Sea of thieves came into my life 2 years ago and singlehandedly* put an end any time I had set aside for creative ventures. It's a spectacular piece of work, one of the most beautiful looking games I've ever had the honour of playing, and a disgraceful amount of fun.
While sailing the Sea Of Thieves I frequently fantasised about what other biomes might look like. I took it upon myself to illustrate one that I thought might feel in-keeping with the existing seascape, yet completely fresh, and build upon the gameplay.
Welcome to the Northwest Passage.
I thought it would be really fun to have a northerly area with icebergs, and black volcanic beaches. Somewhere to contrast perfectly with the Devil's Roar.
A hazardous sea, where icebergs burst out of the ocean at little notice, snow reduces visibility, and a constantly changing set of iceberg islands that slowly rotate and spin, making navigation a challenge in itself.
Sailing down narrow crevasses in the ice would be a lot of fun. Imagine navigating an area like Thieves Haven but on a much larger scale!
And then there's the possibility of North-men Skellies in longboats to look out for. The addition of horns, fur and shields would make these guys stand out from the regular skellies.
One of the nicest things about Sea Of Thieves is the use of colour and light. Each area is carefully lit and the local colours are an incredibly strong part of the aesthetic. An ice cold location would benefit from a really dark sea, with bright aqua marine splashes of colour, where the contrasting white ice broke through and a rich blue sky.
The best thing about snow and ice is that the colours change dramatically with the light so one area could look incredibly different at different times of day.
The arctic at night could really play off the already gorgeous night sky by reflecting the colours of the aurora.
And again, both dawn and sunset would turn the snow all colours of pinks, yellows and oranges. It would be a sight to behold.
And don't even get me started on glacial caverns... They could change colour depending on the light outside! And snowballs! We could have snowball fi-No. Stop now.
But thanks to the good folks at Rare for providing some much needed escapism (especially at this moment) in a beautifully crafted world. Anyway, enough of this! There's a new update out. Hoist the anchor! Once more unto the beach!
*Lies. Elite Dangerous laid the path. Red Dead helped as well. God, I'm useless.
