TBO Unreal Modding
I began my foray into modding by creating simple inventory items for use as triggers for scripted quests. Soon I inherited our server mod, implementing new consumable spell-casting items and adding NPCs and custom placeables. Not long after that I was put in charge of a larger mod called WarSong that adds a range of aesthetic items, custom followers, workbenches, feats and shapeshifting skins. Cutting my teeth on those mods, I decided to create our own custom map mod when I took over the server, to allow us to change and expand the world over time. Using the base game map of the Exiled Lands, I began crafting some new POIs and set pieces, while making alterations to this world that players have seen time and time again. The result was something new and different; a more immersive world with surprises around every corner.
UNBONDED
Unbonded is a new map mod built completely from scratch. The heightmaps are generated using World Machine and imported into the Conan Exiles devkit for Unreal 4. In order to segment the development process, we’ve divided the map into islands that will be separated by an IC (in-character) distance. Characters wishing to travel between islands may need to hire a ship and crew to make the journey. It is set in the Western Ocean, off the coast of the Thurian continent, in and around the Barachan Isles. This locale provides the easiest tie-in for the widest range of character origins and is rife with story potential, as players engage with the wider world.
TBO 7.0 - CONCEPT
The base story of Conan Exiles takes place in the ruins of a once great empire, turned into a prison by a Cursewall that surrounds the land, preventing those with the Bonding Bracelet from escaping. The empire was built by the Giant Kings on the backs of Khari slaves. They achieved great heights, until the arrival of Lemurian ships on their eastern shores. They arrived as refugees, fleeing the sinking islands of their homeland after the Great Cataclysm. The Giant Kings gave them food and supplies, allowing them to settle in the jungles. Together they developed the Bonding Bracelets, which permitted them to comprehend each other’s speech (along with a number of more nefarious functions). The Lemurians grew in number and spread out beyond the jungles, making incursions into places that were forbidden to them. In so doing they discovered that the Giant Kings had been harboring their ancient enemies, the Serpentmen, in the volcano to the north. This led to a great war that tore the Exiled Lands apart, becoming the ruined landscape you experience in the game.
Our idea was to take things back to a time when the Giant Kings were still at war with the Lemurians. Instead of simply piecing together aspects of the distant past, players would be invited to live through some of those events. The lore was always vague enough to offer a lot of room for interpretation, giving us a lot of threads to pursue. While much of the world was still in disrepair, the damage would have been much more recent. In addition to that, we changed up the populations of towns and POIs, added more evidence of Giant King and Lemurian presence, altered dungeons, made new ones, introduced new factions and made sure everything was in-line with this vision of a great empire at war. It provided tremendous opportunity from a story perspective and since we have control over the map, we could evolve that narrative over time.
MAP ADDITIONS
A few samples of levels added to the map in Unreal 4. I’ll highlight a couple set pieces that were produced first in order to serve purposes of narrative and function. Much of the initial work has been in spreading little bits of content far and wide across the map, so that travelling the Exiled Lands feels different than the thousands of other times our players have repeated the task. So there’s a ton of fairly small changes that impact the experience. We do have a few more dungeons and levels in the works though. I’ll share more as they’re completed, but in the meantime I do sometimes stream development on Twitch, so drop in and spam Doritos in the chat!
The Bonding Pools
The Bonding Pools are connected to what used to be the Mek-Kamoses’ Spire POI. This is a temple of some sort where Exiles first awaken, cast into the pools wearing nothing but the Bonding Bracelet by their Giant King overlords. The experience is disorienting, creating a connection between the player’s experience and the characters.
Al-Merayah
Al-Merayah was built on the site of a POI known as Ruins of al-Merayah, just off the savannah portion of the map. It was home to a pretty lame Dogs of the Desert camp that I figured no one would miss. We kept the original name, deciding to flesh out this area since there was no lore behind it. We turned it into a frontier town on the eastern edge of the empire. It had been an outpost in the war against the Lemurians; a rally point for the front lines as they repelled their advances. When both sides were forced to fall back it created a lull in the war, leading enterprising individuals to establish trade and businesses with other Exiles. Thus was born al-Merayah, our hub-town, where players can get just about anything they could need to get themselves established in these wild lands.
((Before in-game decor.))
New Player Starting Experience
A walkthrough of the custom starting area for TBO. Bonding Pools and Al-Merayah, plus a few other locales for getting started. Context for new and returning exiles who wear the bonding bracelet.
The Red City
Here’s a quick video showing off some of the changes and additions we made to the Red City (formerly the Unnamed City). This is the capital of the Giant Kings, from which the Triumvirate rules over their empire. It is a place of corruption and ruin, but here there are powerful sorceries at work. Have a look at the Citadel of the Triumvirate and the more recent addition of the Lower Archives.