The decade-oldDying Lightseries has had two primary settings so far:Dying Light’s Harran andDying Light 2’s Villedor. Both of these settings are sprawling urban metropolises packed to the brim with tall buildings, industrial sites, and residential areas, all of which are perfectly suited to the series' unique blend ofzombie-slaying action and grounded parkour.Dying Light: The Beast, however, is bringing a slightly different setting to the table.
Trading the concrete jungles ofDying Light 1and2for a more rural, natural setting,Dying Light: The Beast’s Castor Woods will see players dart across the rooftops of a small tourist town and dash through its surrounding forests. Game Rant recently spoke withDying Lightfranchise director Tymon Smektala, who shed more light on this new setting and discussed how Techland is making Castor Woods feel like a living, breathing place.
Dying Light: The Beast’s World Is Hand-Crafted and Filled With “Human Touches”
Environmental design is an integral aspect of developing an open-world video game. The layout of a building, the location of certain props, and small hidden details all come together to create a cohesive, lived-in space that immerses the player in the game’s world.Dying Light: The Beastdeveloper Techlandknows this all too well and understands how important it is to let the environmental artists do their job:
“We made sure Castor Woods feels lively and like a lived-in ecosystem by fully unleashing the creativity and talent of our artists. We gave our team just one direction: “Go through each and every square inch of the map and verify it feels unique, handcrafted, and lived-in.””
Dying Light: The Beast’s art team, directed by Katarzyna Tarnacka-Polito, apparently did just that. To breathe life into the world of Castor Woods, Tarnacka-Polito’s art team integrated some of their real-life memories into the environmental design. For example, some of the development team’s real-life personal items were added toDying Light: The Beast:
“What makes it really unique is the number of real-life objects that were added and rendered in the game—a good example is the Lion-themed blanket that you see in the safe zone in the gameplay. It’s a real item that belongs to Katarzyna’s grandmother! There are plenty of little stories like that in the environment and these human touches really make Castor Woods stand out.”
Little human details like this one could go a long way in making Castor Woods feel even more immersive thanDying Light’s Harran andDying Light 2’s Villedor. But these environmental details are just one piece of the puzzle.
How Dying Light: The Beast Is Using New Tech to Make Castor Woods Feel Like a Real Place
It’s been a little over three years sinceDying Light 2hit store shelves. In this modern age of gaming, three years isn’t a lot of time for huge technical leaps, but developer Techland has learned a lot about itsin-house C-Enginein that time, and it’s using that newfound knowledge to make Castor Woods look suitably stunning:
“We rewrote huge parts of our rendering code for lighting and added some missing features—e.g., sun moving on the horizon. Combined with current gen solutions for material rendering, it makes the world much more believable. Oh, and the weather system got an overhaul as well, as we now support more different weather states than before.”
In all ofDying Light: The Beast’s gameplay and cinematic trailersreleased so far, the visuals and atmosphere of Castor Woods have been a key highlight. The lighting, in particular, looks incredibly impressive, with the natural glow of the setting sun paving the way for some truly picturesque moments. This natural beauty is hopefully something that setsDying Light: The Beastapart from its predecessors.
