The lightbulb moment

I was browsing Pinterest on my lunch break one day when I stumbled across this image of these stone runes resting in what looked like a marsh/swamp biome. I dissected the piece for a few minutes when suddenly a light bulb went on in my brain. I began envisioning a similar swamp biome, except with more of these runes. And the biome was nested deep in this vast open ravine. I kept looking for reference images similar to the one you see in the screenshots above. Turns out, a lot of artists like making concepts revolving around magic runes. 

Starting the prototype

I saved the images in a folder that way I could refer to them later on once I eventually started conceiving and planning the layout of the level. Once I established a solid 2D concept map, I hopped into Unreal Engine 4 and began working on a rapid prototype. This prototype was intended to act as a foundation for what would later become the Vale. I intended to just detail and sculpt over the giant blobs of land overtime. But as any designer knows, plans change quite often...