 Shadow of Mordor bridges the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, with the team wanting to show iconic elements of the universe in an original way. The team had to draw notes on Tolkien's notes and appendices to ensure that their vision for the game would not change the franchise's timeline. Although the game's environment is inspired by the books and films, several places (such as Udûn and the Sea of Nurnen) were re-imagined. Art director Phil Straub considered consistency with the lore and presenting "something visually new" and realistic the most important elements of creating the game, and the team did not incorporate many fantasy elements in its world. To depict volcanic activity, the studio sent a team to Eastern Washington and the Columbia River plateau to photograph a volcano; to create other parts of the game environment, they studied photos of Iceland and New Zealand and yellow stone found worldwide. Since Shadow of Mordor is set before The Lord of the Rings, its landscape is less post-apocalyptic; environments also vary by weather, lighting and atmosphere.
