City of Steam Developer Journals - Art 2012 03 23 news

Art Dev Journal

Welcome back to the Art Development Journal – General applause is welcomed at this point, it’s that sort of day for us. Rejuvenated with creative bursts from the recent GDC in San Francisco and the feedback that has been pouring in the Art Team is keen to introduce some new concept…you guessed it…Art! But, really, we should be a little more specific. Today we want to show off some new shields. You may find yourself wondering: shields? We’ve seen shields! Everyone has seen a shield here or there (and to those who were part of the Sneak Peek the concept of shields is probably not at all overwhelming) and even if you wander over to the Media-Concepts there are plenty of shields to look at.We had a great time making the ones you can find so far but let’s be honest, they weren’t very impressive or nearly as distinguished as other features in the game.“So, what’s new with them then?” We hear you asking.-Hold on a second there-Let’s back up a bit. The shields we designed before were representations of our abilities and understanding of taking as infinitesimally small a resource as possible and all the while making sure they looked and operated and generally still behaved like shields. Now, years of practice under our belts and a much better command of Unity software we’ve found ways to deck-out items while maintaining their forms and functions.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Observe the new shields: Flashier, with hints of Steampunk adorning them and helping to make them more compatible aesthetically with the world. In fashioning them (by crafters and smiths who can distinguish between the poor and the proper metals and minerals, magics and mysteries available on the World Machine and arrive at a final project worthy of combat and defense…and now to shatter the fantasy: The designers, artists, computers, etc) we feel the style is more coherent and appealing to the eyes.

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