Update #61: In-game Art

[BAdler]

Update by Rob Nesler, Art Director and Brandon Adler, Producer

 

We showed you this concept that Polina Hristova had developed, back in Update #55:

 

And here is the in-game level--about to get violent--as developed by environment artist Sean Dunny:

 

 

We think it looks pretty good. Thoughts?
-R

 

Arcanum Playthrough

This week, we have the second part of Avellone's two hour playthrough. Chris explores the Shrouded Hills Mines and dies to bandits along the road... multiple times.

 

Obsidian Jobs

Obsidian is putting the call out to enthusiastic game developers who are interested in working on Project Eternity. To be eligible, you must be in the Southern California area willing to make the daily trek to Irvine, California. If you or anyone you know fits the description and would be interested in joining the Project Eternity team, follow the links below.

 

QA Lead

The Lead QA Tester position requires managing a team of testers, delegating testing tasks, tracking tester performance, providing guidance as well as coordinating with department leads and owners to ensure all aspects of the project are bug free. The Lead QA Tester position requires a strong knowledge of QA methodologies and practices, as well as an ability to handle and act upon high volumes of information and responsibilities.

 

Contract VFX Artist

Obsidian Entertainment is looking for a talented self-motivated VFX Artist to create a range of 3D effects and animations for a 3D world.

 

This artist will be responsible for creating both ambient effects (such as smoke, fire, and lightning) and more detailed prop animation (a tree limb breaking, a glass shattering, etc.). These effects will be created using Maya, but experience with comparable programs is acceptable.

 

Stop by our forums and let us know what you think. See you in a couple of weeks.

[Tsuga C]

You're staying quite true to the concept art--bravo!

[Nonek]

Looks positively stonking! Especially liking the parties varied armour and the antagonists Hotline Miami-esque masks. One has the feeling that room is going to be rather frustrating to broach.

[Jarrakul]

It's so pretty...

[LorcanWard]

Love it!!!! I almost want to drag and select the party to attack.

[SoshiGEE]

I'm surprised that you could make that amazing concept art look even better in-game!

[centurionofprix]

How will the shadows/lighting work in the final product? The environment is gorgeous, but the conflict between the apparent lighting of the scene and the way the character models are illuminated makes the latter seem out of place.

Edited August 6, 2013 by centurionofprix

[Tuckey]

Those character models are much improved from the ones shown in update 49; they fit into the environment much better.

[xsikal]

Looks amazing! My only (minor) concern is that the individuals inside the room are visible, even though the party is outside of the room, with the door closed. I'm guessing that fog of war/mob detection is not in yet?

[Stiffkittin]

Very impressive how closely you were able to re-create the original concept. The quality and variety of textures, particularly floor textures is outstanding. Very promising!

[C2B]

Pretty

 

So, Brendan. What 'highly stilyzed' 3D world are you talkin' about there. Have we heard of that project before?

[Malekith]

[Michael_Galt]

Me gusta mucho... Seriously, looks great. It is obvious that the adventure party has raided this specific dungeon because they all want sweet masks for either Mardi Gras or a masquerade...

 

On a separate note, I would really like these Avellone updates in text. I don't care about watching him play for an hour, I just want to know what he thought of that hour of play, like, "Liked how I had 3 options for how I would do __", "Thought this was poorly implemented, but would do this __", etc. I don't care that he is playing it, I want to know his opinion of it as a game designer and what things he would like to see in Project Eternity...

[milczyciel]

Yeah... umm... <sigh> I hate to do this, but you've asked us, so here I go:

You've stayed very true to the concept art, and that I love. Still, in my probably not so humble opinion, the final in-game render is somehow lacking in the shadows department. It seems all tad to bright, and that takes a bit of mystery from that particular scene. 

 

Plus this, pretty much:

How will the shadows/lighting work in the final product? The environment is gorgeous, but the conflict between the apparent lighting of the scene and the way the character models are illuminated makes the latter seem out of place.

...yeah, they stick out.

 

sorry

[Sensuki]

I like how the character models blend into the background. Some obvious Mind Flayer influence there. Will post a more 'critical' response later while I'm not at work, but overall *thumbsup*.

[Malekith]

Is it painted over to the full extent it will be? I mean, is it the final version or when the game ships it will look even better?

As for lighting, i agree it looks a little too bright, but that is easily fixed (i hope)

[Rostere]

Chris Avellone should do more "Let's Play"s of different games. Why don't you start a kickstarter for him to simply do LPs of more games

 

On a more serious note, you should consider the size of the stones in the paved sections of the dungeon. They appear just a bit too large to have been part of an effective construction effort. That is also one huge-ass door.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Rostere

[BAdler]

Pretty

 

So, Brendan. What 'highly stilyzed' 3D world are you talkin' about there. Have we heard of that project before?

 

That is one of our old entries that has been repurposed. 

 

I'll make sure that gets changed out. Thanks,

[KP the meanie zucchini]

I feel so teased by this awesomeness.

[JWestfall]

Love it!!!! I almost want to drag and select the party to attack.

 

Funny, that is exactly what I did when I first opened the image.  Followed by a momentary pang of frustration at the rubber-band selection not working.  Maybe I need more sleep...

[J.E. Sawyer]

How will the shadows/lighting work in the final product? The environment is gorgeous, but the conflict between the apparent lighting of the scene and the way the character models are illuminated makes the latter seem out of place.

 

The character models only have one shadow cast from the scene's directional light.  Per-character point light shadows (especially multiple point light shadows) would get computationally expensive very fast.  The characters are lit using dynamic lights placed in scene, but real-time lighting is never going to perfectly match the pre-rendered lighting of the scene.

 

Yeah... umm... I hate to do this, but you've asked us, so here I go:

You've stayed very true to the concept art, and that I love. Still, in my probably not so humble opinion, the final in-game render is somehow lacking in the shadows department. It seems all tad to bright, and that takes a bit of mystery from that particular scene

 

The stronger/less diffuse our environment shadows are, the more difficult it becomes to place characters in the scene and not have them stick out.  We tended toward relatively diffuse shadows in the IWD games for that reason as well.

[Labadal]

I must say that it looks really impressive. Glad to see progress is going well. The character models look much improved from the last time we saw them. I did notice none of them have helmets, but maybe they have magical heads immune to attacks! 

 

I actually like the in-game image more than the concept art (probably because stuff is going on). I like the texturing work on the dungeon, seems to set the mood in a great way.

 

Short but sweet update.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Looks amazing! My only (minor) concern is that the individuals inside the room are visible, even though the party is outside of the room, with the door closed. I'm guessing that fog of war/mob detection is not in yet?

 

The back end/data for fog of war is implemented, but not the rendering side.  Also, if the room were obscured by fog of war, that would be a pretty crummy screenshot.

[Himntor]

Looks great! But I'm still waiting for some good raw gameplay, even if it's real short. I wanna see the game in some action.

[Acerbissimus]

Overall, I prefer the lighting and color contrast in Polina's concept, but like the detail added by Sean. Most of the human(oid)s don't look lit right; a shame that there seems to be limits to what can be done there. Otherwise they look alright.