BLOGS
CREATING PREHISTORY
At StickyLock Games we’re all working on Histera, but in vastly different areas and we want to give everyone a chance to share their work! This week 3D artist Quido Cornet will share some insights on the process that went behind visualizing our prehistoric level.
CREATING PREHISTORY
Quido Cornet || 3D ARTIST
“When the team started working on Histera, the ideas were never-ending. As a team we started brainstorming about what kind of levels and time periods we could create for Histera. FOH, better known as Fall of Human, the level focused on the future, was a great example of one such time period. When FOH reached a development state we were satisfied with, we immediately started thinking of the next level. We wanted to create a level that would be in stark contrast to our futuristic level, so the Pliocene Plateau seemed like the next logical step for the second level. The Prehistoric era is a wonderful time period that showcases what we as a team are capable of creating. We’re developing a game with immensely distinct levels connected through the glitch. Because the glitch separates the map in distinct zones, it gives our art team clear boundaries to work within. This clear separation between zones created amazing new environmental overlaps and color palettes.”
VISUALIZING THE PREHISTORIC LEVEL
Prehistory is made up of a natural environment with lots of beautiful plants and vibrant colors. The scene is broken up in different areas which help guide the players navigate. Prehistory has some big set pieces that make the environment stand out and feel more unique. Our focus is on creating a high quality and dense representation of the prehistoric times with visually pleasing assets. To the players, it has to feel like they are walking and living in this time period. The weapons and characters in these environments must help enhance this immersive feeling.
A PREHISTORIC LAYOUT
The world looked much more lush thousands of years BC. Both sides of civilization, the Hunters & the Gatherers, are pushed back to their respective edges of the map. The hunters reside in dark caves in a rocky terrain. They are separated from the forest with its village of gatherers by the different swamplands and heathery meadows. A waterfall spreads out into small creeks that wind their way through the forest and out of the arena on the other side. Every now and then glimpses of civilization peek through the dense jungle through totems, small altars or landmarks which guide the way.
The hunters live in the rocky cave area of the map. This is the start of the mountainous area in which the hunters have transformed caves to create somewhat a comfortable shelter. All of this is set dressed with primitive furniture, hunting equipment etc. On the walls both in- and outside of the village are primal cave paintings in the tribe’s style and color.
The gatherers have created a small village deep within the forest at the other side of the dome. The huts are located in a small, deforested area. Further in you can see small living quarters being built on the side of giant trees. Houses are made of leather or strips of bark, with wood and bone functioning as support. Around the village you can see the beginnings of civilization; small altars, stone cutting tools, hunting equipment, pottery etc.
Going down the mountains, you enter a strip of heathery meadow and a swampy areas. Large patches of overgrown grass create cover, and the shin-high water in the swamp slows you down. From this point you enter the forest. We decided on using a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, with as much thick ground cover as possible using ferns, moss, grass types etc. Some trees have been uprooted or fallen over, creating interesting cover options. The ground is either covered with vegetation, dark soil or mud. In some areas the ground has sunk a couple of meters in the ground creating naturally shaped trenches resulting in interesting height differences. Not just the forest, but the entire map is filled with creatures that make the world feel alive. Birds flying overhead, large insects in the forest, swarms of flies and mosquitoes in the swamp and the looming shadow of dinosaurs in the distance. We didn’t want to limit our thinking within the boundaries of the dome. So, all biomes continue outside of it, creating the illusion of a larger world.
Once we had dedicated designers, they had the task to tweak the game’s design to a point where they could be happy with it and thoroughly believed that the game would be fun to play. There were some limits due to the systems that were already in place from the older design which were very hard to change at this stage. This meant that there was a specific scope the design team could change things within. They would often have to experiment with certain mechanics and document how they wanted the various mechanics to work. They would also run tests with level design variations in block out form to test the layout and flow of a level.
Once this was done, the art team was able to fill in the blocks with actual contextually correct models. The programming team would take the documented mechanics and either work them out for experimentation or implement them fully within the core code base once they were approved.
CREATING PREHISTORY
At StickyLock Games we’re all working on Histera, but in vastly different areas and we want to give everyone a chance to share their work! This week 3D artist Quido Cornet will share some insights on the process that went behind visualizing our prehistoric level.
CREATING PREHISTORY
Quido Cornet || 3D ARTIST
“When the team started working on Histera, the ideas were never-ending. As a team we started brainstorming about what kind of levels and time periods we could create for Histera. FOH, better known as Fall of Human, the level focused on the future, was a great example of one such time period. When FOH reached a development state we were satisfied with, we immediately started thinking of the next level. We wanted to create a level that would be in stark contrast to our futuristic level, so the Pliocene Plateau seemed like the next logical step for the second level. The Prehistoric era is a wonderful time period that showcases what we as a team are capable of creating. We’re developing a game with immensely distinct levels connected through the glitch. Because the glitch separates the map in distinct zones, it gives our art team clear boundaries to work within. This clear separation between zones created amazing new environmental overlaps and color palettes.”
A PREHISTORIC LAYOUT
The world looked much more lush thousands of years BC. Both sides of civilization, the Hunters & the Gatherers, are pushed back to their respective edges of the map. The hunters reside in dark caves in a rocky terrain. They are separated from the forest with its village of gatherers by the different swamplands and heathery meadows. A waterfall spreads out into small creeks that wind their way through the forest and out of the arena on the other side. Every now and then glimpses of civilization peek through the dense jungle through totems, small altars or landmarks which guide the way.
The hunters live in the rocky cave area of the map. This is the start of the mountainous area in which the hunters have transformed caves to create somewhat a comfortable shelter. All of this is set dressed with primitive furniture, hunting equipment etc. On the walls both in- and outside of the village are primal cave paintings in the tribe’s style and color.
The gatherers have created a small village deep within the forest at the other side of the dome. The huts are located in a small, deforested area. Further in you can see small living quarters being built on the side of giant trees. Houses are made of leather or strips of bark, with wood and bone functioning as support. Around the village you can see the beginnings of civilization; small altars, stone cutting tools, hunting equipment, pottery etc.
Going down the mountains, you enter a strip of heathery meadow and a swampy areas. Large patches of overgrown grass create cover, and the shin-high water in the swamp slows you down. From this point you enter the forest. We decided on using a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, with as much thick ground cover as possible using ferns, moss, grass types etc. Some trees have been uprooted or fallen over, creating interesting cover options. The ground is either covered with vegetation, dark soil or mud. In some areas the ground has sunk a couple of meters in the ground creating naturally shaped trenches resulting in interesting height differences. Not just the forest, but the entire map is filled with creatures that make the world feel alive. Birds flying overhead, large insects in the forest, swarms of flies and mosquitoes in the swamp and the looming shadow of dinosaurs in the distance. We didn’t want to limit our thinking within the boundaries of the dome. So, all biomes continue outside of it, creating the illusion of a larger world.
Once we had dedicated designers, they had the task to tweak the game’s design to a point where they could be happy with it and thoroughly believed that the game would be fun to play. There were some limits due to the systems that were already in place from the older design which were very hard to change at this stage. This meant that there was a specific scope the design team could change things within. They would often have to experiment with certain mechanics and document how they wanted the various mechanics to work. They would also run tests with level design variations in block out form to test the layout and flow of a level.
Once this was done, the art team was able to fill in the blocks with actual contextually correct models. The programming team would take the documented mechanics and either work them out for experimentation or implement them fully within the core code base once they were approved.
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