New screenshots! Have a look at Raedric's Hold!

[Gromnir]

It's a gothic castle. Gothic style architecture was also prominent in many European cathedrals.

darkpriest's point is well taken. enormous stained-glass windows is more a gothic cathedral trapping than a gothic fortification staple. that being said, large stained-glass windows look better than a more practical fortification window that would be so narrow that a fart would have difficulty escaping.  in any event, am thinking that a certain amount o' artistic license is acceptable/necessary to alleviate the monotony o' what would be more realistic or functional. after all, some folks were complaining 'bout the somewhat drab beta maps, yes?  

 

...

 

didn't we have one o' these realism/reality threads already?

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Sedrefilos]

Great pics. This place looks awesome. Actually almost every place I've seen so far looks awesome.

 

And ofcourse couldn't care less about architectural "errors"

[Mazisky]

Damn guys, a gothic castle with his own dungeon is one of the best location you can see in a fantasy Rpg.

 

I hope we can encounter some evil ghosts in the basement

 

Good job

 

PS: i suggest to put a couple of big dark carpets (or tables, candles or whatever) on the sides of the throne room, to let feel that large spaces less empty

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mazisky

[IndiraLightfoot]

This gothic castle is right up my alley. In fact, I need to go down into my cellar, lay down in my coffin filled with homeland soil and dream of a future steeped in the past in order to kill the present day tomorrow, presently.

[Luckmann]

I'll be honest, my first thought was "Why can't THIS be my stronghold?"

 

Absolutely beautiful.

[talharbash]

If there's anything Obsidian did right it's the art direction. Really great.

[Elzarath]

Reminds me of Saradush

[Dark_Ansem]

The exterior looks very amazing!

[Mazisky]

I think they could make this map rainy for a better atmosphere....rainy nights are perfect for a gothic castle raid

Edited March 2, 2015 by Mazisky

[Rafkos]

Everything looks great, the first screen reminds me a dungeon under the Ulcaster School in BG somehow. Btw. I don't know why after IWD2 most of cRPGs were designed in ugly, low-poly 3D while BG and other games were so detailed in 2D. I guess there was some kind of a hype for "next gen" graphics.

[Lephys]

I dunno why that was, either. I get early 3D games that really took advantage of the 3D aspect (Like Super Mario 64). Sure, the textures and models weren't beautiful, but the game would've been a lot different if it were 2D. But, games like Neverwinter Nights... it really didn't gain much by being 3D, except for being less pretty. I guess people just wanted to play around with new-fangled graphics? *shrug*

[Mazisky]

Well, nowadays 3d looks pretty nice and the most recent games are awesome, both in tech and art aspects.

 

Problem is that isometric view is still better in 2d, 'cause the camera is almost static and you can handcraft the environments in a spectacular way (like PoE is demonstrating) rather than rendering

 

Diablo 3 was an exception, it was pretty nice even from an artistic point of view, despite being both isometric and 3d;

He had to sacrifice dynamic lighting tho, to be smooth. 

Edited March 4, 2015 by Mazisky

[rjshae]

Purdy.

[Mazisky]

Sorry for the OT, but talking about 2d isometric i can't avoid mentioning that Maxis studios (2d isometric pioneers and gods) have just closed forever.

 

I'm 30 years old and i feel so sad.

[Darkpriest]

I dunno why that was, either. I get early 3D games that really took advantage of the 3D aspect (Like Super Mario 64). Sure, the textures and models weren't beautiful, but the game would've been a lot different if it were 2D. But, games like Neverwinter Nights... it really didn't gain much by being 3D, except for being less pretty. I guess people just wanted to play around with new-fangled graphics? *shrug*

Actually i disagree. NWN was a good design decision. It was the writing that was bad. The modular tileset 3D environment created best user made worlds/campaigns up to date. Combat animations were better. Hero models were better. You traded nice 2D environment for less pretty 3D environment, BUT you had free rotating camera 3 axis to compensate for that. (The only shame is no flight in the game and using 3rd axis less than good)

[Heijoushin]

I'll be honest, my first thought was "Why can't THIS be my stronghold?"

 

Absolutely beautiful.

 

You said it bro. I want to lounge in my throne while my party members stand around.

 

The pics look awesome! Great job!

[Azmodiuz]

Your right, some of the stuff seems leaning out of its place or is not straight, but things like this people do not always notice, for me its a pet peeve, but I notice things like this a bit more often then my friends. I care sometimes more about visual then anything when I play a game. Constancy is very important.I wonder if you were to move around on that map, the way they had it, if it would have all those glitches that we had in the beta in dryford, where things would move around with you, especially when sneaking.

 

maybe the walls come at you and grab you...

 

Still looks incredible though, I can not wait to play still. (HAD TO SAY THIS BEFORE BEING FLAMED..)

Edited March 5, 2015 by Azmodiuz

[rjshae]

Your right, some of the stuff seems leaning out of its place or is not straight, but things like this people do not always notice, for me its a pet peeve, but I notice things like this a bit more often then my friends. I care sometimes more about visual then anything when I play a game. Constancy is very important.I wonder if you were to move around on that map, the way they had it, if it would have all those glitches that we had in the beta in dryford, where things would move around with you, especially when sneaking.

 

maybe the walls come at you and grab you...

 

That could just be an effect of the perspective method used. They had to use the same perspective for all viewing locations, whereas a 3D game can show the localized perspective. The result is a subtle difference in viewing angles.

[Lephys]

Actually i disagree. NWN was a good design decision. It was the writing that was bad. The modular tileset 3D environment created best user made worlds/campaigns up to date. Combat animations were better. Hero models were better. You traded nice 2D environment for less pretty 3D environment, BUT you had free rotating camera 3 axis to compensate for that. (The only shame is no flight in the game and using 3rd axis less than good)

I wasn't really trying to attack NWN. It was just the first example that popped into my head of a very crude 3D game of this type. I don't think it was horrible or anything, but I don't think the graphics hit it took was worth a conveniently rotatable camera. The actual gameplay wasn't really drastically supported by the world being 3D instead of 2D. Imagine how amazing those games would be if the next step they took was the way PoE is set up, and just kept going like that, instead of going full-3D. That's all I'm saying.

 

It's not that there's 0 benefit from the 3D. There's just little.

[Chilloutman]

 

Actually i disagree. NWN was a good design decision. It was the writing that was bad. The modular tileset 3D environment created best user made worlds/campaigns up to date. Combat animations were better. Hero models were better. You traded nice 2D environment for less pretty 3D environment, BUT you had free rotating camera 3 axis to compensate for that. (The only shame is no flight in the game and using 3rd axis less than good)

I wasn't really trying to attack NWN. It was just the first example that popped into my head of a very crude 3D game of this type. I don't think it was horrible or anything, but I don't think the graphics hit it took was worth a conveniently rotatable camera. The actual gameplay wasn't really drastically supported by the world being 3D instead of 2D. Imagine how amazing those games would be if the next step they took was the way PoE is set up, and just kept going like that, instead of going full-3D. That's all I'm saying.

 

It's not that there's 0 benefit from the 3D. There's just little.

 

 

Yes, graphics were quite bad, but it have to be to support tha awesome toolset for DMs to create their own adventures in reasonable time, it was easy to create new areas and stuff in one person where with with 2D envrionmets its not so easy - they are either ugly or you have to have specialized artists to create those and they are not cheap or easy to do (not to mention how complex layering is required to make them work in engine)

[Lephys]

That's very true. I didn't think of that. I was only thinking of the graphical impact directly on the game.

 

Good point, ^_^

[Mazisky]

I've always been charmed  by 2d isometric games , dunno why.

 

I remember in the early 90's i purchased the first X-com only looking at the screenshots on the back cover, i didn't even know what kind of game was. 

I loved it.

 

Then after some years i purchased Baldur's gate without knowing anything about Rpg's, again, only attracted by screenshot on the back cover.

 

It happened again with the first the sims.

 

I was luck...all masterpieces : - D

Edited March 6, 2015 by Mazisky

[SnarkyArky]

TBH I think Raedric needs to imprison the guy that installed his leadlight glass because some of them aren't in the middle!

 

 

@sdunny - the glass isn't straight, re-render it mate!

It's an OCD test to confuse his enemies.

[Bobby Null]

When abouts was Raedric's Hold implemented during development? The art on the walls makes it look like it was later on.

 

I also hope he gets up out of his seat and fights.

 

Towards the end of the project. It was a fun level to design and was truly a team effort. I'll give you a briefish rundown of how the process worked. It kinda went like this...

 

 

1. One day I walked into Josh's office and was like... "Hey Josh, I want to design a big-ass gothic castle level. What do you think?". Josh responds with a silent emphatic head nod.

2. I then go to Jorge Salgado, one of our level designers, and say something along the lines of "Yo, Jorge. I'm gonna come in this weekend and design a big ass gothic castle level. You in?" I'm paraphrasing here, but he replied something like "F%^$ yeah!". 

3. So we came in on a Saturday and I explained how I wanted the level flow to work (being vague so I don't spoil it). We then started tossing out story ideas for the quest. After an hour or two, we were both happy with the idea and Jorge drew some layout ideas for the exterior on the whiteboard in our office.

4. We bantered a few times, refined a few things here and there and called it a day. I then assigned block out duties to Jorge. 

5. Later, he blocked out the exterior and interior areas. The early blockouts were sick, but needed some refinement. I had Jorge make some level flow adjustments and various tweaks to the blockout. Early on it was a little easy to get lost in this place.

6. Once I approved the blockout revisions, the levels went off to level art. Sean Dunny worked the exterior, while Hector Espinoza and April Giron worked the interiors.

7. Once the first pass art was in, Jorge implemented the first pass of the level content, including quest and dialogue.

8. Once we had a playable level, I played through the level multiple times and wrote notes.

9. Next, Rob Neslor (Art Director) and I got together and reviewed the first pass art. We made dozens of notes (which included new props needed) for a second art pass.

10. At this point, Jorge needed to move on to work on Twin Elms. I assigned Olivia Veras, one of our newer area designers, to take the level home. She and I worked closely to refine the quest content, level flow, dialogue, combat pacing, loot, balance, etc. She did a fantastic job finishing the level and making it shine. She worked closely with Eric Fenstermaker and Carrie Patel, the narrative designers on the project, to make sure the narrative of the area blended well with the critical path elements of Gilded Vale.

11.Then, the finishing touches (like the lit stain glass and scripted interaction art) we're put in and polished. John Lewis handled the various visual effects in the area, while Kaz supplied the SI art. 

12. Finally, Justin Bell and the audio guys worked their magic on the music and sound fx of the area.

 

 

This is obviously an abbreviated rundown of how we make levels, but hopefully it gives you guys a little understanding of how a level can come together. Sometimes there is a ton of planning, writing documents, and waiting months before the work even begins. Raedric's came together quickly. It certainly helps when it is closer to the end of the production cycle and we can more accurately project how long things will take. This is because the developers are used to the workflow and tools their using, we have a library of assets to draw upon and the team is more or less working like a well-oiled machine. 

[Sensuki]

That's some awesome background information