Throughout my various environment art projects, I have used a number of environmental storytelling techniques to enrich spaces with narrative background and make them more interesting.
On Divided Kingdom (2016), we told the story of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi Britain during a civil war between the government and private military companies.
The environment itself (a train station where an evacuation happened) had two 'versions': before and after the war.
Apart from the voice-over, the story is also told through various ads in the train, signs, banners, announcement boards, environmental destruction etc:
The protagonist's tablet's screen gave more narrative context about him and the war:
On Sea of Thieves (2016-2017), I created various areas of interest and landmarks for use in the game's riddle system. I used a combination of geometry re-use, asset placement, terrain sculpting and in-world text to tell stories about environments and their past.
Some of my work was noted by players: https://www.eurogamer.net/rare-is-already-immortalising-players-most-memorable-achievements-in-sea-of-thieves-world
I used many of the same techniques on Athonite (2018), alongside the diegetic text mechanic:
On Train Sim World (2019-2020), I used enviromental storytelling to add interest to areas where collectables were placed, as well as for easter eggs (like the TSW 'donkey'):
On the Cultist Cave (2020), I went for a darker tone, using blood decals, sinister lighting and asset placement:
On True Self (2022), I used simple shapes to visualise objects, thoughts and emotions, tied into the narrative that was being conveyed by the diegetic text:
