Besides Maya (where I also create models) I use Zbrush (sometimes Mudbox) for detailed surfacing, Photoshop and Crazybump. If I ever one day go back to animating for movies or do some animated shorts, one thing is for sure: the days of waiting for images to render are over. I’ll keep on using Unity to do real-time rendering. Unless you work in photorealistic movie FX, nowadays a game engine is good enough to cover 90% of your rendering needs.

Visual Overkill in Unity 5

The game uses PBR and for the sets it relies heavily on tessellation. This means that a lot of the models in-game are rather crude and simple. Since I know what tessellation will get me, I only do the minimum in terms of mesh topology. It also helps that I’m after a very organic, analog look; I’m not shooting for an incredibly slick and clean style. Again, my goal is for the sets to feel like a movie set. Except those sets are quite interactive of course.

Simple models and complex materials work best for a visually stunning game.

Beyond this the use of camera effects and filters is what gives the game its distinct look. Using post-effects components on the camera allows me to effectively become a director of photography on the game; without those passes to “sculpt” the image the look would be flat and gray.

Visual Design Influences

You can definitely see that Dark Souls vibe.

I think the visual influences for the game are clear: the old Disney movies, The Secret of NIMH, The Dark Crystal, the illustrations of Alan Lee and John Howe, etc. I believe the most important thing before you start to visually design your game, is doing your homework and research. You need to know exactly what you want to achieve. Anyone is capable of making some neat visual piece, but it needs to make sense with the rest of the game’s world. The artistic direction needs to be coherent.

With Ghost of a Tale everything happens in one place; Dwindling Heights. It’s an old keep that’s used nowadays as a prison and is located on a cliff overlooking Lake Vaelia. There are zones, both outdoors in indoors, different areas which bring quite a bit of variety but everything needs to make sense spatially. All the zones lead into each-other if you know how to open shortcuts (that’s something I really liked in Dark Souls). The feeling will be one of a coherent place; not arbitrary “levels”. I’ve also paid a lot of attention to the blending of vegetation and architecture; the idea is that this is a very old place which has seen better days.

And that involves creating the history for the place. Knowing why this location is here, why that part has fallen into disrepair, etc… That’s what makes it all so exciting. As a player you’ll (hopefully) get the sense that you’re exploring a real place. Also, Paul has a formal education as an architect, so he always tells me if I do something that doesn’t make sense!

Figuring out the Mechanics

The lighting makes the whole game really stand out.

Well it appeared pretty soon that it would be more interesting for the game to explore the particularities of its animal protagonist rather than trying to be purely a fighting game. That was very obvious during the Indiegogo campaign; a lot of backers reacted to the fact Tilo is a short character and physically no match for stronger opponents (the Rats are towering over him). And since I’m kind of a pacifist at heart (although I have absolutely nothing against violent games) I thought that it would be more challenging to develop a game where the hero cannot kill his enemies. And boy, was I in for a treat!

This way the dialogue trees look in engine.

In terms of game mechanics Paul’s help is invaluable; he’s a professional game designer. And it’s only through exchanges and communication with him that the best ideas flourish. During Gamescom last year we showed the game for the first time and it was an amazing experience. We got great feedback from the players and were happy to see that we were not that far off actually. So that was immensely encouraging.

In terms of implementing game mechanics we talk a lot and Paul and I (and even Cyrille sometimes weights in) and once I’m convinced something can work then I’ll go back and develop the feature. It’s a very exciting process to mentally visualize something and then make it happen. Paul and I have a lot of professional experience between the two of us (and Cyrille is an avid gamer in his own right) and I’m happy to say so far I haven’t spent much time developing stuff that we end up not using.

A Bigger World for a Smaller Character

The levels are way too big for the mouse, but this makes the whole game mechanic tick.

Dwindling Heights is a keep that is manned by Rats which are almost twice as tall as Mice. That was a point I wanted to explore; to have the main character move throughout a world that is not made to his size. It leads to a couple of interesting puzzle-like situations where the player needs to compensate for Tilo’s height.