Assassin`s Creed Shadows - Mitarai Valley

As the owner and creator of Mitarai Valley, a breathtaking landscape location in Yamato, Japan, I had the privilege to develop the entire topology of the mount Yoshino around the valley, the urban and environmental design from concept to completion.

It is a middle point between 4 other locations that I created: Dorogawa onsen, Path of Serenity, Omine Sanji Temple, and Omine Sanji Safe house that you can see in my other posts. I wanted to create a location with the most "leap of faith" jumps I have played so far.

It is famous for its cascading waterfalls, towering peaks, and emerald, green waters that flow between massive rocks, creating one of the most picturesque landscapes in the region.

The hardest part of recreating the real location was to feature dozens of interconnected hot springs, streams, lush greenery, and hundreds of complicated sculpted rocks along its length in a scaled down game area compared to the original.

The terraced terrain, moss-covered stones, and serene reveal points were carefully crafted to capture the essence of this trekking paradise, home to playful monkeys macaques bathing in the warm onsen pools. The lighting and visual effects further enhance the immersive experience of this remarkable location.

What I did in details:
The whole urban layout plan from start to finish
- Initial concept drawing
- 3D Blockout
- Polish
All the terrain work
- Topology – sculpted the whole are of 5 connected locations
- A lot of mineral onsen ponds, connected by many watercourses
- Vegetation passes to have colorful trees in almost all seasons
- Rocks pass – Hundreds of rocks along the valley
- TPSs – the types of vegetations
- Reveal points work
- Propping
- Puddle work for wetness
- Decal work for erosions, moss and dirt
- Terraced the river to create cascades and waterfalls
- Prepared for Level Desing functions
- Lighting Pass
- VPX pass

Level artist: Radi Avramov
Level Designer: Martin Panicharov
Lead Artists: Andon Nedev, Biser Parashkevov
Art Direction: Nikola Stoyanov