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Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:13 pm
by Rev One
We were all very eager to get Age of Dragons out the door, hot on the heels of Warlock Academy, which although we were really passionate about and loved internally, wasn't a hit with our players. This expansion was done very quickly and includes the last of our original character designs, and the remainder of finished but cut Warlock Academy Cards (not including cards we designed but didn't create). Here's a breakdown:

Units cut from WA:
1. Berserker
2. Loremaster
3. Master At Arms
4. Monk
5. Witchdoctor
6. Wizard's Apprentice

These units, though intended for WA, were revised and ultimately made more sense in AoD.

Loremaster Tarius, was actually designed well over a year ago, as you all know he appeared in many Crusader cards before his debut. He was just never interesting enough in terms of gameplay, to merit a release, until our lore caught up. In the end, his debut and the way we wrote him, as the explorer who returned having discovered the dragons, just made for a very compelling reveal.

In addition to the need for more interesting mechanics, these characters ended up being cut for many other reasons. For example, none of these characters are female and after Tournament of Champions, we instilled a very strict policy to be more diverse in our characters' race and genders.

The first unit to be designed for this expansion, was done much earlier in the year, when we were exploring whether or not we could even make dragons fun or not in our game. Dragons need to be epic and powerful, and up until now we were not confident we could pull it off, and so we tried over and over to get it right. The Crusader Drake, originally designed as the Ninjas Drake, was a play on Toothless, a dragon we figured would translate well to our style.

cc_dragon_mock.jpg


Eventually through the process, this guy was abandoned. He didn't return until the very end, after we had replaced him in the Ninja faction. Playing on the idea that he looked dog-like, we brought him back as the Crusader companion and made him white... and more crazy.

It's quite a metaphor for AoD in general, which really just came together very easy for us. We knew we wanted to a dragon expansion for a long time but the patience paid off, and gave us great confidence going into the next (and the next) expansion that we could really push the content and lore in our game to new heights. (Yes we're already chipping away at the next two.)

And so to say thanks for supporting us and helping us grow (I know you're hard at work getting all your friends to play as well so we can keep the lights on!) I have 2 gifts to share.

The first is the Photoshop file for the Warlock's Dragon, which was the first to be revealed. I know this is a fan favorite (or at least among those filthy Warlock players), and it really does represent a lot of spirit of the expansion and the art direction we went with across the game. In this file you will see how we go about making our cards, and can turn layers on and off to see how far we push everything until it's done. (In addition to all the dirty little mistakes we make and no one notices). I hope that you guys enjoy this file and hope that it may help you in your own creative endeavors https://www.dropbox.com/s/79xwdu1w7ly9u1x/cc_card_warlockdragon.zip?dl=0

And the second gift, a taste of things to come:
cc_concept_centaur.jpg


From us to you, thanks again for your support and enjoy the Age of Dragons!

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:17 pm
by Test04
Wait how long have you been planning him that's a screenshot from pre 2.0 and actually very early looking 1.0 is it just the test bed look?

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:05 pm
by Noridoom
@Rev

The art in this expansion is really, really good!

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:13 am
by RedMaster
What expansion would the centaur, if that's what it is, be in for the future??

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:18 pm
by Freshboi37
true you showed us the centaur on twitter. I predict the next expansion.

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:49 pm
by Rev One
Next expansion. If you liked AoD, the next two expansions are going to blow your mind.

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:53 pm
by Freshboi37
Would it be Greek mythology based??

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 8:41 pm
by RedMaster
When can we possibly expect to know more about the upcoming expansion

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:29 am
by Rad
Hi Rev.

So I stumbled on the Photoshop file you linked, which I can't believe I missed. I am
really curious how you do the lightfix layer. The new Age of Dragons art uses all
kinds of cool blur and sparkle effects, and I was really wondering how you do that?

Maybe not an entire explanation obviously, but if there were some video you might
know of that could explain how to do things like this:

Image

I would be really grateful.

I use Photoshop Elements 9 which came free with my Bamboo Pen and Touch CTH480.
When I opened the group it would only simplify the layer because Elements doesn't
support opening groups I guess, which really sucks. However I still got a good look at
each layer with layer visibility.

Another good question I have, is how you manage the sparkles on card art like this:

Image

and this:

Image

I think that they do a lot to enhance the picture and just makes everything already
on the card pop out more.

My final question, is how you texture like this:

Image

and this:

Image

My best guess is some special brush that you made/found. Other than that I'm really
at a loss for it.

Sorry for all questions! I'm not an art student but I understand the power of art
and I consider myself to be pretty creative. Hell, I probably wouldn't have stuck around
this game had it not been for the amazing art style. That enough is proof of how
powerful art is. I've been around for a very long time with this game, since Ninjas were
released, and my favorite part of the game throughout that time has no doubt been the
art.

When you release new expansions, the number one thing that I'm waiting for is to see the
cool new art you guys add. I really want to be able to apply these kinds of art skills in
my life, because I think that creativity and awesome art can complement and
enhance anything you want it to.

If you don't want to answer all the questions, I completely understand. This is a lot to ask
and I should probably be doing a lot more research myself, but this might be my favorite
artstyle out of any game I've played so far so I wanted to know directly from the creator.

Thanks SO much!

Re: Art Questions? Ask The Builders!

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:58 am
by RedMaster
I'm still interested to hear any news about the next expansion, I'm just theorizing here but do you have plans for a late spring or summer expansion release??