Lionheart Q&A over at Just RPG
Lionheart Q&A over at Just RPG
Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Sat 22 March 2003, 18:50:39
Tags: Eric Dallaire; Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader; Reflexive EntertainmentJust RPG has had a little question, fondle, and answer session with Eric Dallaire and Ion "Storm" Hardee of Reflexive about their soon-to-be-released CRPG, Lionheart. Here's a clip:
4) The graphics in Lionheart are very beautiful and there are simply no words to describe the talents of your artists. In my preview last year I complimented the attention to detail that went into the environments, items and other graphical aspects in this game. Tell us the process that goes into creating the stunning graphics in Lionheart. What mood are you trying to establish with the graphics in Lionheart?
ED: We have a good core group of artists managed by the very talented Jeff McAteer. They?re all meticulous artists, and every one of them knows how to stay on schedule, even with the amount of care and research they put into their work. It?s so amazing when you first envision an area while writing a scene, and then the art team just blows away your expectations every time.
The basic process starts with communication between the design team and the art team. The design document paved the way for the first conceptions of what the game should look like and play like, and from there the artists did a tremendous amount of historical research. Since the game is steeped in magic, they also had great liberty to add their own twists to characters and architecture, so the look of the game is very different than real history. As production started for Lionheart, the artists created thousands of modular pieces and textures that the designers could use to construct levels. The Velocity engine has a very robust editor that allows designers to play the game, jump into the editor mode, add pieces to a level or change a texture, and then see the effects on the level instantly. The designers used these assets to build the initial levels, populate them, and add complex scripting. Where needed, the artists created custom pieces for the designers to give even more detail to the levels. Once the majority of the scripting work for the levels was complete, a team of artists went back over all the levels and added a final level of polish. It took extra time, but we think this process of cooperation between designers and artists really benefited the game.
As for the mood, the artists were definitely going for a dark, medieval world, one that has undergone some dramatic upheavals.
Note to interviewer: Eric Dallaire is married. Stop hitting on him.
Spotted this at RPG Vault.
4) The graphics in Lionheart are very beautiful and there are simply no words to describe the talents of your artists. In my preview last year I complimented the attention to detail that went into the environments, items and other graphical aspects in this game. Tell us the process that goes into creating the stunning graphics in Lionheart. What mood are you trying to establish with the graphics in Lionheart?
ED: We have a good core group of artists managed by the very talented Jeff McAteer. They?re all meticulous artists, and every one of them knows how to stay on schedule, even with the amount of care and research they put into their work. It?s so amazing when you first envision an area while writing a scene, and then the art team just blows away your expectations every time.
The basic process starts with communication between the design team and the art team. The design document paved the way for the first conceptions of what the game should look like and play like, and from there the artists did a tremendous amount of historical research. Since the game is steeped in magic, they also had great liberty to add their own twists to characters and architecture, so the look of the game is very different than real history. As production started for Lionheart, the artists created thousands of modular pieces and textures that the designers could use to construct levels. The Velocity engine has a very robust editor that allows designers to play the game, jump into the editor mode, add pieces to a level or change a texture, and then see the effects on the level instantly. The designers used these assets to build the initial levels, populate them, and add complex scripting. Where needed, the artists created custom pieces for the designers to give even more detail to the levels. Once the majority of the scripting work for the levels was complete, a team of artists went back over all the levels and added a final level of polish. It took extra time, but we think this process of cooperation between designers and artists really benefited the game.
As for the mood, the artists were definitely going for a dark, medieval world, one that has undergone some dramatic upheavals.
Note to interviewer: Eric Dallaire is married. Stop hitting on him.
Spotted this at RPG Vault.
