Far Cry 4

Game’s don’t just leap from ideas to code; developers spend a great deal of time and money honing their visions before they are implemented. For Far Cry 4, not only did Ubisoft send a select team of developers out to Nepal to research the country, but it created a museums worth of concept art pieces. Here is a brief look at some of that art, created by art director Jean-Alexis Doyon and his team, along with some details about how it helped shape Far Cry 4’s fictional world of Kyrat.

“This is one of the original concept pieces we did when we decided to set the game inside a fictional Nepal-like country," says Far Cry 4 brand manager Henri Guay. "This was our attempt to experiment with what the place looks like and what it represents. Our concept artists were inspired by the Gansehthan Temple in Bharatpur, Nepal.”

A few team members took a trip to Nepal to help give them a solid grasp on the architecture and natural beauty of the land. In the distance you can see native Tibetan fir trees. “Nailing the architecture and finding a vibe for a country can be tricky," Guay says. "Since this image was originally created, the team has taken this same image and dropped it down by about five to ten degrees Celsius, so this same biome now has a little more snow and more cool feel.”

Ubisoft was hesitant to share many details about Kyrat’s mountains, but we do know that players get to traverse these cliffs at some point. Far Cry 4's protagonist Ajay is equipped with a new grappling rope, which he can use to climb up large rocks and swing across ravines. We’re sure that Kyrat’s mountains will help players break in that new tool.

This is one of the outposts that the team designed around the concept of guerrilla radio. Throughout the game, you hear people broadcasting propaganda for Kyrat's emperor Pagan Min. Fortunately, there are also those who oppose his regime. One of the radio DJs who resists Pagan’s rule will give the player a variety of quests.

This concept piece is an example of one of the temples that players get to go inside and and explore. "This was a useful benchmark for our artist for testing lighting indoors," Guay says. "In Far Cry you spend a lot of time outdoors, so that contrast when you come indoors has to be rich and it has to be interesting.”

The radio towers from Far Cry 3 have been replaced with Bell towers that players must work their way up in order to disrupt the radio broadcast across Kyrat. Activating these also helps players build their map of the country. “Pagan Min has attacked the historic cultural practices, silenced the bells, and taken them over for distribution for his propaganda radio," Guay says.

Kyrat has a rich sacred history. One of the taglines that the team has explored is "Sacred is under attack." Throughout the game, players come across areas like this where both sacred and natural beauty intersect – then just over the hills they will encounter legends of Pagan Min’s royal army.

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