Hello everyone! My name is Michael and I am the Lead Artist on The Maestros. We are an action-packed, multiplayer strategy game where you wage war with a Commander and their transforming units.
While working behind the scenes developing The Maestros, there are times where a little bit of fun ends up making it into the game in the form of a joke or Easter Egg. Sometimes humour is added on purpose while others are spur of the moment or even accidental.
One place we purposefully use humour is with some of our animations to help give certain characters a little more personality. While standing around idle, Tinkermeister will randomly scratch his butt or a cute Droplet will do it’s little dance.
While creating the visual effects for when a Commander dies, I thought it would be fun if I could add small quotes as part of the overall effect. By using a sprite sheet I was able to randomize which one you would receive upon death. This experimental visual became an instant hit adding some light hearted humour to a competitive game.
Some humour is tucked away for players to find and can only be activated via cheat codes. One code forms your army into a conga line behind your Commander. Another code pays homage to our friends over at Bloom leaving patches of grass wherever you walk. Both are cosmetic only and have no other function than comedic value.
Sometimes the development process can produce surprise bugs and glitches that add humour. During one of our weekly playtest streams I was able to capture the moment where I had discovered that I could magically select non-playable objects and move around. Here I take control of the Shrine and start running around.
As a strategy based multiplayer game, we want players to feel welcomed regardless of skill level. We feel adding in a little humor helps give The Maestros a fun and friendly charm that everyone can be a part of and enjoy.
Have you heard? You can sign up for the Closed Beta we are hosting on Sunday, November 12th right now! Head over to www.maestrosgame.com with your email to ensure you get in on the action!
Looks nice, specially the Droplet's dance :)