The time has come for Magic fans and MMO Action RPG fans alike to become Planeswalkers and save the multiverse from its greatest threat. Players will explore some of the franchise’s most iconic planes, collect mana-based spells and gather the power needed to overtake their enemies during combat.

An ancient force moves in darkness, posing an ever-growing threat to the entire multiverse. Players will experience the power of becoming a Planeswalker as they discover exciting mana-based spells and strategically build out the perfect hand of balanced attacks to control the chaos of the battlefield. While openly exploring the vast planes from Magic: The Gathering, players will fight alongside iconic characters and legendary creatures made popular by the original card game.

Among the longtime fans of Magic: The Gathering is the development team at Cryptic Studios, who have been working on the game behind-the-scenes since 2017. Development of this MMO action RPG is an extension of a licensing partnership between Wizards of the Coast and Cryptic Studios following the success of Neverwinter, the critically acclaimed MMO based on the tabletop adventure, Dungeons & Dragons. The team currently developing Magic: Legends is helmed by executive producer, Stephen Ricossa, former executive producer behind the popular MMORPG, Star Trek Online.

Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment have revealed that Tazeem, the majestic jungle continent on the plane of Zendikar, will be featured in Magic: Legends. Tazeem joins other locales from the iconic Magic: The Gathering Multiverse, such as the rolling plains of Benalia, and the volcanic islands of the Shiv region - both located on the plane of Dominaria.

From the flowing rivers that the Merfolk call home, to the towering jungle treeline teeming with wildlife, and mystical hedrons both in the sky and scattered across the jungle floor - the gorgeous continent of Tazeem contains many breathtaking vistas. The wide range of lighting results in bioluminescent jungle floors and glorious views where the sun peaks through the thick jungle canopy.

During the development of Magic: Legends, our team has taken on several world-building challenges that go well beyond that of a standard 3D game. Today we will be talking about the development of Tazeem, a lush jungle continent located on the plane of Zendikar. As the third region we built out for the game, Tazeem tested our knowledge and learnings from developing previous regions. Each region we approach, like Benalia and Shiv before them, has presented a unique challenge to overcome and Tazeem has been no exception!

In a game with free camera movement, artists work extremely hard to make everything look amazing regardless of orientation. This means everything must look great in both vertical and horizontal spaces, where the camera can rotate around them. The camera angle in our game focuses in on the lower hemisphere of the world, which means our artists must convey the appropriate feelings of a region, from wild grandeur to claustrophobic areas, using the ground space and below without added verticality.

Among the Trees

Tazeem is covered in dense foliage, the composition of which creates a thick jungle canopy that obscures the ground below. Our challenge was to communicate the feeling of being hidden underneath this canopy without being able to actually look up and see it. We also had to make sure that treetops didn’t obscure the camera view of the playable space. Our team of environment artists came up with a few clever solutions to give the illusion of the jungle canopy we needed.

The first solution is an old stage lighting trick called a gobo, where a stencil cut-out of a tree canopy is placed between the light and the stage. When light shines through and a gentle sway is added, the shadows feel like you are among the trees. 

The second solution he discovered was to place thin vines that span the vertical space of the screen giving the illusion of added height. After adding the vines, he experimented with how far he could push this approach. He added thicker vines and tree trunks that extended up past the camera. The cumulative effect makes walking the paths through Tazeem feel like they’re bathed in jungle. 

Your Place in the Sky

While building a world like Tazeem, it is necessary to capture the immensity of the ethereal expanse without the ability to look into the actual sky for reference. We really started to experiment with new ways to show a sense of depth and volume in our immense vistas.  

We rediscovered the use of negative space to show our vistas. We may not be able to look up, but we can look down. To maximize use of this space, we utilized a strong silhouette which does more to capture a scene than almost any other technique. We implemented atmospheric fog that thickens or thins based upon the perceived distance of an object. This increases the contrast between the background and foreground, really helping the foreground pop from the scene.

Lighting Your Path

The lighting in Tazeem spans a wider array of colors than Benalia and Shiv. Scenery shifts from sunny days under a humid jungle canopy to dark areas filled with bioluminescent light. In addition to that, Tazeem features aquatic areas that house Zendikar’s Merfolk. In order to bring the continent to life, we needed to embrace the vastly different lighting needs of these areas. That meant we had to assess each area and ensure the shifts in lighting properly guide players along the many defining trails and paths of Tazeem. We took extra time to make sure the thickness of the canopy was conveyed by the dappled lighting, which darkens as the canopy grows and players delve deeper. From there, lights emitted from the surrounding area must be sparse enough to preserve the darkness while also giving enough of a visual trail for players to follow.

The Triple Play

As a quick recap, our time developing Benalia and Shiv helped us define our artistic processes for building near and far spaces visually. Through trial and error along the way, we also developed a process for creating vista-defining silhouettes. Tazeem further challenged us though and required us to build out a solid lighting process that conveyed a jungle canopy while ensuring players could effectively navigate the region.

In summary, our findings on lighting, depth, and silhouette converge in Tazeem, further defining our overall process for the art of Magic: Legends. By taking a cinematic approach, maximizing a sense of distance, and paying close attention to environmental transitions, we can bring the stories of different regions and planes to life – and there are so many stories left to tell.

Key Features:

• Become a Planeswalker – Players can choose from five diverse classes and switch between different Planeswalkers at any time.
• Walk Your Own Path – Players will need to cross various planes to save the multiverse, but how they weave their path is up to them.
• Control the Chaos – Control the chaos in real-time combat. Choosing what spells go into each hand requires strategy, as they will be drawn at random during attacks.
• Collect and Upgrade – Players will discover a myriad of spells and collect spell fragments to make them more powerful.
• Fight Together –The planes in Magic: Legends can be traversed alone or with up to two other Planeswalkers.

Magic: Legends will make its worldwide debut on PC in 2020, Xbox One and PS4 in 2021.