Great Houses of Calderia News

[h2]
We are happy to share with you our new demo! [/h2]

Newcomers we hope you'll enjoy your journey through the lands of Calderia.
We have also pushed new content for more experienced players:

• More customization elements for the creation of your family
  
• Improvement of the tutorial
  
• First traditions available
  
• Starting location & landing are totally free (different level of difficulty)
  
• Save available
  
• UI & UX improvements
  
• More events
  

We're gathering some data about your experience in game and it would be appreciated if you could spend ~5 minutes to fill the following form to help us: https://forms.gle/FdsU18V2o3isj2hm6

You can speak directly to the whole team on our Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- Great Houses of Calderia team -

[h3]Let's continue our Summer mini-serie on the Great Houses of Calderia characters' creation processes. Learn more about the references, artists' inspirations, and even discover the first drafts![/h3]

[h2]Fifth episode: Albatenius[/h2]

As the game is located (supposedly) in the Mediterranean area, we had to take inspiration from South cultures and populations. We took inspiration from famous scientists in History, and mathematician accessories from old times.

[h3]Albatenius's face references[/h3]

To design the Mathematician, we took inspiration from the famous Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci, and Guillaume Postel, a French Catholic chaplain in the XVIth century. The long beard was mostly to show how wise he is and he has a lot of experience. During the Renaissance, scientists often had a long beards. In this draft, you discover that under his hat, Albatenius is bold.

[h3]Albatenius's accessories with the references[/h3]

To give some information on his status and job, we added some accessories. Glasses felt the most accurate since it helps with sight, but are also used as a magnifying glass. The references used to draw the glasses are the Ancient Roosevelt-style pince-nez from the Stichting Nationaal Brilmuseum and the other one from the "Eyeglasses Through the Ages" exhibit.

To give balance to the character and the scene, we added the famous hat a lot of scientists wore at that time. It looks a bit like an ushanka and it's made of leather. We took inspiration from Jan Hus's hat. He was a Czech priest from the XIVth century.

[h3]Albatenius's mathematician object with references[/h3]

Albatenius is holding a mysterious cubic object. We'll not share anything about it yet (sorry to all curious people who read entirely the news) but it might be something important in the game later. Let's keep some secrets! To design it Juha made the sketches you can see, inspired by the Rubik's cube and Lament Configuration from Hellraiser designs.

[h3]Albatenius is not forgetting his advisor role[/h3]

The Mathematician is seated next to The Duke because he's important in the fiefdom. He is the main advisor of the Duke. This character is quite mysterious, but you'll discover more of him in the next trailer..!


We hope you enjoyed diving into our creation processes. We really like to share some "behind-the-scene content". Please, tell us if you're interested to see more, we plan to post one character per Friday during Summer!

To be part of the development process of Great Houses of Calderia or simply chat with the devs, join us on Discord!
Great Houses of Calderia Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- Great Houses of Calderia Team -

[h3]Our Summer mini-serie shows all of our key art characters' creation processes. Learn more about the references, artists' inspirations, and even discover the first drafts![/h3]

[h2]Fifth episode: Amara[/h2]

As the game is located (supposedly) in the Mediterranean area, we had to take inspiration from South cultures and populations. We mainly look at Renaissance and Tudor era paintings to design our characters. Amara is a self-made woman and her position in the Fiefdom is central. She is the Mistress of Coin and manages all the expenses and trades for Camilla and Letizia's family.

[h3]Amara's face and outfit references[/h3]

There were not a lot of black people in the Renaissance Occidental art. If they were represented in paintings, they were mostly slaves, servants, or "enemies". Since we are located in the Mediterranean area, we wanted to have at least a black character, but in a different position. The reference used to draw Amara is a portrait of an African slave by Annibal Carrache from the end of the XVIth century.

To design an outfit, we selected two paintings of costumes from the Tudor era:

• Joan Tuckfield, wife of John Tuckfield, Mayor of Exeter, British school, 1560
  
• Portrait of the merchant Hieronymus Sulzer and his wife Maria, Christoph Amberger, 1544
  

[h3]Amara's accessories references and the final look[/h3]

Since Amara is the Mistress of Coin of Camilla and Letizia's family, we added some jewels to make her stand out with the gold and stone earrings and rings. The earrings needed to be impressive and show Amara is in charge of the wealth of the family, even if they are broke as mentioned in the Story Trailer. We used the Six designs for Pendant Jewels, Ink and Washes on Paper from the British Museum in London to draw her earrings.

The paintings used for the ring references are:

• Jane Seymour's portrait by Hans Holbein le Jeune in 1537
  
• Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, Part 1: Young Elizabeth by William Scrots in 1546
  

[h3]Amara in the key art[/h3]

During the wedding feast, she is seen trading something against gold coins. She works for the bride's family and is very careful with their expenses since they had a hard time with money. She is here as their advisor, but also to reduce suspicions among the Duke's family regarding the wedding.

We also wanted to age her since she is in a very important position. No one could have been a Mistress or Master of Coin at a young age, reaching this status requires time, confidence from a family, and experience. In the accessories image, there are two Amaras: one with light wrinkles and the second one with more. We kept the left one.


We hope you enjoyed diving into our creation processes. We really like to share some "behind-the-scene content". Please, tell us if you're interested to see more, we plan to post one character per Friday during Summer!

To be part of the development process of Great Houses of Calderia or simply chat with the devs, join us on Discord!
Great Houses of Calderia Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- Great Houses of Calderia Team -

[h3]Our Summer mini-serie shows all of our key art characters' creation processes. Learn more about the references, artists' inspirations, and even discover the first drafts![/h3]

[h2]Fourth episode: Letizia[/h2]

As the game is located (supposedly) in the Mediterranean area, we had to take inspiration from South cultures and populations. We found great ideas in popular TV Shows and their characters living in Renaissance-like times. For us, Letizia needed to be powerful and confident, but also a middle-aged woman because she is the mother of Camilla. The women references we chose are a good representation of these adjectives with a touch of elegance.

[h3]Letizia's face with its references[/h3]

The inspirations we chose are Catarina de Sforza from The Tudors TV Show portraying the British Royal Court in the XVIth century, and Monica Bellucci. These two women are strong and independent.

[h3]Letizia's outfit references and the final look[/h3]

The dresses we used as a reference were the ones worn by Joanne Whalley in the TV show The Borgias and Sophia Loren. Letizia is wearing armor on her dress to make her look serious and ready to battle. With that, she affirms her position by indirectly saying she is here to protect her family because her husband is no longer here. The blue color is used to make her be seen, but also to highlight that she is a guest. The gown is a perfect illustration of the time period they are all in: the Renaissance.

[h3]Letizia, at her daughter's wedding feast[/h3]

Letizia is Camilla's mother. She is pleased to see this union, but not in a kind way, more of a relieved one. We learn in the Story Trailer that her family is broke so she is following Camilla's lead to create an alliance with a wealthy family. Is the key art she is seen as the one pushing this marriage by holding the groom and wife's hands. She stands out because of her navy blue outfit in this red-ish scene.


We hope you enjoyed diving into our creation processes. We really like to share some "behind-the-scene content". Please, tell us if you're interested to see more, we plan to post one character per Friday during Summer!

To be part of the development process of Great Houses of Calderia or simply chat with the devs, join us on Discord!
Great Houses of Calderia Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- Great Houses of Calderia Team -

[h3]Let's continue our Summer mini-serie on the Great Houses of Calderia characters' creation processes. Learn more about the references, artists' inspirations, and even discover the first drafts![/h3]

[h2]Third episode: Bast[/h2]

As the game is located (supposedly) in the Mediterranean area, we had to take inspiration from South cultures and populations. We took inspiration from The Borgias, TV show where a Spanish family tries to control Italy during the Renaissance.

[h3]Bast's faces references[/h3]

The references used for Bast are Alphonso of Aragon and Fernand II di Napoli from The Borgias TV Show. These characters have an uncle-nephew relationship and represented well the idea we had of the Great Houses of Calderia Duke's son.

[h3]Bast wearing different outfit options[/h3]

Different iterations were made by our artists. The one with the beret did not convince us. We also decided to lose the armor to make him even less martial.

[h3]Bast is so pleased to be at the wedding feast[/h3]

We wanted Bast to look nostalgic and a bit sad because of what is happening to him. He doesn't seem really pleased to be married to Camilla right now. In our Announcement trailer, we learn that he wants to be a poet, not a Lord.


We hope you enjoyed diving into our creation processes. We really like to share some "behind-the-scene content". Please, tell us if you're interested to see more, we plan to post one character per Friday during Summer!

To be part of the development process of Great Houses of Calderia or simply chat with the devs, join us on Discord!
Great Houses of Calderia Discord: https://discord.gg/vsxD6n8P8J

- Great Houses of Calderia Team -