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New AoD art

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
It's not really concept art, but something I want to use in-game to spice things up. Opinions?
It's a test piece:

Link

Edit: Another art piece

Link
 

Whipporowill

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VERY nice. The kind of artists you seem to have on your theme is simply... outstanding. Professional-grade work there. Wow.

I'd imagine it's for some kind of intro/outro slideshow hm? Loading screens?
 

obediah

Erudite
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
5,051
pretty.

If I do the goodie path, will the picture change at the end to have scaffolding up along the breach? and the laughter of children? :)

It would look pretty sweet with a loading bar and "Some problems can be solved in multiple ways" in 46 pt font.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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Messages
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Whipporowill said:
Vault Dweller said:
Loading screens with some descriptions.

So, we're predicting how much of a load time, considering we'll have time reading descriptions and gawking at artwork? :wink:
Loading is pretty fast now. There would be an "enter" button to actually enter the location, giving you enough time to gawk and read. I'm thinking of using such pictures even when no loading is required (example, enter a poor area of a town, etc).
 

Sheriff05

Liturgist
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Sep 24, 2003
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Chicago
Hey VD that looks awesome
I am looking forward to your game more so than about any other
although I am kinda bummed you went 3d from 2d but whatever, at the least we wont be locked into a low resolutions and the 3D models look pretty good, so bravo looking great!
 

Mefi

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:shock:

I wasn't expecting something that good. Able to reveal the artist VD? Has s/he got a web-page to have a look at what else they've done?

Pictures of that quality will really help set the atmosphere of an area as well as guiding the imagination on things like scale.
 

obediah

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Vault Dweller said:
I'm thinking of using such pictures even when no loading is required (example, enter a poor area of a town, etc).

Sounds great to me. I've been a fan of using still art to show a setting since back in the C64 days. It's a real shame the concept was mostly swallowed by FMV-shit. One well thought out and executed picture can do wonders for setting mood and make up for limitations in the in-game graphics/engine. A paragraph of flavored text to go along with it, and I'm set.

As an example, say the game has you walking into a bar in the middle of a brawl. In game, things aren't going to look that different - maybe people are standing rather than sitting, a few ko'ed people on the floor. If you have a dressup system, you'll see some people have drawn knives. In a real time game with sooper graphics, you'd figure out what is happening pretty quickly without any clues ( everything gets something right, even if by accident ), but in a turn based game - you need some explanation. "OMG!! Teh brawl!1" would work I guess, but a nice action shot capturing a full on rawkus and a fleshy bit of text is better. Before I even get past the picture, I'm already thinking about the situation, and how I want to respond.
 

Azael

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Wasteland 2
Vault Dweller said:
Loading screens with some descriptions.

Ah, that makes sense. Good picture in either case. If the other images have the same quality, the loading screens will look good. As Sisay asked, are you planning on having ending slides in the game?
 

Section8

Cipher
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Wardenclyffe
Wow, that's pretty spectacular. I bought myself a graphics tablet this morning, because I want to hone my own 2D skills a bit, but seeing that sort of quality discourages me from my practice. :shock:

Something it would be ideal for, instead of loading screens, would be a Fallout style recap outro, if there's scope for it within the game. It would mean a lot more work from the artist, but that's great for us on the receiving end. :P

[edit] And it really sets a great tone. Post apocalyptic fantasy is a bit of a rarity if you discount the whole "once upon a time there were ancient people with incredible technology and all that's left is ruins!" cliche.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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Messages
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Whipporowill said:
I sure as hell won't mind if the artwork is of that caliber and if it helps set the tone for the new area it's sure warranted.
Ok, how is the art overall? Not the quality, but all the other shit: what it shows, what it doesn't show, mood, atmosphere, architecture, people, do we need people there, etc?

Just get the game done now. You hype-machine you. :lol:
Heh.:)

@ Sheriff, Lemon, Sisay: Thanks. Yes, there will be end-game slides and what you did/didn't do and the effects will be listed. That's a must have feature in any RPG.

Mefi said:
I wasn't expecting something that good.
You didn't like the black-n-white art at all?

Able to reveal the artist VD?
Nope, no stealing of my artists. We'll post more stuff later. I'm planning to have 20-25 pictures like that. Key word is "planning", so it's not a promise.

Pictures of that quality will really help set the atmosphere of an area as well as guiding the imagination on things like scale.
That's what I thought.
 

spacemoose

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what it shows, what it doesn't show, mood, atmosphere, architecture, people, do we need people there, etc?

I think that would depend on what you're trying to convey in the picture.

To me it looks like an old city in the desert, an abandoned oasis. But someone is still flying flags? Hooded figures are arriving, probably sages of some kind. The hole in the wall suggests that there may have been an assault on the city a long time ago.

Architecture is strange, and varied, can't connect it to any real styles that I've seen. This may be a good thing or a bad thing
 

Mefi

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Vault Dweller said:
You didn't like the black-n-white art at all?.

Sometimes colour art can look a lot less effective than a line drawing style, especially when trying to evoke a 'feeling' for something. Your artist has pulled it off in that picture.

I got the sense of a city in decline, still alive and still kicking but too beaten down to do anything but fly the flag for a bit longer. Fighting the long defeat, to steal from Tolkien. It wasn't "hey hum, another semi-ruined city in a fantasy setting and oh, it's got lots of bright colours to tell us this is fantasy". In some aspects it reminded me of Mieville's settings but without the steam, if that makes sense.
 

Whipporowill

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Vault Dweller said:
Ok, how is the art overall? Not the quality, but all the other shit: what it shows, what it doesn't show, mood, atmosphere, architecture, people, do we need people there, etc?

It obviously shows a long fallen city, but somehow the red flags signals hope somehow. Humanity's victory over decay (esp if the left-most tower on the wall is as recently built as it looks). I have no idea why the people are pictured lounging around outside the city - as you don't show any visible way in unless they're going over the fallen wall? Why have flags flying over your city if you're not controlling the way in? A couple of guards or some makeshift toll huts would make sense, if the travelers are going over the fallen wall. An ox-cart or somesuch would also make it look less "pilgrimage" than trade road, as I imagine it should?
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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Mefi said:
I got the sense of a city in decline, still alive and still kicking but too beaten down to do anything but fly the flag for a bit longer
That's the one. Most towns have been damaged in the war to various degrees, and they lacked resources to fix and maintain them after. Add a few centuries...

In some aspects it reminded me of Mieville's settings but without the steam, if that makes sense.
It does.
 

Spazmo

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Monkey Island
Lovely art, and there's no lack of places to use it. Installation, load screens, endgame slideshow (if any), credits, etc.
 

protobob

Liturgist
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Dec 31, 2002
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332
Location
USA
It's very nice. I like it a lot. The only thing that jumps out is me is that the greenery (plants) is too fixated on the damaged part of the wall. The place it stands out the most is the top part of the wall. There needs to be traces of it visible along the non-damaged part of the wall itself, or tone downed in the area where the damag ends/begins.

But that's just being picky. I really like the art.
 

Elwro

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Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
I like it very much. Maybe, just maybe (since I don't think I have any artistic taste) I'd put some gloomy birds / other flying critters over the city. But, if it's supposed to look dead, it's better the way it is.
 

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