Even in its early days, Althas has been a land shaken by conflicts. In the early days, these conflicts pitted the Anointed Kingdoms of Men against the dark and demonic forces that threatened them. However, with the passage of time the world has changed. With the Anointed order eroding away and new powers rising, another war looms on the horizon, a war brought on by Man's own actions. Thenodar, a burgeoning new kingdom in the North, and Anorthile, one of the last of the three remaining Anointed Kingdoms, now prepare for a war that will shake all of Althas. Old demons and new enemies gather in the shadows of both lands as each sets their sights on the ruined wilderness known as the Feralands.
-By Chestman.
Since it has been a while since we gave you a new image, we decided to give you this look at the Scurende Hunter. They fight alongside the Warriors you have already seen and are among the most skilled archers in Althas and can also be formidable in close combat. From left to right, you can see a hunter who is hunting for game, one that is guarding or watching a village, and the third is a Hunter in full battle gear.
I have to say both the game and this picture look very promising.
Also the guy in the middle kinda reminds me of Bronn from Game of Thrones. XD
However I'd suggest changing the color of his clothes, the red would be a bit impractical for hunters/archers and imho it doesn't fit so well with the warrior you showed earlier.
Otherwise great.
Btw I really like your artstyle chestman. It has a very nice grim & dirty look to it.
Yeah the tunic color can change especially for the first two. He probably chose this in order to make the distinction between parts clear. For battle though, red has been favored by many groups in history because it does make you more intimidating psychologically. However, that is open battle If you are shooting for stealth, duller colors are obviously better.
Yeah, I was more thinking about the stealth aspect.
You're propably not that far in development, but maybe give them different colored tunics depending on their tribe/village and situation? E.g. for a guy guarding a town red or whatever color the town's sigil shows and for a guy ambushing somebody duller colors.
Forgive me, but I'm a little overenthusiastic with suggestions today.
Variety is certainly possible in the area of color. Recoloring is fairly simple and I would expect at least some measure of variety in these guys ;)
Please, feel free to leave as many suggestions as you'd like, it contributes a lot. :)
Indeed, you can come to our forums. We have a suggestions thread where you can submit any ideas you have :D
Epochgames.co.uk
Chestman's work is fantastic! I love seeing more of the Scurende, I have a few ideas for them myself ;)
Sure is! Can't wait to read up on these ideas. ;)
They're actually going to be concepts, you'll see them over at the forums.
So will there be war arrows and hunting arrows? They are differences, pretty much war arrows are thicker (So they don't crack from the bow's power) and often have various tips for getting through maille or plate armor. While hunting arrows are meant for killing pray. From my point of view both have their advantages and disadvantage and I think it would be an interesting game mechanic where the player would actually have to think when shooting arrows at their enemies. Anyways a video explaining arrows: Youtube.com
@ElfFriend: I've thought about the various types of arrows and their uses as far back as MERP's development. So yeah, we'll likely keep this idea in mind ;)
Speaking of arrows: it's always really bugged me how "fire arrows" in most games are basically just "higher-damage arrows" with no real hindrances. Fire arrows should take time to prepare, be somewhat of a hazard to the shooter, and create much heavier arrows (meaning they won't shoot as far), and have uses that are mostly kept to sieges. I'm definitely hoping we can better represent fire arrows especially in Althas.
Another use for fire arrows could be intimidation. Seeing your buddy take a fireball to the face is pretty terrifying