BIG WORLD
After Jack Emmert's portion of the day, Lead artist and Champions artistic director Shayne Herrera took over. We were treated to a look behind the scenes of the artistry involved in Champions Online.
Herrera outlined the artistic scope for Champions Online. Herrera's vision, he indicated, is to create a vivid, clean, vibrant style that gives players a sense of, to quote, "bad assery". He seems to have a good handle on that angle. Here's how Herrera and his team have gotten there:
" To reach the goal of bringing a comic book world to life, textures are flat with a 2D feel, comic shading.
" Things are outlined to give them more of a 'comic' edge.
" Artists use color wheels to keep things consistent.
" Environments are subdued. Characters have more brightness with powers having the most vibrant coloring.
" Powers stand out vividly.
" Currently thirteen sets of powers are finished
" Artists strive to bring 'mood' to the game with the world's time of day changing, sky variations, bloom and screen effects.
" Characters have powerful proportions with small heads, big shoulders, feet and hands. Herrera said that the animation style is a hybrid between anime and western comic art.
One of the most exciting things that Herrera revealed is the nearly total character customization that players will have at their fingertips. Costume changes will show up immediately. Variables such as height, weight, mass, muscle mass, shoes, hands, etc. will all be customized to a player's idea of what their character should look like. Additionally, players will be able to customize certain non-combat stances (idle, jump, run, etc.) on order to give their characters personality.
Another terrific looking feature Herrera spotlighted was the full facial animations of characters. "Toons" have sad, angry, silly expressions among others and those are customizable as well. The player will have nearly total control of their character's individual look.
Herrera then spent time talking about the world in general. The style is designed to be massive and over the top. A comic book look is definitely an artistic goal.
When exploring any given area of the world, there is always a central point (such as a building, statue, mountain, etc.) visible from anywhere in that area. Players then have a frame of reference to help navigate the area. Within that zone, there are constant surprises and much to explore. Points of interest are available everywhere and finding enough will yield a reward in the long run.
Herrera's world is shaping up to be exactly what he and his team envision. It is huge, varied, interesting and "bad ass".
BIG VISION
The last of the day's speakers was community manager Victor "Sporkfire" Wachter. Wachter has a challenging job but one that he is ready and willing to engage head on. Here are the goals of the community relations team for the fans:
" Teach the community about Champions Online and engage them in its development.
" Spotlight fans and guilds.
" Provide tools and toys to the community.
" Provide guild management tools.
" Allow players to show off their characters with signatures, badges, etc.
" Open communication between developers and the fans.
" Consistent and open communication with the community.
" Meeting with the community for feedback.
In addition to all that Wachter's team wants to accomplish for the fans, he has equally challenging and rewarding things in store for the Cryptic team as well. The regular "Meet the Team" developer spotlight features are a good example of what he has in mind.
The Cryptic vision is a huge one that involves a constantly changing world, publication of printed tabletop campaigns that 'dovetail' with the online world, the republication of tabletop source material, action figures, novelization, hosted custom content - in short, a laudable and long list of goals that seem within reach of this team.
Cryptic has dreamed big, created a big world and has a big vision for the future. The studio wants, maybe even needs, to be all things to their fans. It will remain to be seen next year how close they come to succeeding. For this writer's money, they will.
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