Knock-knock, travelers!
Another eventful workweek has flown by! In today's diary, we'll interview the head of our art department; tell you about the process of animating characters, and reveal some developments for your Steam accounts. Rest assured we have plenty of interesting content for you!
Mini-interview with the head of the art department
As you know, true magic happens behind the doors of our art department – our artists work tirelessly to make our game a visual delight for you, dear players. Today, we’ve prepared an interview with the person in charge of our team of artists. Enjoy the read!
How did you become an artist in game development? Were you inspired to choose this path by some childhood games, or were there other reasons?
I've been drawing since childhood and quite early on, I realized that I would connect my future work with drawing, design, and creativity in general. I couldn't see myself in any other professions. I also started getting into games at a young age, and I guess the combination of these factors led me into game development. I'm relatively new to the game development industry, and you could say I'm a budding little art lead who's working very hard.
What is your work process like?
It all starts with the project brief. We’re given tasks, usually by the game designers, and then I distribute these tasks among the artists. If needed, we clarify the brief, conduct research, and search for references; I also might provide some comments on the topic. Then the artists create rough sketches, we approve ideas and discuss them, and then they move on to the final drawings. If necessary, we cut them for subsequent animation. Of course, this is all accompanied by feedback and revisions. Something like that.
What was the most challenging task you’ve encountered while working on Knock? What task was easy and enjoyable to work on?
UI, it's very intimidating, very. Although I wouldn't say that there were extremely difficult tasks, they were more unusual, perhaps initially daunting because of their briefs, or their monotonous nature, for example making character images for videos. Drawing content for social media was easy and fun. For example, drawing comically long snouts for wolves for a YouTube short or a Christmas bow with bells for the game icon with a coffin, ha-ha-ha.
What do you like most about working on Knock?
I simply enjoy feeling like part of the team, taking on various tasks, and then watching how what I've done becomes a part of the project.
Name your three favorite games.
The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, Portal 2. I love games with a good storyline and charismatic characters.
And finally, what would you like to say to the players personally?
Eat well, get at least 7 hours of sleep, go out for some fresh air regularly, and play Knock!
Animating, animating, and animating some more
And now, let's get back to the summary of this week’s work, starting with animations.
Our animators put their hearts into breathing life into every character and creature in our game (and they do it exceptionally well!). Take a look at this hefty guy living in the swamp; he's always ready to engage in battle with you and drown you... in not the freshest of breath, so we recommend being cautious.
And also, a new character has appeared in our game! It's a tiny midge, but unfortunately (primarily for the midge itself), its role in our game is far from significant.
Even the main heroes of the story couldn’t overlook this wee little insect!
In our previous posts, we shared images of the mysterious priestess who appears in one of our unique events. Today, we have great news – thanks to the efforts of our animators, we present you brand new animations of this enigmatic lady.
Steam Survey
While we're experimenting with animation, loud war horn sounds are echoing in the Frontier... Recently, we asked you on our social media which dwarf animation you liked the most. Your responses were very quick, which made us very happy!
We listened to your comments, tweaked and improved the animation, and here it is the final version!
Thank you very much for participating in the survey; you’re genuinely helping us make our game better.
Backgrounds, frames, and avatars for our beloved players
But that's not all! Our artists have also been busy creating unique backgrounds, frames, and avatars for your Steam profiles. Each element is designed to be stylish and attractive, so that your profile looks fantastic! And now, we're ready to show you some of them.
That wraps up this week! We continue to work diligently in order to be fully prepared for the release of KOTCL. We’re fixing, repairing, and adding new features and content again and again, striving for perfection! We'd be delighted if you dropped by our Discord for a cup of tea! There, we share the latest news, discuss our current progress, and more.
Wishing you a great weekend! See you in the next diary
