Alan Wake in Norway

In the city of Tromsø in Norway, from the end of November until mid-January the sun doesn't rise. I've long been intrigued by the idea of such a setup and the possibilities it might offer for an Alan Wake story, where nights and days hold cardinal significance.

This is where my fan project begins:

In my imagined story, Alan managed to escape the Dark Place, but both mentally and in terms of his career, he couldn't get back on his feet. Despite saving Alice, his marriage soon fell apart.

At the beginning of my story Alan receives a letter from his brother's daughter Freya. She informs him that Alan’s long-unseen brother, Andrew, who resides in the Norwegian town of Snøhavn, has disappeared overnight without a trace. Andrew was a respected composer in the town, so the locals do everything they can to find him, and the whole town is decorated with his face.

Freya and Alan travel together to Snøhavn, but instead of diving straight into the investigation, Alan takes part in a modest book presentation. His novel (When the Lights Go Out), written years ago, has just been released in Swedish. Freya storms out of the presentation angrily after arguing with Alan about his true concern for Andrew's fate.

Leaving the library, Alan can't find Freya, so he heads towards the church on the mountaintop. He knew well that his brother was a devoted member of the Church of Shining…

...

During the development of the three concept art, I learned numerous new techniques and gained additional know-how.

In the marine scene, I learned the power of the Geo-Scatter 5.4 addon and the simple modular buildings. Thanks to Romain Jouandeau's fantastic course, I embraced the foundation of photobashing, which proved useful not only for the mountains but also for completely revamping the water's 3D foundation.

In the library scene, I learned how to use Blender's (custom) random node, and the power of random values in the shader editor in general.

And with the urban scene, I learned how much patience it takes to do a concept art with so many individual props. Additionally, I focused heavily on optimization, so nearby props are hand-made, while distant ones are image textures with some bonus geometry. The snow in multiple places is photobashing, sourced from Romain Jouandeau's excellent winter pack, much like the trees.

Clearly, I acquired numerous skills in addition to these; for instance, I delved deeper into Character Creator 4. However, the aforementioned points are the most noteworthy and enduring takeaways for me.

Comments and critiques are welcome!