Before a weapon is fired, a suit is assembled or a new enemy appears planetside, someone has to decide what it belongs to.
In the latest Vanguard Uplink, the Senior Concept Artist discusses how that process is helping define the visual identity of EVE Vanguard, from the Warclone itself to the weapons and equipment being built around New Eden's factions.
One of the larger challenges is the Warclone. It needs to feel grounded in the established universe while supporting where EVE Vanguard is heading as its own experience. That means designing more than a single recognisable silhouette. Armour, pauldrons, skins and character appearance all need to work within a system that gives players room to make their Warclone their own without losing that underlying identity.
The same thinking is beginning to shape the arsenal.
As the team develops more weapons, their origin increasingly determines the rules behind their design. Manufacturer, empire, weapon type and even how individual components connect can all influence what comes next. The recently discussed Gallente Battle Rifle is one example of the concept team exploring how faction identity can move from the wider EVE universe into something a Warclone actually carries into combat.
Not every idea survives that journey.
Concept artists often work ahead of production, exploring equipment and systems long before there is certainty they will appear in a particular milestone. Deployable bubble shields and healing equipment have already reached that stage before being moved out of current plans. But being cut from one milestone does not necessarily mean an idea has disappeared for good.
That leaves an interesting collection of possibilities behind the version of EVE Vanguard players see today.
The full Vanguard Uplink goes further into the concepts that make it through, the ones that do not, and how a small team turns New Eden's visual language into something built for the ground war.