Visionary Realms met back up once again with CohhCarnage for about 45 minutes today to stream a special behind-the-scenes look at the making of Thronefast, the Humans' home city in Pantheon. Needless to say, Thronefast is still a work in progress - what we saw in the stream should not at all be considered representative of the finished product, but it is similar to what testers will see in Pre-Alpha. Speaking of which, in the stream, VR made the following very important announcements:
- As of midnight PST on November 26, 2017, you will no longer be able to start a monthly payment plan for a Pre-Alpha pledge.
- All Pre-Alpha access will be removed from pledges on December 20, 2017.
It was interesting and exciting to get an exclusive peek at what goes on behind the curtain to create the world of Terminus. This was also the perfect opportunity to introduce one of the newest members of the team, one who is very instrumental in the process of creating these areas. Let's take a look:
(You can click on the blue titles below to jump to the point in CohhCarnage's Twitch VOD where that topic is covered.)
Ben Dean - Director of Communications
Chris "Joppa" Perkins - Creative Director & Lead Game Designer
Jared Pullen - Senior Concept Artist
- Specifically built to properly receive the lighting information from the new lighting system that was showcased in the last stream
- Added lots of undergrowth in addition to the grass itself to make it look more full and realistic
- When you run through the grass, it will move and displace under your footsteps.
1. Lead Writer Justin “Istuulamae” Gerhart informs Jared and the art team of the lore and concepts of a particular area.
2. The art team comes up with a rough sketch that captures Justin’s ideas.
3. A render is created to add color, texture, and other finer details.
4. A 3D wire mesh is created to form the solid outline of the object.
5. That “graybox” is placed in the world to block out the area the object will occupy, giving a sense of scale and spacial relationships.
6. The final model is created to add the details of the render to the mesh.
7. That model is placed in its designated area in the game world.
Points of Interest:
The Killway - Historically, this area was constructed so that it could be sealed off in the event of a siege. When you enter Thronefast, there will be two prominent lion statues that flank an inscription, which completes a lore story started on the arches outside. It will be an iconic moment to make it feel like you have arrived, are welcomed, and give you a feeling of the ideology of the Thronefastian people. You will have a choice to go left or right and audio cues will hint at what each way leads to. The left leads to the more militant side of the city and the right leads to the more spiritual side.
Camp Bedark - Istuulamae describes it as “the primary housing and training grounds for garrisons of the Thronefast Regulars. Bedark is a bulwark of Thronefastian military power. Built into the very walls of the capital itself, the camp allows for rapid deployment within, on top, or outside the city. Scores of soldiers training therein provide chaotic rhythms of battle to ears of passersby.” If you create a Human Warrior, this is most likely where you will start. There may even be cracks in the wall where visitors can peek in to watch the soldiers practice... as long as you don't get caught by the drill sergeant.
Peacemade Plaza - The marketplace of Thronefast, focused on a sense of community. There will be a wide variety of stalls and not all stalls will be managed by vendors. Different colored awnings represent the different classes of stalls.
The Fabled Arches of Havensong - A treasure of Thronefast and an important part of its history. Iconic in grandeur, it’s intentionally set aside from the business of the market.
Forum of Ocirico - Ocirico "The Blind Fatesmith" is the patron deity of the human pantheon. Ocirico hammers out the key events of all time. As the blank scroll rolls across the face of his anvil, Ocirico hammers out the events and they are forever recorded. A statue of the anvil sits outside and the scroll runs up and down the stairs. It weaves in and out and throughout the building, culminating in the Dome of Time at the top of the building amidst colored glass. Within that dome is the central court chamber, where defendants come to plead their case.
Temple of Corcera - In tune with kindness, care, and holiness, the Corceran Priesthood ministers to the people in the area. A waterfall will cascade down the front of the building into a pool surrounding an island to represent healing, peace, and tranquility. On top of the building, there will be a garden, a tree, a buttress and rounded edges to symbolize calm, relaxation, and welcoming.
Overall City Design Philosophy:
- General services that cities provide (merchants, bank, etc.) are relatively easy to access so that you can be in-and-out quickly if needed.
- However, cities are intended to be much more than just starting areas. You will be incentivized to visit major cities throughout your character’s life for more than just general services.
- Furthermore, even if you only have 15 minutes to play, you should feel like you can accomplish something in a major city.
- Buildings are more than just shells. Each one has a well-thought-out floorplan that takes into consideration camera angles, composition, clearances, etc.
- Heights and widths of all structures are standardized to accomodate different camera angles of different races’ heights.
- The goal is for buildings to not be completely static. They will have moving water, shifting light, moving parts, etc. to make them feel alive.
- Each building should feel like a "mini zone" with a unique personality, while still fitting in with the rest of the buildings in the city as a whole.
- By paying attention to the details, the environment itself can tell the story of the area.
Alternatively, the whole stream is available on Visionary Realm's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz_29h3_Npw
I hope you enjoyed the stream as much as I did and found this recap helpful.
As always, thanks for reading!
Baz
Appreciate the effort put into this, Baz.
Let me just say, I am absolutely in awe in the amount of detail the VR team is putting into every design aspect of their game. Everything from moving, life-like grass to unique, grand and purposeful buildings. It's going to be a great change of pace to have the focus of city exploration being to actually appreciate the uniqueness of every building and the location of it, rather than having city exploration being a game of finding Waldo in a world of meaningless filler. EQ2 zone-divided city design comes to mind as an example of how not to do things.
There is one question I think is left unanswered though. Where do people live in this city, if at all? Or do Thronefastions typically live in nearby villages/farms, and the city of Thronefast more of an governing/market center?
Menubrea said:Appreciate the effort put into this, Baz.
Let me just say, I am absolutely in awe in the amount of detail the VR team is putting into every design aspect of their game.
There is one question I think is left unanswered though. Where do people live in this city, if at all? Or do Thronefastions typically live in nearby villages/farms, and the city of Thronefast more of an governing/market center?
Your first point. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. So fun just to watch even stuff like this and to hear the excitement in the dev's voices. The one bloke, with the accent, was just sooo into everything he was going that it was truely inspiring to think of how awesome he's going to create things.
Your second point. Good question, of course we'd like to see living spaces for NPC, because then maybe that means we have buyable/rentable space for instanced housing ala EQ2. Or if a big city like Thornefast, there should be a sprawling expanse of houses outside leading up to the city.
Let me join the others in thanking you, Bazgrim, for an excellent write-up.
The stream was awesome, loved watching the process of thinking up, conceptualizing and building Thronefast. I have to say I was ecstatic at the end when all the guys were in the Killway, I was all "go up the stairs! go up the stairs", and wouldn't you know, they did!
@Menubrea I had the same question regarding residential quarters. I suspect they didn't show all of Throne fast - there seemed to be an area in earlier stages of development past the marketplace. If so, residential buildings could be there, saving the areas closest to the gates for public buildings for easy access to players visiting the city.
One issue I had with Thronefast: it looked a bit flat and righ-angley. I wonder if this is the final layout. I think I'd rather see a couple of hills and buildings built around the terrain, rather than neatly placed on an orthogonal grid.
