The Creation of SAINTS ROW's Open World Cityscape: Stilwater

Speakers: Jason Hayes, Kenny Thompson

Track: Visual Arts

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: Intermediate

Description: As games continue to evolve so does gameplay. With the incredible success of open world sandbox games, SAINTS ROW is one of many that will surely follow. Within this lecture we walk through the creation process of SAINTS ROW 's open world city, Stilwater. It covers the choices made to create what is now a gigantic, complex, and detailed world. This presentation covers the turns we took, consider the mistakes made, and postulate on our future processes.

Idea Takeaway: Attendees walk away with intimate knowledge of Stilwater's creation including the history of its development process, a partial map of the pitfalls that stand in the way of a project like this, and insight to better prepare for a massive world's construction. They also gain a high level technical understanding of our tools, budgets, and world rendering engine design.

Intended Audience: This course is intended for artists and designers facing the challenges of creating massive worlds, with limited resources, and tight deadlines.