Hey everyone!
First of all, I wanted to thank you for all the support that you’ve given Dead Season so far. It’s been overwhelming to receive so much praise & excitement about my game and I’m excited to show you what’s in store.
Moving forward, I'd like to use these blogs to offer you all a glimpse into the development process behind Dead Season and how I created and integrated various mechanics and features. To start, I want to delve into the creation of Dead Season’s motion comic cutscenes!
How I make the cutscenes in Dead Season
I usually start my cutscene creation process with a script that outlines the story and dialogue. Once the script is finalized, the next step is to create the artwork for each comic panel.
I usually achieve this by painting over 3D renders, a practice that has become standard in many art production pipelines. I start with a computer-generated 3D model or scene created using software like Blender, Maya, or 3DS Max that serves as the foundation for the final artwork. 3D assets help with establishing perspective, scale, lighting, as well as other technical details. That way, the artist doesn't have to worry too much about the basic technical stuff and can focus more on design and storytelling.
Drawing
After the 3D scene is rendered, I start painting over it, refining the details of the image, adding texture and other visual elements to achieve the desired look:
Final Touches
Once the overpainting is complete and I'm happy with the result, I make final adjustments, such as color grading and a few final details:
Animation
After the comic panels are finished and imported into the game engine, I start to animate elements of the artwork to bring the comic to life. This includes adding movement to characters and backgrounds, creating transitions between panels, etc.
Sound design
Sound adds an important layer to motion comics, helping to enhance the immersion and atmosphere. This step includes adding sound effects, music and ambient noise, and syncing them with the animation to create a cohesive audiovisual experience.
Post-Editing
Once all the elements are in place, the cutscene goes through a post-editing phase where I try to refine the timing, pacing, and flow of the motion comic, which results in the final cutscene below!
And that’s about it for today’s dev blog! I hope you enjoyed this short deep dive into the process behind one of the main storytelling elements in the game! Let me know if you’d like to see more of these in the future. I’m making steady progress on Dead Season, and I’m eager to share more of the game with you soon!
Again, thank you for your support and enthusiasm,
Pavel
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2666550/Dead_Season/
