This background we really wanted to convey a story just from the visuals. Workers retrofitting Shao Kahn's Fortress with elements that represent Kotal Kahn whose character design is more Aztec influenced than Asian. The Giant Bronze Snakes that are like one of his weapons to smaller Metal Snakes wrapping around pillars and of course the huge Statue of Himself in the distance. The right side of the environment is more finished than the left. We liked the visual contrast of new metal over old stone. Another part of the environment design is the

In The KROSSROADS we wanted the level to have a grounded earth like feel with an evil twist. The Grand Canyon was the main inspiration we drew from. Instead of a river flowing though we turn that into lava and the Butte's and Cliffs became horned and pointed which also resembles the NetherRealm Logo. Rocks in the foreground we went with a coral-like stone which also has a skull like feel to them. The background is also highlighted with black steel pillars that serve as totems of torture. The wildlife in NetherRealm slowly feed off the enslaved souls hanging from chains. There was another idea to have Spider-Like Centurions break out of the ground when a player nears its area but we stuck with just having the flying creatures. Quan Chi's Fortress can be seen floating in the distance. He is most likely enjoying the view.

Even before the story for Mortal Kombat X was finalized, we knew that Earthrealm was going to be hit hard, so we started working on ideas for a destroyed city very early in development.

Video games are full of destroyed cities (we've created several ourselves over the years), so we had to come up with something different. Rather than showing players a distant vista of broken and fallen buildings, we wanted to focus on a few big set pieces right near the fighters. As a result, we placed a wrecked jet right in the foreground. If you look closely, you can see where it cut into one of the buildings in the background before it crashed into the street. The jet also punched a giant hole in the street causing cars and trucks to crash, flip and fall in.

Because the story spans such a long range of time, we had to create two versions of the background. One version was set in the past, during chaos of the invasion that destroyed the city. The other version shows it years later as a ghost town, abandoned and lifeless.

In the Jinsei Chamber environment we wanted it to feel very ancient. The idea was that the chamber was made during the dawn of time. It was a cavern that was carved with faces of the elders on the background wall and within the cave wall are fissures of flowing Jinsei. We liked the idea of the Jinsei being a glowing blue liquid almost like a cold lava. The left side of the arena there is a carved bas-relief of the birth of the realms. The right side is another bas-relief that tells the story of the fallen Elder God Shinnok by the hand of Raiden the Thunder God.

The chamber serves as The Heart of the Jinsei which is a visual force that flows though Earthrealm like blood though arties. Raiden charges his powers in the center of the chamber, floating in the Jinsei core.

The Jungle stage was one of our early environments. Overall the feel we wanted was old overgrown ruins that gave hints of an ancient civilization. The Jungle also gave us a chance to create some exotic Outworld wildlife like the deadly Leech Cobra. We always wanted to do a Jungle level especially one that has water flowing in it. Characters fighting in water was always something we wanted to try in this game. The environment was also perfect for background inter-actables.

Originally the Jungle was going to be in Earthrealm and served as a secret Special Forces Base hidden beneath the ruins. The base was going to be guarding the Jinsei with Military Weapons modified with Magic. That would protect it from all types of foes.

Early on we brainstormed a lot of ideas for exotic, dangerous locations in Outworld that we could explore in the game. One idea that we had was for a stormy cove full of wrecked ships. An early sketch showed two characters fighting on a rickety pier, with large waves crashing over them. The water was red with blood and just below the surface you could see corpses floating.

At the same time, the environment team was experimenting with water effects on the new hardware and had produced some amazing looking tests. At that point, The Kove was born.

We designed the pier, adding some interactive elements players could use. We designed some gnarly looking shipwrecks complete with tattered sails and skeletal mastheads. We also designed a bloated corpse to pop up occasionally as an added interactive element.

After that, it was just a matter of finding the right placement of all the pieces to achieve the best composition for gameplay.

Originally, we wanted players to experience the background during the middle of a violent squall, but we wanted to save the heavy rain effects for the Sky Temple. In the end, we put players in the Kove just after the squall has ended and all the death and destruction it caused is clearly visible.

An Earthrealm location we always wanted to do is the Lin Kuei Temple. The home of SubZero and the rest of the Lin Kuei Clan. Inspiration was drawn from Nepalese and Tibetan mountain temples. This gives the temple a remote and desolate feel. Being high in the mountain tops also made the location very cold. Distant rope bridges were added that connect small mountain outposts that would warn against any attacks from outsiders. The Shrine in the center is that of the first Grand Master of the Lin Kuei, his hands burn to represent the eternal flame. The two sarcophagi on the side are past masters that died in battle. The fight line is a place of worship for the Lin Kuei and to test a warriors fighting skills.

Different weather effects were something we always wanted to explore and snow made perfect sense.

Because of the expansive nature of the story in Mortal Kombat X we get to see a lot more of Outworld than we've ever seen before. As a result, we had to think about how Outworld actually works. What kinds of people live there? Where do they live? What's life like for the average citizen of Outworld?

We decided to design a city around Shao Kahn's palace -- a capital for the realm, a hub of activity for all the people who live there, and a visually exciting place for our characters to fight.

Since everything in Outworld is designed with war in mind, the city is surrounded by massive stone walls, and the palace is a separate fortress within those walls. The city is a busy hive of activity laid out in a labyrinth of narrow streets and alleys opening occasionally into plazas used as open air markets.

The people who live here are as colorful as the city itself. Wealthy merchants rub elbows with beggars and thieves, each taking care not to get in the way of the many beasts of burden that pull, push and carry goods in and out of the city.

One of the locations in the Netherrealm that we wanted to explore in this game was Quan Chi's fortress. Although he's been in most of the recent Mortal Kombat games, we've never really devoted a background to him.

We wanted to create something unique and appropriately creepy. Rather than a palace or a fortress, we decided to give him a secret sanctum where he practices his dark arts. The environment is part laboratory, part library, part torture chamber.

If you look carefully in the Netherrealm Krossroads background, you can see the exterior of Quan Chi's Fortress. It's a giant monolith floating above the river of lava.

True to Quan Chi's style, the interior has a repeating skull and bone motif that you can see in the pillars, the spiral staircase, and the chandelier. Hanging throughout the room are giant glass orbs containing dragon embryos which cast hell fire light throughout the room.

Prominent amidst his macabre collection of magic items and artifacts is the pool that he uses to create the revenants of characters seen throughout the story. Keep your eyes on it while you fight -- you might see a revenant in the making.

The refugee camp was an important setting for story mode. We generated a few concepts containing the elements and mood we wished to establish; military presence, shipping crates, watchtowers, hobo barrel fires, and of course, refugees.

We settled on the concept, created the NPCs, and built the level. We attempted to get this environment polished and running for E3 2014, but when it all came together, it was boring. There wasn't much happening besides some dudes sitting around.

The level needed action and it needed to be revitalized. Our environment team took the challenge and began reworking the layout and added the narrative of the refugee's coming from Outworld via the central portal, along with some unwanted guests.

We wanted to portray an ancient temple amidst a furious storm. We experimented with placing this temple in different places on earth, with differing architectural direction. Because this setting would play a pivotal role in story mode, it became clear it had to be an eastern location, and with that, we were able to lock in the elements we wanted to see.

The highlight of the level is the evolving storm and the visual effects that come with the significant changes.

The very first environment we started was the Dead Woods. This level was the proving ground of our inter-actable system. The Tree Branch Attack which is like picking up a weapon and the Tree Stump Jump tested the mobility move feature.

We wanted to give the woods a feeling that a past battle had happen that would give the level some type of history. Frozen dead warriors lie in the snow banks and on the ruins preserving there last moment of life. The dangerous Frost Wolf can be seen chasing prey in the distance.

In the story the Dead Woods are located on Earthrealm within the woods lie a cave that leads to an ancient portal chamber said to be as old as the elders.

The backgrounds nick name was

This was the last environment for us to concept. MKX environments feature a plethora of different moods and flavors. It was a challenge for us to find a neutral, measured space that would fit within our world. When I say measured, I mean we wanted to make sure the floor would offer a means for players to gauge correct distance for moves and combos.

We became heavily focused on ensuring this utility in the level, and the literal interpretation of