In this article, we will detail our artistic approach regarding the environment that players will discover in Ragnaröck. It’s our art director for the Ragnaröck project, Suzanne, who talks about it best. First of all, let's take a quick look at her daily work :
Low Poly: an assumed graphic style
We decided to work on a style called “Low Poly”, both raw and pleasant, which we could, by shortcut, associate with a “cartoon” style.
This style is accessible and inviting. It insists on the “all ages” and playful side. It also allows you to distance yourself from reality. The representation is minimalist and simplified as much as possible, which helps bring clarity to the reading of a scene.
Thematic coherence and artistic impact
In Ragnaröck, we are situated in the Nordic and mythological universe, and we want players to be able to make this universe their own.
The evolution of the scenery as the game progresses tells an epic story. Several mythological elements are thus embedded in the first map of the game, such as gigantic monster skeletons, or Yggdrasil, the tree of nine worlds. The more the players fight to improve their score, the more they advance, and the more they reveal the universe.
In this first map, the blue and purple colors were chosen to refer to the land of the cold, Niflheim. In contrast, the houses and everything that refers to the Viking world have warm colors: orange, red, brown (complementary color to blue).
Our way of working
The key concept is to set the general mood and the colors, and give the general direction to take.
Here, for example, we want players to start from a familiar landscape: the Viking village lost in a fjord, dominated by an austere environment. Subsequently, players discover several atmospheres, dominated by different luminosities.
Further work
We work on many elements of the game with this careful methodology, in order to respect a graphic and thematic consistency. Today we broached the subject of the environment, but we can also mention the characters, objects, gameplay elements… All these elements are currently being worked on, and will be visible when the game is released in Early Access, very soon.
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See you soon for more news on Ragnaröck ! :beer: