We are so thrilled to lastly launch Shoulders of Giants! Since we simply launched, the entire workforce right here at Moving Pieces are all feeling fairly reflective (in addition to barely terrified/excited in equal measures!), so I believed it is likely to be good to share a couple of ideas on a facet of the recreation that we’re significantly proud of: its stylized visible graphics. I believed it is likely to be good to take this chance to speak about our inspirations behind the look of the recreation.
While it’s superb to see how far photorealistic graphics will be pushed with the newest Xbox {hardware}, what actually excited us was creating one thing that mixed the newest graphics applied sciences like bodily based mostly rendering with a extra stylized shading method like cel shading. This was the foundation behind our technical and aesthetic method to the visuals for Shoulders of Giants.
We began by experimenting with what this may appear like by taking early idea artwork and making primary worlds with none gameplay. Initially we went additional into extra of a conventional cel shaded look, however discovered that after we blended some photoreal rendering strategies with that’s the place good particulars actually began to shine.
In phrases of setting, we knew that we wished the recreation to happen in a sci-fi universe, which meant having a cosmic skybox full of planets, stars and swirly clouds. We had been closely impressed by the fashion of sci-fi artwork from the Seventies and cherished the way it typically contained big planets in the background to assist maintain the horizon fascinating.
The primary story of the recreation is that the darkish and chilly forces of Entropy have taken over the Universe, and it’s the gamers’ job to revive life and steadiness. One of the recreation’s fundamental NPCs is an all-highly effective Owl from an historical order, and lots of of the ranges and props discovered all through the recreation are impressed by that of historical civilizations, like Ancient Egypt and Greece.
We imagined ranges with deserted ruins from an historical order scattered all through ranges that the participant might discover. This was a fundamental inspiration behind the look of the ranges and their structure.
Some of the props and ranges of the recreation additionally take inspiration from surrealist work, significantly in the final act of the recreation. We thought of rumbling clouds, and stairs going off into the horizon.
Taking benefit of a stylized look, we put emphasis on utilizing colour to inform the story of Shoulders of Giants. One of the greatest themes in the recreation is darkish versus mild.
The participant begins each degree off with the world coated in darkness and as you progress and ultimately beat the degree, you restore it with life and lightweight.
Making the “light” model of our landscapes pop with colour was easy, however making the chilly, darkish variations of these alien worlds sing with colour was not trivial. Our artwork director and I spent days pouring over palettes, and ultimately determined we needed to re-consider what “dark” actually meant. We determined to lean extra into darkness as an idea of chilly, or lack of life.
Eventually we discovered colours and lighting combos that also seemed vibrant and eye-catching, however nonetheless allowed us to specific our themes. We created sandy deserts, white fields of snow, and caustic acid worlds glowing with inexperienced.
We can’t look ahead to gamers to hop into the world we created!
For extra info, take a look at the recreation’s retailer web page and official web site, or be part of our discord.
Shoulders of Giants
Moving Pieces Interactive
Simultaneously management a sword-wielding robotic and a gunslinging area frog in Shoulders of Giants, an explosively colourful sci-fi roguelike. Play alone, with a buddy, or as half of a 4-particular person workforce, reducing by way of waves of enemies on a quest to rescue the galaxy!
The forces of Entropy are spreading chaos by way of the stars, corrupting residing planets and urging on the warmth dying of the universe. Led by the psychic Owl, one scrappy workforce of area survivors are preventing to revive the steadiness. A mysterious mech! A sharpshooting amphibian! Together they need to minimize by way of waves of enemies and restore mild and life to the galaxy!
Pre-order the recreation for entry to restricted-version dye units with particular visible results. Dazzle your pals!
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