Neverwinter Nights 2: Rogue Dao Studios Developer Journals #1 & #2

Here's a portion:

I'll cover developing Sigil - Hive Ward first.

Originally, I had some concept art off of planewalker.com and from a book I have here. Now, the tricky part (one of the lengthier pieces of any area design) is the heightmap/walkmesh.

when I started, I had to take the Torus design into account and attempted the "curves" of the Torus. In looking at the map versus a 16x16 area, though, I had to drastically change my plans mid-stream. I could only cover one fifth (one small area) of the Hive Ward in a 16x16 area. And even then, I'd be doing LOADS of work. 32x32 was DEFINATELY out for the level of detail I wished to achieve.

So, then began the heightmapping. I spent some 10 hours on heightmaps, creating five "levels" that PCs would walk on, with connecting walkways. Not easy. Liberal use of the smooth tool is needed. Right now, I do not have screenies. At home, tons of screenies.

Read the rest at Rogue Dao Studios.