and those who chose to walk around to find the extra ammo and narrative bits hidden at the edges.

Obsidian's Avowed first-person RPG is a game that has a lot of similar thoughts. "A lot players want to go off the beaten track when they play," says Matt Hansen, art director. "And say, 'Yeah I'll get to the grove eventually'. When I reach the thicket I will go to see what the lighthouse is. The lighthouse doesn't have a critical path, but we made it with a lot love because we wanted to provide fun stuff for players who want to mess around a bit."

Hansen is a great example of this mindset. "I know that there are a lot of people out there," Hansen says. Avowed seems to cater to this exploratory playstyle with plenty of hidden treasuries to find, puzzles and monsters to battle around its edges.

David Presnell, lead environment artist, says: "We don't just want those empty, meaningless space just because we can, just to bloat up the world itself." "When you explore Avowed your exploration, curiosity, will be rewarded."

Hansen stresses that the players' experience is the most important factor in designing a world. "You have a glade right? In this glade you want scaffolding to allow you to climb the trees. Then, a little later, the designer says, "Actually, this is where we need a combat," and you think, wow, it's way too densely crowded for a fight that feels good. The enemy will get stuck on certain things and the player's awareness of their situation will be poor due to too much clutter. It becomes an iterative process. Move this stuff back to create more space. We have some medium-sized rocks in the middle, move them to the edge, and replace them with smaller rocks that do not collide, so they don't stub the toes of the player or confuse the AI when they are trying to move. These kinds of things happen all the time. "While there are competing goals, it is always the overarching goal, 'Let's ensure this is a great experience for the players' that wins."

Hansen, who worked as a concept designer on both Pillars games of Eternity, insists that the game's gameplay is more important than its appearance. He says, "I have an odd hierarchy as an artist." "I think that this may be controversial. I always ask myself, "Will it run?" Then, is this fun? Does it look good, then? The last thing to consider is whether it looks good. If it doesn't work, people can't play it. If it's not fun, it's no longer a game. It's, I don't know, a visual demo. If it doesn't appear good, then I'm not doing a good job. It's just ensuring that we prioritize in the correct order. I think we do pretty well."

Avowed has been pushed to the 2025 calendar, and is now scheduled for release on February 18.