Designing the weapons in the Alder Forge is not a one-stop process that comes after the character design but an ongoing active one, the reason for that is populating the weapons throughout the world and the Players' ability to acquire them, and each weapon should not only differ by stats and perhaps skills but also by the design itself, and without further ado let us begin with the first step of the weapons design process.
Image subject: Design sheet of the Silver Blades.
Some weapons may not require this process if they are solely nonrealistic, but the majority are influenced by real-life historical weapons (Swords, axes, etc ..) or contemporary weapons (Guns, muskets, canons, etc...).
The mood board research always takes me to gather imagery of museums displays, blacksmiths, or historical documentaries to gather as much information as I can, not only to be faithful to the historical design but at least to have a base that respects the function and name of the said weapon.
Image subject: Orvysian Cinquedea Mood Board.
The production pipeline for all the weapons is the same as the prop design you saw in Devlog #1 (Environment Design), but with the addition of a pre-process that requires sketching the base shapes, 3d modeling on top of the produced shapes, then starting with the open 3d/sculpting workshop as showcased in the example below.
Video subject: Orvysian Cinquedea and the Silver Blade Design Showcase
All the weapons categories might have the same production pipeline but they completely differ in art direction and the way they are basically produced. In the Alder Forge, the categories are split into 4 plus other categories that are produced solely for certain mobs, bosses, or important NPCs as showcased below.
Image subject: Main Characters/Party Weapon Categories
Image subject: Mob, Bosses & NPCs Categories
Video subject: Bows, Axes and Staves Design Showcase
Video subject: Guns and Rifles Design Showcase
Air Stormers Definition in the game: The Air Stormers are vessels that run on Anima without an engine, but they use a volatile reaction that happens within the core of each vessel which makes them different than Air Ships in the world of the Alder Forge, but also makes them more powerful and produced solely for warfare reasons, unlike the Airships in the game which are produced for slow travel, here is an example of the design and in Engine assembly of one of the Equilibrium Air Stormers "The Lambrador".
Video subject: Air Stormer Design and In Engine Assembly
Image subject: Side by side artwork of both the Silver Blades and the Sixth Gauntlet
The weapons design process was established at the beginning of the Alder Forge production and is symmetrically produced alongside the combat design, skill design but also the progression of the story, each map completed requires me to design the weapons related to the culture of that area, habits, and history.
And similar to the Character Design, the Weapons Design is also heavily influenced by the story and characters that will wield or operate such weapons.
In the upcoming Devlogs we will dive into each of the remaining subjects:
- Music and Scoring
- Lighting, Shading & Optimization
Thank you for your continued support and appreciation for the latest devlogs and I will continue showcasing behind the curtain details of the development of this world and story.
Kind Regards,
Zine. E. Falouti