"Snow-Covered Path"[]
"Snow-Covered Path" — Behind the Scenes of Dragonspine
After all this time, Dragonspine has finally revealed its true colors. Dragonspine's unique geography and climate, standing in stark contrast to the wide fields and proud rock formations of previous areas, posed an all-new challenge in terms of environment design. Travelers, let's retread this snow-covered path behind the scenes together~
Base Camp — Preparing for a Unique Challenge[]
Bu Yiding, Environment Concept Artist: One of our previous two regions was themed after spring and the other autumn, but Dragonspine is quite special. Firstly, it's set in winter weather and incorporates a Sheer Cold mechanic. The sunlight is also very special. In the previous two regions, the sun was shining brightly, providing good lighting and higher color saturation. But on Dragonspine, the color saturation drops, and light sources grow cool. Even visibility decreases. The environments inside and outside the cavern are also extremely different.
Maizi, Level Artist: We referenced many photographs of real places while designing Dragonspine. We were researching snow, but beyond that, what is below snow? It's soil. Is there grass? Are there stones? Are there dead tree branches? At what layer do we distinguish these details? What we were really researching was the logical order of nature so that we could adapt it to the style of Genshin Impact and present this environment to players.
Bu Yiding, Environment Concept Artist: In terms of real-world references — when you think of Europe and snowy mountains, you usually think of the Alps as Dragonspine is also a lone, tall mountain. We originally looked at the Matterhorn which stands out among the Alps with its pointed, pyramidal peak.
Into the Snowstorm — Building on a Theme[]
Xiao Ao, Level Designer: The rush of cold you feel on a snowy mountain is expressed not just in the art style, but also in the gameplay. Examples of this include the Sheer Cold meter that appears once players set foot on Dragonspine and the various features of the environment that either increase or decrease Sheer Cold. Dragonspine is a relatively small area of the map. As such, we considered three aspects when thinking of how to create more content for players.
First was the space within. We tried to create as much interior space as possible in Dragonspine to give players more to explore such as Starglow Cavern, some of the ruins, and so on. Second was connectivity. We linked up many of the areas inside the mountain so that the player can enter an area and move straight to the next area, giving them an interruption-free experience. Third was themed zones. There is a higher concentration of them in Dragonspine — examples being the Starglow Cavern, the Frostbearing Tree, and the dragon skeleton. The variation between zones creates an experience of exploring an ever-changing landscape for the player and a sense that there is more to come.
Haidi, Environment Art Director: As they explore more deeply into each area, they will find that the environment and atmosphere change. For example, when you enter Starglow Cavern, it's quite quiet — some sounds even echo inside. And when you look down into the cavern from further up and take in the view of the intricate structure, you have a sense of exploring the unknown.
Xiao Feng, Lighting Artist: We put a lot of thought into the summit — Skyfrost Nail — because it is the root of all the mysteries on this mountain. It brings everything together, including the quests, so we wanted to make it a unique experience. As far as the art is concerned, you can see the clouds at the peak from far off once you enter this world. The visuals make your imagination run wild from wondering what might be up there, especially what lies behind those clouds. It is one of the final destinations of your Dragonspine experience. It is quite magical.
Bu Yiding, Environment Concept Artist: The dragon's skeleton and the effects its decay has on the surrounding environment is something else that we needed to craft with special care. When we began designing this area, Game Design would outline their ideas such as: "We want a dead dragon here." Then we would develop an initial plan based on their concept plus some initial imagery.
Xiao Ao, Level Designer: To enrich the experience of the Dragonspine story, we would take the core themes of Dragonspine, namely the Skyfrost Nail and the bygone civilization, and represent them from many different angles. The first one of these is the ancient civilization. As the player explores, they will encounter eight stone tablets and three boxes. From these fragments of information, the player gradually develops an idea of what happened here in the past. Secondly, the stories of present-day NPCs shed some light on the mountain's history. For example, the quest involving Joel and his father as well as other quests. In the end, the player develops their own interpretation of what happened. Key examples of this are the quests "In the Mountains" and "The Festering Fang" — they are all about what the player encounters and experiences for themselves. The interplay of these three aspects reveals the true face of Dragonspine to the player.
Sculpting a Snowscape — Fine-Tuning Frost[]
Hao Nan, Technical Artist: The snow in Genshin Impact is very clear, and a little romanticized with the way it glistens. We could not make the snow very realistic, so I consulted many different sources at the time. Idly, I looked up at the sky and saw the clouds and I wondered if we could base our snow on clouds. Clouds have a color gradient. Perhaps we could apply this concept to our snow, so I tried it, and it worked well. It makes for a very watercolor-esque snow. I showed it to the art team, and they thought "That's just the sort of snow we want."
A Le, Modeling Artist: The ice and snow effects in Version 1.2 added some extra highlights to Dragonspine. All in all, we went through about 15 versions. Truth be told, the mountain was something of an experiment.
Maizi, Level Artist: We hope that players can sense that the game's artistic quality is gradually improving. For example, the trees by the roadside and the snow that you see gathered on them — we tried hard to make them look as natural and as integrated with the surrounding terrain as possible.
Haidi, Environment Art Director: If you attack a tree on the mountain, snow falls off. Artists get obsessive about this kind of thing especially when designing for multiple platforms simultaneously. We want to make sure that no matter where the player goes, the picture they see — from the composition to the details, to the visual logic — is a work of art, not messy or random.
View From the Summit — Journey Into the Unknown[]
Haidi, Environment Art Director: If you traverse this world, it becomes more and more complete. In this world, there are quiet and peaceful parts and there are some fantastical parts filled with a sense of adventure. The players goes through a constant cycle of tension and release as they explore deeper into the unknown.