Dataminers have recently unearthed some unused underground maps related to a scrapped cataclysm system in the Elden Ring base game.
While everyone waits with bated breath for the Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree, data miners have found some secrets in the Elden Ring base game. They recently found some unused underground maps that should exist with an unused “cataclysm” system. YouTuber Sekiro Dubi created a video explaining the purpose of these unused maps and how they would have affected the gameplay for all the Tarnished.
The video showed a makeshift overworld map, with the unused areas almost completely void of assets. They only had the base shape of the world formed in bright blue and green polygons. Dubi explained that these unused areas could have been connected to the cataclysm system, which would dynamically change parts of the map and common areas as the player progresses through the story. This is similar to when a part of the map changes when the player defeats Starscourge Redahn.
Related to Redahn, the boss’s arena area appeared to be one of these cataclysm zones. Dubi noted that a small hole at the bottom of a crater would lead to a few new areas. While no real assets detail these unused areas, there was a lot of evidence pointing to FromSoftware having lots of ambitions for the game.
These alternate underground areas seem similar to Siofra and Ainsel, which have been some of the game’s coolest, aesthetically pleasing zones. It added another layer of history of the Lands Between civilizations. Going into more detail, the video began showing an alternate version of Deeproot Depths under Leyndell, where Fia’s quest reaches its conclusion in the final game. The alternate Deeproot looked like it roughly maps onto the final one. It then had a long chasm stretching to the northeast and eventually led to an elevator up to the endgame Consecrated Snowfield area.
This attention to detail only elevates the attention to detail from FromSoftware to me. Almost two years later and the game continues to keep serving up some sneaky secrets. Elden Ring has continued to pique the interests of many gamers since its launch in 2022, with some going as far as playing the game using various types of controllers. Some fans have played Elden Ring using a Fisher Price toy, the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit controller, and some have even modded the game to have a VR version of the game. The replayability is getting up there with FromSoftware’s Souls games and other popular titles like Skyrim.
