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Lots of interesting stuff in this post. You hit the nail on the head that it’s combination of a couple things. Partially being that these zones are indeed all designed for gameplay first. If our Enemy Encounter team wants room for a mini boss or large group of enemies, I build around that first and try to make it work. But it is also that it’s all very WIP. I love going back through older zones and giving it another layer of detail, better lighting, and density of objects to make it look more ‘lived in.’ It just takes time.
That said, this post did do a good job in serving as some inspiration. It gives me a couple ideas for how I could make some quick wins to our Level Design to make it feel a little more dynamic and possibly more ‘lived in.’ The entering buildings idea is of course right on the money. And the fun thing is, we’re hoping to create some tech that allows us to nest ‘smaller zones’ within the actual levels that instantly load, so that would be a great opportunity for jumping into houses really quick to see what’s inside.
You’ve got a good point about supports and handrails on the bridges. Luckily, it’s something that’s not hard to do and is actually pretty fun to make. I have lots of intent to keep adding more details to the world and use them to add to the story telling of the levels. But prioritizing new content and more levels usually takes precedent. It’s always cool to hear feedback on it though, especially when someone actually takes the time to breakdown what might and might not be working, and to even suggest some fixes.