[3.2] [BSC] - The Dig - Unearthed Hideout

My hideout in 3.1 was pretty cool but I felt it was too disjointed to share with no central concept and--in the case of one part--no way to actually do what I wanted to. I decided that I definitely wanted to do Cata's hideout sometime in the middle of Abyss...but I couldn't figure out what I actually wanted to do with it until a week or so into Bestiary.

I've come across a lot of really cool hideouts in my couple thousand hours in the game, but the overwhelming majority of them have these little environments set up for each master or for each theme the player wants to display. While that's diverse and allows for a lot of creative flexibility, I personally find it jarring when you go from Zana's bedroom to Elreon's library to Catarina's cave in a few footsteps.

With that in mind, I decided that I wanted to create one big theme that flows naturally from the waypoint to the main attraction--an archaeological dig site, led by Zana, with the map device at its center. I started with Navali's cave and built from there. It was just a forest with some crumbling ruins around the map device for a long time when my g/f suggested I throw the pyramid in there.

It looked weird as hell to me at first, but I eventually got used to it and now I think it's exactly what the area needed. It singlehandedly solved the most bothersome thing about this hideout: the giant gaps into nothingness around the platform where the map device sits. Getting the ruins to look natural and cover up the gaps was time-consuming, but I think the results are worth the effort.

The portal, where Cata and Navali conspire to end life on Wraeclast.


Detail of the burning altar.


The encampment. The other Masters found gainful employment working for Zana.


Vagan's armoury.


The dock.


Tora, returning from the hunt.


Zana's HQ.


Leo taking care of the logistics. He's really not good for much else.


Detail shot of the dig site entrance.


Detail shot of the curios they've uncovered so far. Kind of. It was hard to get a good shot. Zoom in.


The dig site so far. An earthquake recently brought down the decaying temple that once stood here and revealed a map device situated next to an ancient pyramid.


Detail shot of the ruins