Dev Blog Q&A #1: The Art of Project Witchstone
For this Dev Blog update, we wanted to do something a little different, and give you a more one-on-one insight into a specific part of our work on Witchstone. We found some time to drag our artist Yan away and grill him with a ton of questions about the game for your amusement.
So here it is: A Q&A with Yan about The Art of Witchstone
Q: When the team started working on Witchstone, what did you draw inspiration from when designing the look of Witchstone?
Yan: We wanted to try something new that would be a bit more grounded but still rooted in what we do best. Our original inspiration for the design came from the Eberron campaign setting. We really liked that crazy mix of fantasy and technology, the large continent that houses a plethora of different cultures and influences, the old contrasting the new, etc. We wanted the kind of world that fantasy fans could relate to, but with something that hasn’t been done to death.
Q: Was there anything about the art style you intentionally did to make it unique, and stand out from other games that may look similar?
Yan: It’s still work in progress, but we’re trying to go for something that’s neither cartoonish, nor realistic. We’re going for something a bit more ‘painterly’ and grounded, but more on the ‘expressive’ side of things. We think it’ll make the game really shine, because it forces us to think of the content and the execution at each step, rather than simply sit on bold but early artistic decisions.
Q: What was the motivation for the changes from the more graphic art style and anthropomorphic animals that were such a big part of Stories and Omensight?
Yan: It (the anthropomorphic designs) just didn’t feel like the right approach for this game. When I think ‘fantasy sandbox’, I don’t immediately think of Stories or Omensight - those games were meant to be different. For those games, we wanted them to feel like unique, singular experiences and play around with different ideas, so we picked art styles that felt right for that. Their production cycles themselves were very chaotic and more free-form.
With Witchstone we’re much more deliberate and focused: we want something that people can at once feel familiar with so we can then bring them something new and ambitious wrapped inside that familiarity. We felt we have what it takes to surprise players and craft something solid - and anyway we needed something we could challenge ourselves with, all while still having fun. It’s like they say: no fun for the makers, no fun for the players (actually that’s a writer’s quote or something…). [Editor’s Note, It’s from Robyn Smart!]
Q: What’s one source of inspiration for the game you have that it’s unlikely anyone would guess?
Yan: Definitely Eberron. Lots of Wayne Reynolds influences came at first, and then additionally from games like Diablo 3 and BattleChasers: Nightwar. Later came the idea to make it a bit more based on the concept of a ‘frontier world’, so stuff like Dinotopia, Once Upon a Time in the West, Nausicaä. League of Legends is part of the mix often, along with a mountain of concept art references from all over.
Q: For you personally, what games do you really love art design of? Anything recent that really stands out for you?
Yan: Off the top of my head: Dark Souls (big Souls fan), Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hades, Hollow Knight, Cuphead. I think that Return of the Obra Dinn and World of Horror deserve mentions if you’re into that old early PC/Mac game aesthetics.
Q from Twitter:
The game seems to have some of that clayish look that became popular around 2013. It's not hard to optimize, is it? (I think he’s asking if part of why it looks the way it looks is a concession to optimization mostly.)
Yan: Style is always work in progress, and every project I’ve been on has had its own necessary concessions, especially Stories and Omensight. One thing that I’ve learned over time is to be careful with bold artistic decisions, because sometimes they can be so strong that they’ll overwhelm everything else and become sort of a crutch. Also, going toe-to-toe with other, bigger and richer studios didn’t seem like a smart choice for us. It’s never been what we’re good at, hence why we’re searching for the path that is all our own.
Want more Q&A’s with the team? Have a specific idea for a Dev Blog? Leave us a comment, send us a tweet, tie some parchment to a carrier pigeon. We want to know.
If you’re interested in supporting the game right now, adding us to your wishlist goes a long way to help us!
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or anything at all. You can get a hold of the team by following the game on Twitter! https://twitter.com/WitchstoneGame
If you want to be notified when we send out the newsletter with info about the studio, and general updates you can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/dilhNP
Until next we meet Adventurers!
-The Spearhead Team
So here it is: A Q&A with Yan about The Art of Witchstone
Q: When the team started working on Witchstone, what did you draw inspiration from when designing the look of Witchstone?
Yan: We wanted to try something new that would be a bit more grounded but still rooted in what we do best. Our original inspiration for the design came from the Eberron campaign setting. We really liked that crazy mix of fantasy and technology, the large continent that houses a plethora of different cultures and influences, the old contrasting the new, etc. We wanted the kind of world that fantasy fans could relate to, but with something that hasn’t been done to death.
Q: Was there anything about the art style you intentionally did to make it unique, and stand out from other games that may look similar?
Yan: It’s still work in progress, but we’re trying to go for something that’s neither cartoonish, nor realistic. We’re going for something a bit more ‘painterly’ and grounded, but more on the ‘expressive’ side of things. We think it’ll make the game really shine, because it forces us to think of the content and the execution at each step, rather than simply sit on bold but early artistic decisions.
Q: What was the motivation for the changes from the more graphic art style and anthropomorphic animals that were such a big part of Stories and Omensight?
Yan: It (the anthropomorphic designs) just didn’t feel like the right approach for this game. When I think ‘fantasy sandbox’, I don’t immediately think of Stories or Omensight - those games were meant to be different. For those games, we wanted them to feel like unique, singular experiences and play around with different ideas, so we picked art styles that felt right for that. Their production cycles themselves were very chaotic and more free-form.
With Witchstone we’re much more deliberate and focused: we want something that people can at once feel familiar with so we can then bring them something new and ambitious wrapped inside that familiarity. We felt we have what it takes to surprise players and craft something solid - and anyway we needed something we could challenge ourselves with, all while still having fun. It’s like they say: no fun for the makers, no fun for the players (actually that’s a writer’s quote or something…). [Editor’s Note, It’s from Robyn Smart!]
Q: What’s one source of inspiration for the game you have that it’s unlikely anyone would guess?
Yan: Definitely Eberron. Lots of Wayne Reynolds influences came at first, and then additionally from games like Diablo 3 and BattleChasers: Nightwar. Later came the idea to make it a bit more based on the concept of a ‘frontier world’, so stuff like Dinotopia, Once Upon a Time in the West, Nausicaä. League of Legends is part of the mix often, along with a mountain of concept art references from all over.
Q: For you personally, what games do you really love art design of? Anything recent that really stands out for you?
Yan: Off the top of my head: Dark Souls (big Souls fan), Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hades, Hollow Knight, Cuphead. I think that Return of the Obra Dinn and World of Horror deserve mentions if you’re into that old early PC/Mac game aesthetics.
Q from Twitter:
The game seems to have some of that clayish look that became popular around 2013. It's not hard to optimize, is it? (I think he’s asking if part of why it looks the way it looks is a concession to optimization mostly.)
Yan: Style is always work in progress, and every project I’ve been on has had its own necessary concessions, especially Stories and Omensight. One thing that I’ve learned over time is to be careful with bold artistic decisions, because sometimes they can be so strong that they’ll overwhelm everything else and become sort of a crutch. Also, going toe-to-toe with other, bigger and richer studios didn’t seem like a smart choice for us. It’s never been what we’re good at, hence why we’re searching for the path that is all our own.
Want more Q&A’s with the team? Have a specific idea for a Dev Blog? Leave us a comment, send us a tweet, tie some parchment to a carrier pigeon. We want to know.
If you’re interested in supporting the game right now, adding us to your wishlist goes a long way to help us!
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or anything at all. You can get a hold of the team by following the game on Twitter! https://twitter.com/WitchstoneGame
If you want to be notified when we send out the newsletter with info about the studio, and general updates you can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/dilhNP
Until next we meet Adventurers!
-The Spearhead Team