Spotted this tweet earlier and thought I'd share it here as an insight into the process which went on when designing islands in Sea of Thieves.
Not only the design was very carefully thought out, but the story behind each island.
For those who'd like to read it here, I've copied and pasted, I know we'd love to hear more of this! There are more images included in the tweet as well.
Time to get involved with #Blocktober! Here's one the first islands that we designed for #SeaOfThieves that later became the basis for Thieves Haven and Crook's Hollow. Our process started with a high level 'story' about the island, followed by a block out and playtesting.
We used this first island as a proving ground for what would make an interesting space to explore but also serve as a stage for different kinds of gameplay. Ultimately, we decided that more focused, less sprawling designs were right for the game (2/3)
Following this, we set our sights on designing the first ten islands that would serve as a guide for future island design. Each of these islands had their own 'story' related to the kinds of player scenarios we wanted to see (3/3)