LORDSFELL Front Lines - Immortals of Aveum
Lordsfell was once a bustling construction hub, where workers excavated ancient Goliath remains before the war reached Lucium’s gates. As the conflict escalated, its inhabitants fled to Greyvail, and Lordsfell was transformed into a fortified frontline. A makeshift fort was constructed, defenses were hastily deployed, and the once-active dig site is now a war-torn battleground—serving as a critical buffer protecting the last remnants of Lucium from Sandrakk’s invading forces.
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GAME DESCRIPTION: Immortals of Aveum is a single-player, first-person magic shooter set in the original fantasy universe of Aveum. The story follows Jak, a battlemage who joins an elite order of magic-wielders known as the Immortals to prevent the world from falling into ruin. At the heart of Aveum lies the kingdom of Lucium, a central hub that players revisit throughout the main story and side quests. However, Lucium—and the world around it—is being consumed by The Wound, a massive chasm that swallows entire cities. Both a literal and symbolic force, The Wound represents the world’s unraveling, driven by the devastating effects of the Everwar and the growing instability of magic. As both a narrative and environmental threat, it underscores the urgency of Jak's mission and the high stakes of Aveum’s collapse.
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MY ROLE: As a Senior Environment Artist (Level Art) on Immortals of Aveum, I was responsible for managing the full production of the Lucium Hub, from initial design through to final shipping, under the guidance of Creative Director Bret Robbins and Associate Art Director Julia Litchblau. I collaborated closely with level designers to shape the hub’s layout—balancing composition, gameplay flow, and narrative beats—while leading a team of environment artists tasked with asset creation and set dressing across the region. My specific responsibilities included: Establishing and implementing the terrain and procedural generation systems, creating an artistic style guide for terrain and set dressing to ensure consistency and visual cohesion, composing and set dressing every major point of interest within the hub, and managing the hub’s production timeline, ensuring all work met performance, visual quality, and delivery targets. This role required cross-disciplinary coordination, strong visual storytelling, and a focus on optimizing both the player experience and development efficiency.
This is the dev map we used to identify different areas in Lordsfell. I will use this naming convention for identifying screenshot locations.
Located along the forest road path overlooking the construction puzzle, this area is free of combat and instead emphasizes exploration, collectible discovery, and light puzzle-solving.
While Front Lines doesn’t feature any direct combat, significant effort was placed on crafting a space rich with narrative vignettes and hidden puzzles. The area encourages players to revisit as they unlock new abilities.
Many of the player’s abilities evolve over the course of the story, so designing a space that becomes accessible only after reaching a specific narrative milestone required careful planning and precision.
View from atop the Construction Puzzle, looking out toward Lordsfell Keep.
View from atop the Construction Puzzle, looking out toward Mining Town.
A challenge during development was determining how to populate the terrain in a way that elevated the gameplay experience envisioned by the Creative Director and Level Designer. This led to extensive back-and-forth discussions and images like this.
Ultimately a waterfall, river, and recently cut down trees was decided on, creating a natural barrier between the road and the construction puzzle, elevating the composition as the player enters the Forest Road Path.
View of the Front Lines as seen when exiting Lordsfell Keep. This screenshot was captured during the art blockout stage.
As assets began to come online and surrounding areas of the map were developed, this screenshot represents the proxy stage.
Following last-minute additions and a final polish pass—including detailed set dressing and narrative vignettes—this is the version of the area that shipped in the final build.
The contrast between natural environments and scrappy, human-built elements played a key role in Lucium’s navigation and composition.
Lordsfell is a city constructed primarily from hastily assembled wooden structures, reflecting its origins as a rapidly expanding excavation site.
Early screenshot showcasing the art blockout stage of Front Lines.
Final screenshot showcasing the updated layout of Front Lines. The area was simplified for clearer navigation, and the wooden structures were refined to create more evocative silhouettes.
Originally built with a much denser arrangement of wooden scaffolding, this section of the Front Lines also included a puzzle element in early development.
Later in development, the space was reimagined as a more natural environment, replacing the dense wooden scaffolding with organic terrain. The stone checkpoint was introduced as an architectural extension of Lordsfell Keep.
The Front Lines are filled with hidden nooks and crannies that reward players for venturing off the main path.
These tucked-away spaces reward curiosity with world-building details, environmental storytelling, and hidden collectibles that further expand the game’s lore.
The Veki Cave is one of several optional areas players can explore to discover additional loot. However, venturing away from the Front Lines increases the risk of ambush. The cave’s varied terrain elevation provides natural cover within a confined space.
In earlier versions of Veki Cave, the loot was hidden inside a furnace originally designed to burn the bodies of the dead.
These furnaces were planned to appear throughout the region, reinforcing the tone and lore, but the concept was ultimately cut in favor of an Arestayan Puzzle Structure.
Originally, Lucium was intended to be a more open environment. However, this approach introduced significant navigation challenges within the context of an otherwise linear game in addition to difficulties controlling enemy encounters and streaming.
A key feature in Lucium is the winding brick road that runs through Lordsfell, connecting Lordsfell Fort to Greyvail Plaza. This large spline-based mesh created technical challenges—particularly with Nanite while preserving visual fidelity and performance
Art Blockout Stage of Lordsfell Keep and the surrounding area, highlighting the "Swiss cheese" design approach of the Front Lines.
By the time of shipping, the terrain surrounding Lordsfell Keep had been significantly updated with increased foliage density and refined layout adjustments.
Lordsfell Keep was originally designed with an asymmetrical layout, intended to guide the player along a linear path toward their final destination.
My contribution focused on reshaping the space to feature a more symmetrical composition and significantly opening up the layout.
Opening up the space allowed players greater agency—giving them the choice to sprint directly toward the objective or take their time exploring the environment for additional narrative or resources.