A few weeks ago we released a Runescape Behind the scenes outlining the imminent update of Al Kharid, one of the oldest areas of the game.

The project is maybe the one I enjoyed the most this year. The challenges we had to face were many, and updating the city without breaking the existing content felt at times like defusing a landmine.
The old Al Kharid looked pretty much like a bunch of scattered houses, and not a city at all.
What we had in mind instead, was a grand place bolstering with activity, a hub for travellers and merchants crossing the desert, with the palace of the Prince at its center.

Given the scale of the project I thought it would have been easier to mock up the entire area in 3D first, to avoid issues down the line. This way I could also have control over the overall shape of the city, how roads and building would lead the players to the points of interest, and most importantly how to convey the feel that the Art Director wanted Al Kharid to have.

It took several days of back and forth to other departments (environment modellers and animators have been heavily involved in the concept phase) before we came up with a layout that could actually work.
Only after everyone was happy with the model (which I forgot to take home, alas)  I could start with the proper drawings.

For the first time in Runescape we built a city with a self consistent logic, with actual city things going on, and a proper city plan.
The houses are now obviously built with materials available in the surrounding area, the crumbly red sandstone the neighbouring hills are made of.
Their walls are bare and scarcely decorated, since the sand and the incessant winds would wear every exposed surface in a matter of days.
The indoors are instead where al Kharidian would spend the most of their time, and are usually rich and full of comforts.
Al Kharid has defensive walls now, to keep away enemies and possibly the harsh weather, and guards patrol the battlements to keep the citizens safe.

Right past the main gate there’s the market, where merchants and travellers sell their wares and exchange news.
The buildings at the outskirts are quite small, while they get taller and taller approaching the palace to emphasise the slope of the hill the city is built on.
This is something that I believe will impress Runescape players quite a bit. There aren’t many high places in the game, and the view from the Prince’s Palace is now quite stunning.

In hindsight, if I were to draw these concepts today I would do a much better job (they’re quite a few months old now). The deadline ended up being quite tight in the end, and I had to take many shortcuts, among which pasting all over the place the facades we had already designed, which gave everything a slightly artificial look.
But hey, I dished out an environment and a half every day so I can’t really complain.

Anyway, I’ll post the rest of the AL Kharid concepts later this week, with the Palace and the rest.

by Paolo Puggioni