2D Cities, Detail and Theme

[p]The first production decision made for Amberspire was choosing to render the game in 2D or 3D. By training and experience I am a 3D artist and comfortable with 3D games, so this seemed like a natural starting point. Once I actually got started on the prototype however, we decided to do the exact opposite: go full 2D and isometric.[/p][p]Bazaar[/p][h3]The Details[/h3][p]Cities are dense and detailed environments, and producing detailed 3D art is a lot of work. You need to conceptualize and model walls, roofs, windows props, domes, arches, tunnels, plants, – everything you want to see. Then unwrap and texture all those objects, before creating shaders for all the materials to render them. I have experience doing all of these things, but our goal was to keep the team size and production close to The Banished Vault - which had comparatively few small and simple models. Amberspire would need a few dozen unique buildings, all detailed and intricate.[/p][p]All this to say 2D art is not by any means easy, but it does have many fewer steps. It solves a lot of production problems all at once: once an artist draws the image, it just has to be placed on screen.[/p][p]More subtly, however, is an expected level of detail when comparing 2D and 3D. I did not want the city to feel like it was being represented abstractly, like buildings in The Banished Vault. With a space fantasy setting, specific details are important to communicate the setting and world to the player. My worry would be that with a setting so unusual that alienates the player a bit, art that is further removed from the 'accurate' depiction of the setting would be hard to understand and engage with.[/p][p]One small bonus here as well: 2D art is more iconic. Everything in a game is an interface the player, and which building is which is an important piece of information for the player. Making a 3D building recognizable is doable, but just that extra step harder than in 2D.[/p][p]Clockworks[/p][h3]The Style[/h3][p]The science fantasy mode that Amberspire is in is communicated through the art, and it looks best in 2D. Hand drawn, irregular, illogical, equally playful and sinister – I could go on. When our artist Yue started on the project one of the first things I said to her was “don’t worry about making the buildings perfectly logical”.[/p][p]There is a je ne sais quoi to 3D art that implies some kind of underlying logic. To make a closed shape, vertices have to be connected in a mathematical space and be rendered by the engine. Of course you can make illogical 3D art, but that comes with other tradeoffs.[/p][p]In Amberspire, the buildings are fully realized. They explain exactly as much of themselves as Yue and I want them to. The setting overall has many magical and fundamentally impossible aspects, and the art style and rendering are vital in communicating that.[/p][p]Temple[/p][p]
[/p]