When it comes to worldbuilding, it’s always good to have a distinctive style in mind and working towards staying true to this vision. In my experience there’s always a tendency to go down established paths and before you know it you find yourself with a generic world with two or three gimicks. For the Old World I have a very clear image of what the setting is supposed to look and feel like and what it seems and internal logic should be. The following is what I believe to be a pretty complete list of the books, movies, videogames, and RPGs that inspired the setting:
- A Princess of Mars by Edgar Burroughs (1912)
- Alien (1979)
- Aliens (1986)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Bound by Flame (2014)
- Conan by Robert Howard 1932-1936)
- Conan the Barbarian (1982)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Dark Sun (1991)
- God of War II (2007)
- Halo 2 (2004)
- Heavenly Sword (2007)
- Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (1992-1994)
- Hellboy (1993 and ongoing)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Kane by Karl Wagner (1970-1985)
- Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
- Mass Effect 2 (2010)
- Metal Gear Solid 3 (2004)
- Morrowind (2002)
- Planescape (1994)
- Predator (1987)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Seirei no Moribito (2007)
- Shadow of the Colossus (2005)
- Soul Reaver (1999) and Soul Reaver 2 (2001)
- Stargate (1994)
- Super Metroid (1994)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- The Thing (1982)
- Them! (1954)
- Warcraft III (2002)
- Yojimbo (1961)
There’s a couple of science-fiction movies and games on the list, but I think with almost all of them the technological elements are just window dressing. At their heart they are still about monsters and magical worlds.