I
The Caravan
A fast-travel system carried by Shima the Caravaneer, connecting every major hub with a merchant's hand.
VIII.
Plates from the Field
Views from the map, in no particular order.
V Years in the Wilds
A passionately detailed map mod for Conan Exiles — thirty-six square kilometers of handmade wilderness, five years and one hundred and forty-seven thousand wanderers strong.
What Savage Wilds is, five years after the gates opened.
Savage Wilds is a passionately detailed full-size map mod for Conan Exiles — a handmade land of thirty-six square kilometers, built by Team WildCypher for players who wish to explore, build, and endure.
Since the gates opened on the 12th of March, 2021, the map has grown in scale and ambition. Four factions now walk its valleys: the Hyperboreans, Hyrkanian Outriders, Clan Culann, and the Crimson Tide pirates. A caravan-master runs the roads. Spear-fishers line its shores. Meteor storms fall, imps raid, and the seasons turn.
"No Man's Land" holds eight dungeons for the foolhardy. Fifteen Movie Stages wait for those who would tell stories. All recipes from the Exiled Lands are here, and most from the Isle of Siptah besides. Nothing in the base game is altered. Play alone, or host a server for a hundred.
— Team WildCypher
Numbers carved in brass at the close of the fifth year.
Roughly the measure of the original Exiled Lands.
Still climbing, at version 1.5.63.
Hyperboreans · Hyrkanians · Clan Culann · Crimson Tide.
Since the gates opened, March 12th MMXXI.
Eight things you will not find on the base map.
A fast-travel system carried by Shima the Caravaneer, connecting every major hub with a merchant's hand.
Vendors accept all manner of coin for their wares and automatically give change back. No need to hold exact denominations in your pack.
Eight dungeons and open exploration zones — including the commissioned Sunken Forge by Dalinsia / Snowhunter.
Every purge houses human NPCs worth capturing. A guarantee, not a gamble.
The Volcano · Last Refuge · Ruins of Xun'Sha · Lost Valley. Each carved with its own hand.
Meet the Hyrkanian Outriders, the Hyperboreans, and Clan Culann — each with their own territories, camps, and grievances.
Imp raids, meteor storms, Halloween and Yule events — each of them switchable by the admin.
An active gameplay mechanic for harvesting the waters with javelins. A meal worth the chase.
Every Exiled Lands recipe is here, plus most from Siptah. No base-game asset is modified.
Fifteen RP-ready instances with teleport coordinates, plus admin-only build zones for the storytellers.
From a hand-drawn sketch to a living world — the route Team WildCypher walked.
ContrastX hand-draws the first sketches of Savage Wilds. The storyline takes root, with inspiration from Frazetta's Conan and the rotoscoped Fire and Ice.
The first 3D port lands in Unreal Engine 4. A private two-player map is tested through the summer. ContrastX begins to notate his creation steps — the manual takes shape.
The alpha is shown to RobtheSwede. They agree to take map creation to the next level, with Rob at the helm as Team Lead and The Wearer of Many Hats.
Fia and Chepi shape the interior art. AlrenStorm codes the merchant UI. The WildCypher Discord is raised — private, for now.
Granpafishy, Alexandria, Shupaa, Insein, Frostydog, Larathiel, and Hirstable — an amazing group recruited with a critical eye. With their feedback, the map becomes a polished gem.
Savage Wilds goes public on the Steam Workshop. Promo film by Eric Shon, with a talented voice actress and the alpha testers themselves.
The first major content update. Snowhunter's commissioned Sunken Forge is added, plus three more dungeons and an overland hub — named for the community that commissioned it.
The team releases a companion content mod — thousands of new items, lockpicking, placeable caravaneers, arcane crafting. Designed to fit the Wilds like a second sword in the same belt.
Seventy change notes later — spear-fishing, Movie Stages, Crimson Tide, meteor storms, seasonal events. The team forges ahead while ContrastX watches from the shadows as the spirit of his original vision flourishes.
Most ideas simply stay as they are, ideas. On rare occasions, the planets align, and those ideas become something more and take on a life of their own. — Some wise geezer
Team WildCypher — the hands behind the wilds.
With Granpafishy, Alexandria, Frostydog, Larathiel, Hirstable as alpha testers; Dalinsia / Snowhunter for the Sunken Forge. Thank you — each of you.
The team's other labour — a content mod, designed to fit the Wilds like a second sword in the same belt.
Thousands of new items, armours, weapons, and placeables for Conan Exiles — plus lockpicking, placeable caravaneers, arcane crafting stations, and boss-loot improvements that slot directly into Savage Wilds. Designed primarily for the map, but functional on its own.
Open on Steam WorkshopThree films — cut by Eric Shon, with voice and cast drawn from the team and alpha testers.
Watch more from Eric Shon Studio ↗
Views from the map, in no particular order.
One document, still worth keeping — ContrastX's cornerstone guide to world design.
Written during the making of Savage Wilds. The other devkit primers have gone out of date; this one still teaches the craft.
Three paths in. Pick the one that fits your sword-arm.