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Post by echocdelta on Feb 14, 2016 13:34:08 GMT
Hey peoples, This week I've been doing on and off art tests to help set some direction for the art team. I'm currently looking mainly at an art direction/style, but also looking at tests on homes and such. Here are 48 houses blocked. I kind of want them all, but I'm leaning on (6), (21), (8) and (11) as my current favorites.  |
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Lord Ba'al
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Houses
Feb 14, 2016 13:43:03 GMT
Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 14, 2016 13:43:03 GMT
Is there a reason it's all black and grey? It looks kinda dark. But maybe something's wrong on my end.
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Lord Ba'al
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I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 14, 2016 13:48:34 GMT
I like 32.
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Post by idem on Feb 14, 2016 13:52:57 GMT
Well, the game features complex NPC social structures, different groups of religions with different rules and behaviors. That kind of social complexity makes me think the houses should look like they are a bit more technologically sophisticated. 29, 32, 34, 25.
I think you'll want houses that can also display signs of what religion is being practiced there. Like roof ornaments, flags, altars in the back yard, that sort of thing.
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Post by Spiderweb on Feb 14, 2016 13:54:44 GMT
(9),(21),(32),(42) I must have a chimney fetish.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 14:11:47 GMT
Is there a reason it's all black and grey? It looks kinda dark. But maybe something's wrong on my end. Good Question! What you are seeing is accurate, Instead of making each on of them amazing ( which would take a lot of time ) Doing a lot of basic houses makes it easier to show what you mean but still get the concept out quickly. I hope this answer your question. |
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Houses
Feb 14, 2016 14:38:03 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 14:38:03 GMT
Someone's got a thing for A-frames, haha. <3. I love the art.
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Post by Qetesh on Feb 14, 2016 15:09:33 GMT
38 is fun and Dr. Seuss-ish.
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Post by echocdelta on Feb 15, 2016 9:20:02 GMT
Oh, right, just to clarify the silhouette block outs are done in simple values just so I can smash out a bunch of shapes quickly. It takes an hour or two, produces 40+ houses quickly and we can start identifying features we like and immediately dislike. Also, as intended, I'm seeing people overlapping on things they like. That allows us to narrow down features or shapes that people find attractive. An example of me fleshing out prototype concepts is, as just a quick art test;  |
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Post by echocdelta on Feb 15, 2016 9:24:18 GMT
...32 seems like the overall winner so far!
It's my intention to essentially have multiple house (one villager hut, one urbanized) for each culture as a start point. Also, I'll look at banners/icons/flags on these houses. They'll be flexible, it'll be an asset with a color that we can change in run-time.
For example, a house might have a banner on the roof that might be blue and whilst the game is running we can change to red, or load a different banner. That's not an issue, just ensuring a consistent art direction is.
Also, take note, I'm just the art director, so all my stuff is just me testing for shapes/direction/style. The actual art team will come up with the concepts and assets later.
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Post by echocdelta on Feb 15, 2016 11:29:32 GMT
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Post by idem on Feb 15, 2016 12:16:18 GMT
Wow, that picture is awesome! Very atmospheric.
I also like what the addition of flags does to the physicality of the experience. I mean, this is VR we're talking about, which is all about being there. So seeing and hearing the wind and other elements adds a lot.
How close is the player meant to get to these houses? And how close will they be on average?
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 15, 2016 13:48:02 GMT
It's good to see the art director is good with art.  |
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Post by morsealworth on Feb 16, 2016 5:52:21 GMT
№47 nails it about foundation height. If you live in humid environment (like flood plains), such fundament is a necessity. That, or just to avoid flattening of terrain.
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Post by echocdelta on Feb 16, 2016 9:56:56 GMT
Thanks everyone! I'm just spitting out concepts and ideas in my head really.
Morsealworth, yeah I noticed that in South East Asia when I was traveling around - the entire art team came back to me last week with the distinct intention to not make the villages, or even the first village, seem anglo-centric to avoid cliches. So I tried to shotgun spread all the concepts across multiple regions.
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Houses
Feb 16, 2016 11:41:51 GMT
Post by Qetesh on Feb 16, 2016 11:41:51 GMT
Will these houses be upgradeable? Will they evolve as time passes in the game? Will the weather in the game affect how each house looks in certain zones?
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Houses
Feb 16, 2016 13:50:07 GMT
via mobile
hardly likes this
Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 16, 2016 13:50:07 GMT
Having different housing styles would be perfect for monetization.  |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Houses
Feb 16, 2016 13:54:33 GMT
via mobile
Qetesh likes this
Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 16, 2016 13:54:33 GMT
Will these houses be upgradeable? Will they evolve as time passes in the game? Will the weather in the game affect how each house looks in certain zones? Will the weather in-game reflect the actual localised weather, i.e. if I play the game here it will always be raining? |
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Houses
Feb 16, 2016 15:01:20 GMT
Post by Qetesh on Feb 16, 2016 15:01:20 GMT
Having different housing styles would be perfect for monetization. Some monetization in games is okay. If it is just superficial. If you look at Wow and The Sims, these are great examples of this. You can play perfectly fine with either game without ever putting out an additional penny other then your monthly subscription fee in Wow or your large upfront purchase price for the Sims. However, if you so choose you can tweak your gameplay with some nifty upgrades you buy in a store. These could come in the form of different gadgets in The Sims or different weapons or powers in Wow. The do enhance your gameplay but they are far from needed. If they are not forced upon you and they are simply offered to you, I have no issue whatsoever at all with this type of monetization. It is when it becomes needed for enjoyable gameplay that it becomes play to win and something I despise. I will say that the newest Sims is getting close to crossing that line by making a pretty bland base game and then planning future expansion packs you will have to buy with all the fun stuff you had in earlier versions for free. This does put a bad taste in my mouth, I hope it fails and EA goes back to it's past ways soon. |
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Post by echocdelta on Feb 17, 2016 11:45:08 GMT
On the topic of DLC or monetization, bluntly put we're not looking at that and won't be for a while. I've internally removed any references to that type of talk whilst the project is still using prototype concepts, assets, tech development etc. It's absolutely the wrong focus for anyone in the team to think about how content will generate money before we have a stable, fun and engaging game to host said content. It's a waste of time, effort and intent to think about all the ways the game can make money before we have a game that people find engaging or fun to play.
Having said that, I think I've always thought of game development as treating any game or IP as a platform. As in, it should be able to scale or host new content, to iterate on reinforcing things that work and even aim for integration of User-Generated Content/user feedback readily. In the ecology of community developed games, anything from Rimworld to KSP, a key part of the success is focusing on delivering an engaging game that can continue to respond to player feedback. Hardly any of those key case studies even integrate the discussion of DLC or add-on content before their base-game is not only stable, but successful.
I'd only, and only, look at monetization of DLC/new content following a good reception to the game and a general public positive review of existing core features - there isn't any point tacking on $5 DLC to a crap game.
I would advise that as a community we avoid discussing DLC in general until we're pushing Beta builds when the product is feature complete.
Also, to clarify, house upgrade is a core component of NPC Town growth. Access to non-critical resources is already scoped in our prototype mechanics; access to stone for example helps urbanize settlements starting from the town center. The rule-sets for that logic have already been designed and are now user stories for the tech team to tackle.
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