Their art style has always been an essential part of the identity of Amplitude games, and we have received a lot of praise for it in our previous games, but since Endless Dungeon is such a different game than our 4X strategy titles, we are also aiming for a different style this time. And we’re not going to lie, the art style of Endless Dungeon has been a divisive topic for some players, especially among fans of the pixel-art style of our previous roguelite Dungeon of the Endless, so we wanted to talk about some of the decisions that went into this style.
It’s important to note that despite the similarity in name and core ideas, we want Endless Dungeon to stand on its own as a unique, fresh take on the roguelite and tower defense elements we explored before with new gameplay, a new location, new story, and a whole new cast of colorful characters!
Presenting these characters during gameplay was among the biggest challenges of developing the art style for Endless Dungeon: We need key gameplay elements like heroes, turrets, and enemies to stand out, without diminishing the rich detail of the environments you explore or taking away from the style of our heroes. To meet all of these different goals, we settled on a colorful, dynamic style for the characters and action and even the visual effects, inspired by comic books and animated movies. Boom! Problem solved.
Concept art for Blaze
Light and darkness were crucial elements of Dungeon of the Endless, and we wanted to preserve this legacy of the distant ancestor of Endless Dungeon. At first, we experimented with sparse lighting that created long, deep, and sharply defined shadows. While this was great for the game’s atmosphere, we realized that in the procedurally generated levels, this could create areas that were simply too dark to play in or even see anything... And we sure don’t want our heroes to be eaten by a grue, so we added some ambient lighting to help you see the action while keeping the strong shadows.
The color of lighting is also crucial to the mood and atmosphere of a scene. Depending on how it is lit, a room could feel safe, ominous, or openly dangerous. While you are exploring and preparing, the dungeon will be lit with a mixture of warm and cool colors, but at critical moments, some rooms may become darker to feel more threatening, while the rest of the dungeon is bathed in red emergency lighting, heightening the tension of your fights.
Mood concept art
Endless Dungeon also gives us an opportunity to explore the Endless universe in ways we never could before, as we are much closer to the action! Of course, a dozen questions immediately pop into our head: How did the Endless live and work here? What about their language and writing? And how did they pass the time on this lost-damned station lightyears from everything else without a saloon? Well, we’re not going to spell out the answers, but you might notice some clues in the environment.
When stuck deep in the dungeon, you’d be forgiven for forgetting you are also stuck in deep space...
That’s all we have to share for today, but if you are eager to try the game yourself, head over to the sign-up form (a free Games2Gether account is required), and you may have a chance to play soon!