HEX Update – Frost Ring Battle

Hi HEXers! Today’s update features Tyler James, our art director taking us through a quick trip of the last two years of HEX art!

The Artist’s Touch

Hey Hexers, Tyler James here, Art Director on Hex. Today I wanted to go over some of the progress we’ve made with the artwork in Hex since the beginning of the Kickstarter and share with you some things on the horizon.

It’s been a really exciting and unique challenge bringing to life a fantasy world in a digital TCG form factor. One of the greatest strengths of the format is the ability to feature so many amazingly talented and unique fantasy illustrators. Each time we work with a new artist we have the privilege of adding their bit of special magic to our universe. Their paintings, these two dimensional artworks, are capable of telling such a rich story yet how do we take advantage of the digital nature of Hex to amplify that magic and make the experience even more immersive? Well I think we have found some amazing ways to do just that and I’m really excited for the future of Hex. Let’s take a look back at where it all started…

We first established the basic look and feel of each race with style guides, a collection of concept artwork covering all the important details. When building a fantasy universe it is extremely important to maintain consistency. These guides help to inform all the various artists of the key points to hit. When we get the artwork in we review it against our style guides and check it against the lore and design specs to make sure it is communicating everything as clearly as possible. Since players are typically very engaged in the actual card gameplay, the world and its narrative should be so obvious that it soaks in through osmosis while you’re playing. We are always striving for that.

Another extremely important aspect of card artwork is its readability at the size players typically see it at; pretty small. Any good illustrator will tell you, a painting should have impact even from a distance and Hex really drives this point home.

I feel really great about how our card art has progressed. As we work with more and more amazing artists from around the world our talent pool grows and we are able to pair artists with the things they love to paint. Here are a few artists we’ve brought on recently and we are so glad to have them in our roster!

As we move forward we are thinking of ways to make these images come to life even more. We have plans for special cards to feature artwork with animated layers and particle effects similar to how we approach our PVE environments. Speaking of which, let’s talk about PVE.

I’m sure everyone is as excited as I am for the launch of our first PVE experience the Frost Ring Arena. With PVE come so many new challenges visually for Hex. We have to consider what aspects of the game we can customize to provide the most engaging experience as you step through different environments and encounters. With the Frost Ring we want you to feel like you have truly stepped into the freezing wastelands of the Hyperborean Mountains and into the realm of Hogarth the crazed frost wizard. What better way to do that than change the battle board itself.

Justin Eslinger our technical artist has done a great job taking the texture work I created for the board and infusing it with next generation shader magic. Add in some snow particles and icy mist and you’ll be feeling the need for that hot cup of cocoa while you’re battling your way through the arena. The play area is a space where we can really take advantage of the whole screen to immerse you in the encounter and it’s something we plan to do in PVE on many different occasions.

Last but not least, I’m also really excited for players to visit Entrath and all its glorious locations. Clearly the globe needed an update and I’m happy to say things are progressing well… Happy Hexing friends.

-Tyler

HEX Raid Stream

The community is raiding our offices and they’re taking over! If you’re not attending HEX Raid 2015, you virtually join through the Twitch stream on Wednesday, January 21st from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM Pacific on the official HEX Twitch channel. Let Cirouss and Alucard tell you about everything that’s happening, draft with them, and more!

HEXTechs.TV Open

A reminder that the Open: Oberon will happen tomorrow, Saturday January 17th. It’s a community run tournament with platinum prizes and open points for future events. For more information on how to register and the rules, check out the forum thread.

Please leave any questions or comments in the forums, and don’t forget to Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitch, and register on our forums.

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