https://imgur.com/a/tZlr7umMade a "little" project: recreating and expanding the tutorial location of Demon’s Souls.
As you might know, the Des tutorial is split in 3 parts, with two teleportation possible rather than a fully linked location. Despite that the 3 parts were intended to be from the same zone. If you try to merge the 3 maps, there will be some display of that (there even are some scrapped roads to get from one to another). The last image of this set displays the three original maps in Smithbox.
Though besides that, the environment is a little inconsistent with the first showing a lake, but then it’s nowhere to be seen in the second map. Likewise the volcano arena seems like quite a big change of environment. And then of course since the locations were never intended to be seen outside of the player’s very limited perspective, lots of elements are missing from a far away view.
My goal was to extract the files, recreate the original maps and rework it from there, completing the landscape and exterior of the temple (because yes btw, the texture maps files of the game specifically calls it a temple, it was never meant to be some outpost like a certain remake did). I completed the temple by using existing bits as modular assets, so there is no inconsistency.
I had to reinterpret the environment to make it fit together and be a little more interesting. The temple is expanded a little in places that weren’t seen, the lake of map1 is made coherent with the village and river of map2. The volcano got larger mountains to cover it and justify how it’s not seen previously. The river got partially cut since it didn’t make much sense how it was heading toward the volcano, at the same time it’s anyway not a part that the player can see ingame so there is no real inconsistency. The idea was to keep it respectful to the og maps and make was what implied. Basically what I would have wanted a remake to do.
