Characters and Concepts | Devlog #2

[h3]Hello Magical People![/h3][p]In this week’s devlog article, we’ll explore the very heart of Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed: the characters! We are extremely lucky to have in our team character artists brimming with talent that managed to bring to life our artistic leads’ and concept artists’ dreams. It is our pleasure today to go into more detail about our inspirations for these characters, the problems encountered during their design as well as how we managed to overcome these difficulties.[/p][p][/p][h3]Character Inspirations[/h3][p]Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed uses varied aesthetics to define its artistic direction. We are inspired by Art Nouveau, japanese Magical Girl anime as well as Tarot cards. We have been advised to only select one of these inspirations several times during development in order to simplify the game’s production. It was a worry that we shared during the initial designs, and that came from both within the team as well as from our mentors. We were aware of the risks, but also certain that we were able to mix these inspirations together and it was a challenge we wanted to tackle. It certainly wasn’t easy to define which parts of those aesthetics we wanted to integrate into our characters, and especially how we could combine them together. The answer was, in fact, quite simple: a lot, a lot of trial and error. We have tried several combinations, many concepts and have had to abandon certain ideas and start over many times. To help us in this endeavour, we have also done a lot of research and produced solid documentation in order to plan our artistic direction, especially considering how little production time we have.[/p][p][/p][h3]Character Design Challenges[/h3][p]We’ve had several roadblocks in our character design, both from the chosen themes and the resources we had at our disposal. Art Nouveau can be tricky to use because of its many specifics, especially the level of detail involved. We sometimes ended up with Art Deco, Renaissance or other aesthetic references that mixed in our documentation which could have confused it and that we had to sort through.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]More Specifically…[/h3][p][/p][h3]The Lovers[/h3][p]The game’s final opponent is still a challenge because of its peculiar design and aesthetic. We decided to create this enemy comprised of two characters that act as a single entity and it was something very difficult but also formative. We also have to keep in mind both halves of the Lovers must have distinctive visual characteristics to be able to distinguish between them at a glance during the second phase of combat, whilst keeping them similar enough to understand their combined identity. It’s the character that took the most time and iterations to get right, however, we also believe it’s the most interesting and creative character in our game.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][h3]Vigor[/h3][p]Challenges related to Vigor were mostly not during design, but during production. Sometimes, a concept is very interesting but difficult to implement during modelling and that’s when we realize just how difficult going from two to three dimensions can be. In this case, the mouth was a major problem when making the model’s topology, as it had to be suitable for rigging in order to be able to move, open or close it later.[/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]Arxis[/h3][p]Arxis, our game’s heroine, was difficult to visually pin down because of the variety of elements she had to represent. In the narration of Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed, she represents the tarot card of the Tower, considered the most feared of the major arcana. It represents chaos, revolution and brutal changes. We had to figure out ways to represent these aspects of the card while keeping to our elegant Art Nouveau aesthetic and the feminine touch of the magical girls.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]How did we Manage to Overcome these Challenges?[/h3][p]We pulled through thanks to constant communication, numerous meetings, and managed to find a visual identity for our characters that our team can be proud of. Communication is an especially critical aspect to establishing concept art and taking team decisions since the final result comes out of each member’s opinion and each iteration produced by the team. We consider that nothing is lost when in search of a visual identity, as each step is important to the final result, even in scrapped ideas. We took our time and avoided rushing into an idea or a concept before being 100% sure of what direction we wanted to take.[/p][p][/p][p]That’s exactly what we had to do to allow these three inspirations to coexist in our game: not to go all-in into any of them, but finding a happy middle ground. This is how we managed to make room for our creativity and avoid being too constrained by the themes we chose. One aspect that combines them especially well is the final render of our textures, of colours and general ambiance. THAT is what convinced us that our result was exactly what we wanted to achieve and that we were on the right track![/p][p][/p][h3]The Result[/h3][p]Initially, Arxis, our main character, had a much more typical magical girl vibe with pastel colours, but as we kept developing the project’s visual identity, we managed to blend in elements that were more inspired by the tarot card of the Tower.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]What did we Keep from our Three Main Inspirations?[/h3]

1. [p]Art Nouveau: organic shapes and vegetation (more found in the environment, which we’ll come back to in another devlog post).[/p]
2. [p]Magical Girls: the character’s silhouette as well as the game’s narration (which we’ll also touch on later in our devlog series).[/p]
3. [p]The Tower: more symbolic interpretations such as cloud and thunderstorm imagery, representing the inherent chaos of the card.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Happy Accidents[/h3][p]The Cups (the game’s common enemies) and Vigor kept a more strange aspect ever since the first drafts of our concept art, all through the changes our art direction went through. The Cups especially capture a surreal essence and Vigor still has his more shocking aspects.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Q&A[/h3][h3]If You Had to Choose a Tarot Card to Represent You, Which One Would it Be?[/h3][p][/p][p]Kim Li: the Chariot, which represents willpower, control and success. I’ve been through many things in my life, but I give myself objectives and I work to reach my dreams and that’s how I can keep pushing forwards.[/p][p][/p][p]Nassim: Death, which represents change and liberation. It turns the left card into the right card (Balatro reference, if you know you know).[/p][p][/p][p]Théodore: the High Priestess, which represents intuition, the subconscious and mystery. I am someone spiritual who believes in manifestation, and this card’s significance resonates with me.[/p][p][/p][p]Catherine: the Sun, which represents optimism, energy and success, which is some of the things I consider I bring to the team as I love lifting everyone’s mood every day.[/p][p][/p][p]Jordan: the Magician, which represents motivation, talent and confidence. I am motivated and disciplined in reaching my objectives, both in my personal life and in game development, in every step towards my dream of being a character artist or just going to the gym regularily.[/p][p][/p][h3]Best Aspect of Spire of Chaos: Arcana Unleashed?[/h3][p][/p][p]Kim Li: the amount of themes and inspirations which, surprisingly, mesh together well.[/p][p][/p][p]Nassim: our artistic direction and the variety of colours and objects in the environment of each level.[/p][p][/p][p]Théodore: I’m a bit partial since I had the idea, but I love the Art Nouveau inspiration, I believe it stands out from a lot of other games.[/p][p][/p][p]Catherine: the lighting and global ambiance of the levels, especially with the stained glass windows.[/p][p][/p][p]Jordan: the choice of colours and game’s ambiance as well as our stylized aesthetic.[/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][h3]Thank you very much and we’ll see you next week for another devlog![/h3]