Staten described this area under the Moon's surface as a place where a dark army dreams of conquest.
Staten confirmed that the Hellmouth image, also from Earth's Moon, is a construction of alien origins.
Gee, I hope there's not a dump of nuclear waste anywhere around...
Staten described Bungie's concept of "mystery and adventure" as beginning at the intersection of the expected and the unexpected, leading to starting with the borderline between the familiar Earth environment and all that lies beyond: the Moon.
Art Director Christopher Barett pointed out at GDC that he was not allowed to talk about this image yet.
An early version of the character class postcard utilizing Destiny's special color palette. From left: Titan, Hunter, Warlock.
Post FX
LUT color correction
Vignette
Tone Mapping
Chromatic Aberration
Full-Screen Bloom
Light Streaks
Bungie deliberately chose a muted color palette for Destiny to make things feel aged.
Bungie's presenters cited sculptor Takayuki Takeya, known for the Super Imaginative Chogokin series and the mechanical designs for the anime series Gilgamesh, and artist and sculptor Kow Yokoyama, perhaps best known for work on Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K ZBV3000).
The map of all the "time holes" in the universe from Terry Gilliam's 1981 fantasy film, Time Bandits. This would appear to be an inspiration for both the concept and the look and feel of Destiny's solar system map.