Hey all,
Aaron Foster here, Lead Artist and Designer from Lunar Software, and today I would like to talk a bit about ROUTINE’s “Relatable Sci-Fi” world.
This is a term that I do not think is widely used to describe a variant or subgenre of science fiction. However, it formed the very foundation of how we visually and audibly ground the world of ROUTINE.
When you are working on a science fiction project, it can be an exciting prospect as an artist to run wild with ideas. However, this can sometimes be a “trap”. With ROUTINE, I wanted to make sure there was a careful balance between interesting sci-fi concepts and believable spaces.
Part of how we achieved this was by making sure that “mundane” objects were not overdesigned.
Just because ROUTINE is a sci-fi game does not mean that a basic plastic chair, one designed purely for function, needs to look sci-fi. The same applies to other objects like fire extinguishers, wet floor cones, CRTs, etc.
These everyday objects help ground a fantastical space that might otherwise feel unrelatable.
We also applied the same rules to materials, using plastics, metals, lunarcrete, tiles, and so on. Nothing is too unrecognisable compared to what we see here on Earth, which was on purpose.
All of these surfaces are usually covered in dirt, scratches, and general wear, details that often tell a story about the function, use, or age of an object or space.
The scale of a space is also very important; this is also not something that is often talked about, but even ceiling heights can play a big role in subconscious relatability.
It is easy, and quite fun, to make spaces unusually large when creating sci-fi worlds, so managing that excitement at certain points is important for maintaining a sense of relatability.
However, without spoiling anything, when you reach the “Old Base,” ceiling height became a much bigger concern for the team and required far more adjustment and iteration across both code and art.
Relatable sci-fi is a wonderful space to work within. Including familiar, real-world objects is important to us, but we also asked ourselves what else we could play with.
As huge Alien fans, we were deeply inspired by Ron Cobb’s Semiotic Standard and by how much it added to the believability of that world.
In ROUTINE, we have two bases on the moon, which are from two different time periods, and we wanted to use that as an opportunity to explore how semiotics have changed from base to base.
New Base/Union Plaza ▼
Old Base/Prism ▼
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I hope this gives you a little insight into our world-building principles for ROUTINE. If you have any questions about what you have read here, or if there are other topics you would like to know more about, feel free to share them, and we may talk about them in the future.
As a final note, I would just like to say that I have genuinely enjoyed reading the discussions people have been having around the art, design, and narrative of ROUTINE, so thank you so much for sharing. <3
- Aaron Foster