This week, we are excited to share the story behind the creation of the Illustrans deck, one of the two decks available in Vestiges: Fallen Tribes inspired by the grandeur of the Roman Empire. As we delve into the creative journey of this deck, we want to remind you guys that our open beta build will be removed from Steam on July 17th. Now let’s talk about how the creative team went from just an idea to their first concepts of the Illustrans.
Little disclaimer
One of the most fastidious challenges the team encountered during this creative phase was basically to avoid inconsistencies and cultural appropriation that would misrepresent any existing population or ethnicities. “It is very important to understand that we are using History as a research base to create the factions, it is not our role to distort any reality nor established truths about ancient or existing civilizations or nations,” says Art Director Suzanne Rault. Whether they are inspired by real events or people, every composants of Vestiges: Fallen Tribes is fiction.
Behind the choice of this very Roman inspired faction is a desire to stay close to the Studio’s Mediterranean roots. “We are located in Lyon, France, which was funded by the Romans in the 1st century BC,” explaines Suzanne Rault. Indeed, Lyon, called Lugdunum at the time, still embraces that Roman influence today. Downtown and the old Lyon are part of the Unesco World Heritage Sites. You can visit the Gallo-Roman museum and sit at the Ancient Theatre of Fourviere where musical and theatrical festivals are organized. And it’s not limited to Lyon, most of France was occupied by the Romans at the time.
“Since the Romans are such a big part of our History, it was obvious that our first faction would be inspired by them, Suzanne adds. Most people have already heard of the Roman Empire and easily know how to identify its army.”
There was a time when the Illustrans were well known for their complex government and their imperial dominance over the world. What made them the Great Power of this time was, just like the Romans, their abilities to create tools and innovative technologies to access and distribute water all around their Empire. “The Romans were clearly ahead of their time especially when they created the aqueducts to bring water to the cities, Creative Director, Pierre Heinisch explains. It was interesting to make our first faction as powerful and capable as the Romans but also kind of exceeded by the situation inside Vestiges.”
Modern but outdated
“Since the game is set in a dystopian future after the fall of most civilizations, we wanted to make it very clear that the Illustrans are only a shadow of themselves now, kind of like an anachronism”, emphasizes Suzanne. Indeed, at some point water ran out, and it got more and more complicated for them to function properly. They lost domination over a lot of places and couldn’t keep up with technological advancement. They are nostalgic of that past greatness and keep thinking they cannot be defeated.
The backstory being almost complete, Pierre continued by creating the first units that would be part of the players’ deck:
- the Legionaries: heavily armed infantrymen carrying shields and javelins
- the Ballista: an armored vehicle carrying a weapons that throws bolts from the distance
- the Protector: basically a giant shieldman that deploys a large shield to protect the other units
- the Gladiators: a group of aggressive soldiers that do hand-to-hand combat with hand weapons
- Matria, the Ruthless: automaton of the Illustrans’ symbol, the mother wolf, when she dies she releases a temporary buff to all the other units
Those information are mandatory for Suzanne to start with her concepts. “Knowing what type each unit is, their strengths and weaknesses helps me understand how they should be represented and how they should look like inside the game”, Suzanne says.
Built from vestiges
Before anything, Suzanne took some time to research the Romans, their way of life and their culture. “I went to the Gallo-Roman Museum and looked for any element that could inspire me for the first sketches”, she adds. Every faction has a color and a totem animal that represents them. It was obvious here to pick Red for power and the Wolf in reference to the Capitoline Wolf.
Suzanne also got inspiration from what we call the Lyon-Vaise Hoard which is a collection of Roman precious objects such as the bronze statues (below) to create the figurines’ bases. “In the future, we are definitely thinking about producing different bases depending on the rareness of the card”, Suzanne continues.
Although Vestiges: Fallen Tribes is a card game, it also conveys tabletop miniature wargame vibes where the players can pick any figurines and put them on the battlefield. On those early concepts you can definitely see that wooden corpses, gold accessories and touches of red fabric are the main components of the Illustrans. But you can also see that the first version of the Legionary was way too detailed.
“Those figurines need to actually look like they were handmade and respect measurement scales. You have to think about it this way: a human is creating and painting those figurines just like in Warhammer”, Suzanne adds. Once those cards are played and the units are on the battlefield the players will be able to wander around with the camera and get a closer look at their army. But as soon as they go back to a wider point of view they will notice that the figurines are quite small so the details don’t really show. The lines of led lights is a marker that the game is taking place in a near future where ancient meets modern.
Once this final concept was adopted by the whole team, they were taken to the 3D artists. Before being able to model the concepts, the 3D artists needed to know what position should the units appear in the game. Suzanne proposed a few drawings so they could start modeling. “Ultimately we would like to have at least 2 different poses for each unit (1 resting and 1 moving) but this will need a bit more time”, Suzanne says.
As we wrap up our exploration of the inspiration behind the Illustrans deck, it’s important to recognize that the creative team's vision is only the beginning. The developers are the next crucial step in bringing this deck to life within the game. Their expertise in coding, game mechanics, and user experience ensures that the Roman-inspired models integrate seamlessly into the gameplay. By translating the creative designs into interactive elements, the developers bridge the gap between imagination and reality, making the Illustrans deck a truly immersive and engaging experience for players.
Please note that there will be no update this week as our team focuses on refining the game for its next phase. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.
Join us now in the open beta of Vestiges: Fallen Tribes! This is your last chance to experience the game firsthand and help shape its future. We are particularly interested in your feedback on the types of effect cards you'd like to see added. Your input will be invaluable in enhancing the gameplay and making each match even more exciting. Share your ideas with us and become a part of our growing community.
There are a few ways to give us your feedback on the game :
Don't hesitate to wishlist the game in support:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511780/Vestiges_Fallen_Tribes/
Thank you for being a part of this exciting evolution, and we can't wait to see where the Closed Beta takes us!
