Developing the art of GrimKeep
Early stages
Initially the GrimKeep project existed only as a concept of game mechanics; the idea of using dice and yatzy/poker combos as a start and a core, and building on it with "items". The simplicity of the dice would be a super-approachable start for everyone, with minimal need for tutorials. The items would build depth and variation over time and allow us to create endless combinations and cool synergies.
There was also a feeling that it was a fantasy game in general, but before any art was produced, it wasn't really decided. The first prototype was just boxes, programmer art, and pictures of characters borrowed from our other games.
Goals
It's a well kept secret that for smaller scale productions, art choices are not just about what would be cool. One of the more difficult questions is about budget. The cost of art is a bit like asking "how long is a string". There's no upper limit to how much money and time you could spend on art, and there's barely any lower limit either.
Before a project like this is greenlit, you will generally not have a solid idea of the budgets. So in our case, once Henrik got involved to think about the art production needs, it was natural to approach this defensively, with the assumption that the budget would be fairly limited.
This is why in the second prototype, we did some exploration with some prototype 3D assets from the very talented Kay Lousberg.
Almost all of Resolution's games are 3D. It's a natural fit for our XR focus areas, but we needed a ton of enemies, characters, and environment assets. That presented a problem for our very small team. The assets needed to look coherent and uniform, and we needed to be able to make more in the same style.
The Cool
Here's where the "cool" came into play. Once we had assembled a test scene, it was pretty clear that it wasn't right for us. The style was approachable and cute, but it wasn't really what we wanted, we needed something more “serious”. So we started over.
But the thing about "serious" is that it tends to be much more costly. A realistic, or semi-realistic 3D character is likely to take a lot more time for a 3D artist to model. The answer… make it 2D! Or rather as it evolved; 2.5D. I.e. two-dimensional pictures, but placed in a 3D environment!
But to be honest the thing that tip the needle was that this approach seemed way more fun and exciting for us to produce.
What Fantasy?
Ok, so we're doing fantasy. It's the natural thing when you need hundreds of items that do various, sometimes abstract things rules-wise. Magic and all, you know? But... high fantasy? low fantasy? punky fantasy? Tons of overlapping flavors to pick from. We already have Demeo, one of Resolution's biggest titles. Demeo is a straight-shooting classic roleplaying fantasy game for the most part. It's steeped in nostalgia, and has versions of classic fantasy tropes all over. The first sketches for the 2.5D art had a decidedly Conan-esque aesthetic, as if taken directly from a John Buscema Conan comic book. It didn't feel quite right either, but the style itself, the line work and colors, looked like it would only need a slight push, and different types of characters to become something darker.
We're all immersed in the wider game scene, so I'm sure the recent surge in soulslikes has taken hold in our minds. It led us here, to this question: "Can you have an easy-to-pick-up dice game, but dress it in serious, brooding grimdark clothes?" Well, let's find out!
GrimKeep wants to be a world of odd and horrific monsters, and to give it legs to stand on creatively, we took inspiration from two sources; Lovecraftian Mythos, and fairy tales. Grimm's fairytales of course. It's not lore accurate Cthulhu per se, but uses the same ideas of ancient eldritch demon-gods, invading a peaceful world. These monsters represent the challenge, the enemy. The fairytales represent the good, our protagonists. Imagine this post-apocalyptic world, where characters from classic fairytales are real. Real legendary characters, but they're not living happily ever after. They're struggling through this dark world, fighting to survive with the rest of humanity. The Little Red Riding Hood might as well have experienced the incident with grandma and the wolf as a child, but that is a pale memory now. Now that she is older, she doesn't skip through the forest with a basket of goodies. She goes by the name Red, stalking a city of monsters, sword at the ready, eager for vengeance.
[First sketch for the current hero art]
Stay tuned, more about making the art in future devlogs!