I’m asking a few artists to come up with concept sketches. Here are the goals:
- Look cool (this is a fantasy game)
- Look distinctive (ideally you can tell from a screen shot that it’s Six Ages)
- Support the story (players need to identify who is who from the picture, so different groups need to be recognizable)
- Look realistic (it should feel like these are real people living real lives; many fantasy art staples like chainmail bikinis wouldn’t work)
- Not just a transplanted Earth culture (it’s totally fine to draw on Scythians or Hittites, but if so that should only be one element of the design)
- Fit the setting (Six Ages is set in Glorantha, and needs to be compatible with the license)
- Be acceptable in the iOS App Store (the Minoans had no problems with an open bodice, but Apple would. Guide to Glorantha doesn’t have the same restrictions, and can portray people living in warm climates wearing appropriate lack of clothing.)
To help my own imagination, and to provide reference as needed, I ordered a bunch of Osprey books. They tend to be a bit military-focused, but have great reconstructions with lots of detail. The books cover the time period of 5000 BC-1500 AD, so we can definitely mix & match as needed.
Many of these books came out since we did King of Dragon Pass, which had its own collection of Osprey references (which I’ve also dug back into).
It’s too bad the Tessloff books aren’t easy to get in the USA, So lebten sie zur Zeit der Wikinger was a great reference for daily life (we used it for King of Dragon Pass), and I suspect they have others that would be helpful.
For that matter, am I missing any other Iron Age or Bronze Age visual references?
P.S. I ended up ordering a few more references. The Mayas book (which is not an Osprey) may actually have the same content as a Tessloff edition.
You mention the iOS App Store. Will Six Ages be solely on mobile devices, or will it have a PC version like the original KoDP?
ReplyDeleteThere are content rating schemes everywhere, Apple’s is the one I have the most familiarity with these days.
DeleteInteresting references! I'm starting to guess what gloranthan cultures are going to be pictured
ReplyDeleteGuess away! (Remember we had a bunch of art reference books already.)
DeleteWow, nice, wide collection of references. I'd also reccommend Wodens Warriors by P Mortimer.
ReplyDelete... for it's open work helmets if nothing else :D
DeleteThanks. US $86 is a bit steep, unfortunately. I’ll keep my eyes open.
DeletePlease tell me there's going to be an option to play as the Lunars and feed people to the bat.
ReplyDeleteHello Will we be able to begin as a humble empire to a kingdom? The armies will have much importance? and can we play as the elder races? sorry for bad english the best of luck
ReplyDeleteNot wishing to risk double posting, I would like to succinctly recommend some materials for your project. Most of them are from Usborne and have a focus on a younger audience, however you might still find them to be of some use to you.
ReplyDelete1. Mysteries and Marvels of Nature: explores little known facts about animals and nature
2. Usborne's Book of Knowledge; five books in one, from machines to people, to world history
3. Usborne's Time Traveller; a kid travels to four or five different periods of time learning about the ways of the people in each epoch
4. Usborne's Book of World History: "explores first civilisations to the early 20th century, in short visual chapters."
I would like to also mention that Dover Publications has a line of coloring books covering major empires, events, life, culture, and people in world history ranging from Ancient Egypt to farm life in the United States. That's not all though because each book has text in it which thoroughly explains the goings on of that time period. Also, depending on what kind of book you get, you can also construct, or cut out people, buildings, and articles of clothing and recreate the related time period (the book on Celtic fashion I especially remember reconstructing.)
So that's about it. If you would like any more suggestions, I'll be around. I'm really excited about Six Ages and am eagerly looking forward to playing it.
Somehow your comment was flagged for moderation but I never noticed it. And didn’t get the same notifications that I got for others. I will have to check those out, I don’t think I have any of them.
DeleteMaybe is too late to tell you this, but as a hobby look at Viktor Vasnetsov paintings and other "romantic" russian painters of the XIX century, they're amazing for this kind of historical art.
ReplyDelete