Visual Narrative-Game Arts-Research-stylised games art reference
The art of King’s Quest has undergone a sea change in the last few years. It doesn’t even look like the same game compared to its earlier years.
Taking the art style as an example, after interviewing Steve, the art director of Glory of Kings last year, I found out that ‘Eastern aesthetics’ is becoming a big part of their design direction, and has given the game an extra subtle touch of premium.
It is cut in a form that mimics the Buddhist shawl robe, but is more artistically worked into a bow-like shape; the texture of the skirt is a common Tang Dynasty bar pattern, but in a more modern short skirt; it also incorporates the fluttering ribbons and cloud patterns common in Dunhuang Buddha images.
Chinese culture has a history of thousands of years and the aesthetic sense varies from dynasty to dynasty. Due to our work, we read more content from the Tang Dynasty, but I also like the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty, which preferred a lighter palette and would be more simple and plain for comfort.
Aesthetics change according to the stage of social development. When the economy was just developing, the most popular style of decoration was the courtly style, with Roman columns and plastered ceilings. People were not admiring European culture, but they thought they were ornate and could symbolise that they were no longer poor.
Adolescent anxiety is common to all, and this should make for a character trait of a Yoder hero. But surely, the lovesick lazy adolescent bear is prone to appear flat and one-dimensional; real people tend to be more complex. Vex is even more complex. Not only is she melancholy and gloomy, she is aloof. The design team also had to say more with this expressing something more.
When concept illustrator Gem “Lonewingy” Lim first started thinking about Vex’s physical appearance, she had to consider more than just how dark the Yodel wears. How dark the clothes had to be. She wanted to empower sub Vex with an outlet for her emotions. With so many misanthropic high-fashion faced adolescent girls spread out on the table, the The conceptual illustration of “two big hands” stands out. Vygus keeps the cold, iron-faced gothic But at the same time, the two large hands betray her true feelings. So here’s the thing: Vex is a mage, not a warrior.
This direction is risky because it doesn’t convey the feel of mage play as it should. So this direction wasn’t for her. This meant that we needed another way for Vex to express herself. Fortunately, there was another concept design that stood out during the initial concept rollout phase. “A puppet manipulator who manipulates black clay free children.” But the design team raised questions such as “Where did the rabbit come from? Why does this aloof and aloof person have a pet?” The answer is that maybe they’re not just pets. Maybe they’re something. Maybe they’ve been part of her since the beginning.
What the design team really liked was not the black clay exemptions, but what they represented. So Vex’ skill set shifts to a field control mage (a point will be expanded on later), and the direction of her visual design shifted along with it. It was at this point that “Black Shadow” was born.