In Dragonflight, we already got a glimpse of what Blizzard is planning in the next expansion for World of Warcraft…

Ahead of the release of World of Warcraft’s new major expansion, Blizzard revealed some interesting details about the origins of The War Within and how some of the gigantic underground environments that Diablo and Starcraft developers have been working on for a long time were made. “We’ve been setting up our journey underground for quite a while,” said one of the game’s lead designers, Maria Hamilton. “We had to get some tech improvements in so that we’d be able to do that effectively, without loads and with that level of depth we wanted,” he added.

The first test was the previous expansion of WoW, the remarkable Dragonflight and its Zaralek Cavern. Blizzard explained that they tried to make this environment “big enough that it didn’t feel too tight or constrained.” The War Within takes this idea to a new level by featuring “a huge cave”.

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“It’s something we couldn’t do in the past” – say the people behind The War Within. “Zaralek Caverns was an opportunity for us to try some things, and also learn how to tell interesting stories in that space, and to learn how big of a space we needed,” continues Hamilton. Dragonflight was the perfect testing ground for the studio. “It was very important to us.”

“We wanted you to have the feeling that it’s endless.”

Artist Jordan Powers also emphasizes how serious the design work was to make it all feel familiar, yet new. “We wanted to give players some sense of familiarity, with cenotes and beautiful god rays coming down from holes in the ceilings and illuminating these lush mineral pools. It is important to establish that you are in this cavern, that you are still underground, to fulfill that fantasy.” But that familiarity, the artist continues, gradually disappears as you go deeper and deeper into the depths of Azeroth, until you reach HollowFall, a gigantic cave environment with verticality never before seen in WoW.

“We wanted you to have the feeling that it’s endless,” says Hamilton. “We have an endless underground sea down there. the idea that the expanse goes on and on and on.” It’s such a unique location, adds Blizzard’s artist, that the team behind The War Within was very pleased with the reactions of players who got to explore it at the last Blizzcon. “Seeing people fly down and go ‘ohhhhh’. That’s the experience we’re looking for. What is at the center of the planet isn’t what you’d think, perhaps. The art team did such an amazing job” – he concludes.

As reported a few weeks ago, The War Within has some really spectacular design details, such as the terrifying, spider-infested city of Azj-Kahet, which promises to be a place every World of Warcraft fan will want to explore. Blizzard’s new expansion will be released on August 27th, although depending on which edition of The War Within you buy, you can get into the game a few days earlier.

Source: VG247