The main reason for the artwork shift is that as the story became more complete and fleshed out, the less the concept artists' original designs fit in with the narrative.
Uhm, I kinda feel silly for pointing this out, but ... you know you could also have gone the other way, fit the narrative to the original vision, that was visualized, to uhm ... get this project crowdfunded.
Phoenix Point is a Sci-Fi game with some horror elements and Lovecraftian inspiration.
The sort of John Carpenter/Clive Barker-esq bodily horror, flayed flesh concepts no longer fit the game's story.
You should update Fig than, it still reads:
Phoenix Point Is The Fusion of XCOM And Fallout We All Want
- Fallout
The Phoenix Point Geoscape, is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I make no apologies for being an absolute nerd. Just look at it – weird temples devoted to cosmic horror, UI elements that look clear and useful, and a bloody great Behemoth.
- weird temples devoted to cosmic horror
Phoenix Point is the new strategy game from the creator of the original X-COM series. It features turn based tactics and world based strategy in a fight against a terrifying, alien menace.
- terrifying
Also some quotes from interviews with Julian Gollop that were linked in Fig updates while the campaign was running:
rockpapershotgun said:
a sci-fi horror strategy game
Julian Gollop said:
With Phoenix Point, I think there will be less of a divide in that sense. We’ve already done a survey, asking people what is important to them and it matches up with our own feelings very well
rockpapershotgun said:
I’m also pleased that he happily accepts my definition of Phoenix Point as a horror game.
Julian Gollop said:
Oh, it absolutely is a sci-fi horror game. You can see the John Carpenter influence and The Mist is there as well as the cosmic horror elements.
source
rockpapershotgun said:
the strongest and most exciting ideas in Phoenix Point might well be in the strategic layer, which combines elements of grand strategy with the lurking horror of Stephen King’s The Mist
rockpapershotgun said:
Phoenix Point may be humanity’s last hope. An isolated settlement of survivors in a world that has gone to hell, it’s a peak rising above a tide of horrors that are threatening to consume what remains of humankind. Your task is to lead the ragtag band of people who have made Phoenix Point their home, at first ensuring that they survive by gathering food and other resources, and later by fighting back against the threats that surround them.
rockpapershotgun said:
That virus is capable of mutating any species it comes into contact with, which leads to an initial wave of horrific aquatic creatures, reminiscent of Terror From The Deep, and eventually makes its way onto land.
rockpapershotgun said:
It’s more reminiscent of Dagon’s attack in Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth than anything I’d expect from X-COM and the Lovecraft quote that opens the presentation makes a lot more sense in the context of these gargantuan horrors. This is a game about biological horror but the virus is cosmic in origin and, I suspect, some of the late game developments will focus on that element.
source
polygon said:
Phoenix Point is a post-apocalyptic game
Julian Gollop said:
“Horrible mutations were going around,” Gollop said, “People were getting changed, while others just walked into the sea. The Pandoravirus’ genes had taken them over.”
source
not to mention the badly inadequate communication from developer.
How do you feel we could improve this?
Well you stating out of the blue that quote "Phoenix Point is a Sci-Fi game with some horror elements and Lovecraftian inspiration." is an absolut prime case for showing what "badly inadequate communication" is.
You know very well that on discord every now and than some people asked about the lack of body-horror in the redesigned aliens. I am sure you said something like "textures" will most likely change that. You were honest, but misinformed, as was the whole fan-base. People didn't knew that Snapshot is going to drop the body-horror / John Carpenter-styled aliens. They never asked if people want that, or said that they changed their mind. They just did what they wanted to do. After the art-shift, after the change has been done, after people like
Shog-goth kept asking we get this statement. Haven't you said in this thread that you as the "community manager" want to give the players a voice? To have an ongoing communication between them and Snapshot? How can you do so, if you are misinformed and changes are not communicated?
I don't blame you at all, I can say from the personal conversations I had with you in the past that you seem to be a very honest and thrust worthy person. You are just the messenger, that brings the bad news.
I do believe that Snapshot wants to get as many players as they can, but you can't say that players/backers have a saying in what PP becomes. If they did, the changes (
see my previous post) would have been communicated before work has left the concept phase. Feedback would have been gathered and analyzed. Instead changes are just being made.