No Law, an upcoming open-world RPG from developer Neon Giant, may appear to rival the scope of titles like Cyberpunk 2077, but the reality is far more constrained. With a core team of just 24 people, Neon Giant has strategically opted out of certain features early in development to manage their resources while still delivering an immersive experience. Creative director Tor Frick highlighted these decisions, explaining how the team's size directly influenced the game's design.
"We picked a really, really difficult game to make, and we know that," Frick stated. No Law is an immersive sim set in Port Desire, a Mediterranean city serving as a lawless zone. The game features layered interlocking systems, allowing players to craft new weapons and approach missions in various ways. Surviving mayors will adapt their defenses as players progress, and the world itself is designed to be seamless, with no loading screens between areas and even some citizen homes accessible.
To achieve the illusion of a vast open world with a smaller team, Neon Giant focused on verticality rather than sheer landmass. Port Desire is characterized by tall buildings and steep hills, encouraging players to navigate up, down, and through structures. This design choice, Frick explained, aims to create a sense of discovery, akin to exploring the winding streets of a real-world Mediterranean city.
"We opted out of some things really early on," Frick said. For instance, while cars are visible on the streets, players will not be able to drive them. This decision streamlines development by eliminating the need to build driving mechanics and reinforces the idea that Port Desire is a city meant to be explored on foot. Similarly, not every building is enterable, with the team focusing player access on areas that naturally lend themselves to exploration, such as underground nightclubs or dimly lit bars in the city's red-light district.
The commitment to eliminating loading screens also informed environmental design. "Every physical space exists as it should, so interiors of buildings match the exterior," Frick noted. This ensures that a building's internal layout logically corresponds to its external appearance, avoiding the common trope of a building being larger on the inside than it appears.
These constraints have also shaped the game's narrative. The decision to avoid invisible walls led to the creation of Port Desire's unique setting: a city surrounded by deep seas and a border wall, inspired by the Kowloon Walled City. This "no man's land" between neighboring countries provides a plausible reason for the city's contained environment.
Neon Giant is also leveraging dynamic systems to enhance player experience. Time of day and weather patterns significantly impact the city's population and accessibility. "Different districts will have different populations and characters based on the time of day and weather," Frick explained. For example, smoggy weather might keep most citizens indoors, while a rainy night in a residential area could make a building easier to infiltrate than during the day. These systems aim to make the world feel more alive and reactive, contributing to the overall sense of immersion despite the team's size.
Developers often rely on clever tricks to make their games feel larger than their development resources might suggest. No Law's approach, by focusing on verticality, dynamic systems, and carefully chosen constraints, offers an interesting case study in how a smaller studio can create a compelling and seemingly expansive open-world experience.