A screenshot of the docks at sunset from my Oblivion modification, Port Umbra.

I paid specific attention to what the player would first see upon arrival at Port Umbra because this would determine how the player reacts to the environment and quests. I created a road leading almost straight to Castle Lark, the imposing structure towering over the island, to draw the player to this area, where all the extensive quests begin.

To create the feel of a city with distinct disparity between the mass of impoverished Umbrans and the rich but corrupt nobility who profit from the port’s smuggling, I designed the initial road leading to the Castle as a division between the slums on the left and the richer merchants’ quarter on the right.