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Art pipeline planning | Pre-production
Art pipeline planning | Pre-production
Entering the "true" first project we were going to ship, Ryan pitched the idea as......
Block game.
More specifically, Cozy block game. Which wasn't very specific, really - you could have many interpretations as to what that could be. Here were my two takes on "Cozy block game."
Our team lead Ryan liked my first take. Strange creature block game has to wait for another day. He decided afterwards it would be a block game that takes place somewhere in Japan, and he really liked the idea of arranging koi in a koi pond. Cute idea, really!
And then you see his takes on it:
Kudos, really 😅 This gave me and Kanoa a lot to work with...
Despite how it looks, you have to give him credit since he does his illustrations with a mouse... pixel by pixel. That's patience I'll never achieve with myself...
Color Testing
Color Testing
We were finally getting somewhere for sure, though. We got right to work on a slightly comprehensive style guide.
Ryan knew he wanted the plot to be something like a fox climbing up a mountain. Knowing Ryan, he would like something kawaii but not overly chibi or strange. Not only was making this little fox a helpful starting point for representing limited color schemes, but he also came to be Kuru in the end!
Style / Brush Testing
Style / Brush Testing
I knew that me and Kanoa needed to settle with a lineart that was easily reproduceable amongst ourselves and Ryan. This would also make it easier to "animate" (the "wiggle" frame - the second frame that makes the block feel alive, but not really "move". Here is an example: )
Brush testing also resulted in the team deciding more towards the watercolor/fuzzy -type illustration for backgrounds to help thick-outlined blocks pop out more.
With the new art style put down, we can finally get to the nitty gritty!
Production
Production
The Block Grind
The Block Grind
Ryan's Lilypads were actually really nice. All we need to do is adjust the colors and lineart just slightly. See how much of a difference saturation (warmer or cooler tones) changes the vibe?
Working on Blocks first was especially interesting considering we'd have to base colors, furniture, and the animals on no pre-existing background or tile-set. I presented some color schemes and the team was very go-with-the-flow type majority decision.
The 1x1 Wub (our lilypad dog) was the very first block made for Teahouse which determined the final color scheme for the entire region. It seems like a big decision, huh?
Deciding on the color of something seemingly basic such as the umbrella in the Bamboo region was actually a bit scary for me. I didn't want to reuse the same colors as the other bamboo blocks, but I also didn't want it to be lost to the darkness of the region. To also use bright colors in such a moody region... I didn't really like to see it.
At the same time, we have a dilemna we also brought up before and during the development of KURU - what about color-blindness?
To solve both problems with one theoretical stone I asked for help from our Audio Engineer, Jadon, who is red-green colorblind.
He presented that colors on a distinct value scale ("darker" or "lighter", shadows and highlights) should be good, whereas hues that are similar like presented on the left "hurt his brain." With that in mind, I made sure to deepen the shadows that water droplets made on the umbrella, brighten the colors of the droplets, and add white highlights to the water as well. It would not only help with maintaining the generalized cartoon/cutesy style that is present throughout our blocks.
Thus we were able to move on with our favorite colored umbrella and add more clear water droplets. It seemed to turn out fine - however, it was not my most favorite block at the time. I was still a bit afraid if it was out of place for the region - but a more recent addition I made - the L mirrored block - helped tie in some unspoken lore about the region.
Bonus
The Background Blitz
The Background Blitz
Pond was about to look like this and it is 100% my fault.
I hate it so much.
I initially wanted each background to be distinct and interesting - that also included me advocating for different perspectives for each background in this game.
It is also the same reason why the drafts for the Bamboo region were going to be "Fisheye" / curved - I was selfish to want this for such a simple game and it was good that the team talked me out of it.
(original sketch for pond's background)
My justification was that regions should represent the uniqueness of each region, and each region should leave the player with a lasting impression of the region combined with the beauty of each block. It's ironic that I said that statement with the relevation of these screenshots, where testing the blocks were incredibly difficult with the amount of detail/same colors there were in the water.
Bamboo was also almost fated to be terrible.
My justification for this was that it would be strange to make the bamboo background with standing bamboo, and the bamboo blocks themselves were laying flat on the ground.
Thinking about the blocks conceptually came first, but that meant conflicts with how the blocks were represented spatially/logically. And for a time, it drove me insane...
At least we got to cross-check the blocks and tiles to see if the colors worked well with each other. I did have some moments where I was second-guessing myself with the thick lineart of the blocks against the darker colors of the background, but the team seemed to be fine with it.
At the very end, when we implemented it into the engine and got all of the background drafts on hand, it was time to change Bamboo's background into the proper orientation. Luckily, it was easy enough to do, and the quick perspective change through the helpful transform
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