Hello!

It’s me again. The last few Dark Void blog posts from Dark Void Associate Producer Shana focused on some of the characters that populate the world of Dark Void. I figured I’d step in and talk a little bit about the environments.
We often have talked about the visual variety that exists in the landscape of the Void. The concept art in this blog should help give you a sense of what we mean. Also, in the future I’m going to show you the actual in-game areas depicted in these concept images, and we can talk about the iterative process of going from the page (or in this case, the page, Photoshop, etc.) to the screen, at least how we do it on Dark Void.

Obviously some context to the images helps, but I’d hate to spoil the story too much. So, I’m going to try to clue you in to what you are looking at without blowing too much of the plot of the game. No doubt, since we both know you’re sharp, you’ll be able to piece together some plot points, just don’t brag about it too much.

We have focused hard on making the Void a dynamic place, where one could go from lush jungle, to alien canyons floating in air, to high-tech super glossy alien architecture, to vertigo inducing heights, etc. We want the art palette to change and evolve with your progress through the narrative, in some ways serving as the visual backdrop for important plot points. So as you move through the game, expect a constantly changing backdrop to the combat carnage you unleash from the skies….

Now to some pics…




 

Early in the game, before entering the Void, Will has to take off from somewhere right. Well, that place is Nassau. Although it generally looks like a paradise (check Google..trust me), Will needs to take off in the middle of storm that is dangerously threatening to become a full fledge hurricane.  If you’ve been following Dark Void, you can guess where Will flies to…if you haven’t…then you really need to Google Nassau… it will all make sense




 
Tough one to explain here, let’s just say that humanity has many factions in the Void, and this particular faction just felt the wrath of the Watchers…thanks to you…kinda….sorta….well….you’ll see……


 
Next to Will’s jetpack, the ark represents Tesla’s crowning achievement, and the biggest hope the people trapped in the void have of ever returning to earth. Here we see it tethered at a dock. Although the base looks rusty and like it has been there  a long time, it’s good to remember that the humans in the void get by on scrap metal and found objects that make their way through into the void , as such, all of the human resistance architecture has a very hodge podge feel to it.


 

Ah the ark in all its glory, presumably setting a course for home...


 

Outside shot of a Watcher detainment facility. 



 
And a look inside, trust me, I’m sure you’ll get very familiar this architecture. We have been shooting for a very clean, shiny, almost medical look to how the Watchers build their habitats.


 
And as you can see, not every element is purely visual, here you can see how we work gameplay into our concept drawings, and eventually into the game..



So that’s a brief look at some of the places you’ll see during your stay in the void. As I said, when I come back, we’ll be looking at the transition from concept, to in-game with some actual screenshots, perhaps, if you guys are into it, and let us know, we can return with a video or two, and really show off more of the world. What do you think?




Thanks, Morgan

 

 

  

Hey everyone,

 

First off, thanks again for your feedback and comments the first, of no doubt many, AI related blogs.

 

So what has been going on lately with Dark Void….what haven't we been up to?!?!

 

The team has been working hard on getting our levels locked down and into the art pipeline. This has been a super collaborative effort between the design team, art team, team leads, etc. At some point we’ll do a full blog or two on our level design philosophy, but I’ll share a small smidge right now.

 

Everyone following Dark Void by now has seen the gameplay footage that came out during the E3 time frame. Although we’re very proud of our demo for E3, that’s just what it was, a demo. As such, we made a very structured flow, with a deliberate pace to show off each and every one of our mechanics, one after another.

 

For those that missed it, it went like this. (Now with animals!)

 

Shoot enemies on the ground

 

 

 

Hovering Death from Above

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoot enemies on the ground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vertical Combat Awesomeness

 

 

Shoot enemies on the ground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jetpack dogfight Awesomeness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UFO Skyjack

 

 

 

Sneak Peak Archon boss fight

 

 

 

These images made funnier if you know the demo…check out the video online

 

www.gametrailers.com/game...

 

 

 

Ok, so the demo was cooler than that flow makes it seem, way cooler, but not as cool as if we had made it using animals as our characters (can you tell its Friday?).

 

All in all, I felt the demo did a great job at hitting our goals. But being structured such as it was, I think it gave the false impression that our game was going to be a very linear progression of those gameplay elements through our level flows.

 

Very far from the truth!

 

Now, we are by no means an open world game, but that demo flow is far from what we consider the ideal way to celebrate having a very cool character, with an extremely cool jet pack, kick ass and take names in the Void.

 

The jetpack really provides a lot of player freedom, as such, making sure our levels support that freedom is crucial. Making sure we are creating an experience that can cater to those that like to run and gun,  cover users, people who take to the skies to rain death from above, and those that love it all, well…that is the real trick, isn’t it. I think we’re getting closer to the goal though.

 

Right now, after taking  a bit of time to let Will get settled into The Void, it’s not too long before we put the player in the driver’s seat and let them try out their favorite tactics (as for myself, I am partial to “Death from Above”

 

Hey, while we’re on the topic of levels, and to help put to rest some of the things I’ve read about D/V being nothing but Grey’s and Brown’s on the color spectrum (somewhere there is an alien joke in that last sentence, I just can’t find it). Here is a concept piece from one of the level’s we’ve been working on lately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you like it! Feel free to ask some questions about what you are looking at in the comments sections, I’ll share what I can (apologies ahead of time for cryptic answers).

 

 

 - Morgan