Campaign art - The Rise of Wesnoth

[LordBob]

couldn't the great lich just be the guy in the throne on the top, and everything else his "mount" ?

Could be. But this is too great a leap compared to the existing sprite (and the "lich" concept at large), so I'd rather have a word from the powers that be before I undertake any such work.
In the meantime, another attempt. This one might be closer to what we're looking for, but once again I'd rather have a word from someone who's at ease with the background of wesnoth undeads and liches.

Note that this latest concept would work very well with a "neutral" alternate where the lich keeps its cloak to itself, giving the illusion of a humanoid. Its true form would only be revealed in situations of combat, threat, ...

[thespaceinvader]

And we have a winrar =D

[Kymille]

Just wanted to stop lurking for a moment to say I love the new portraits for my favorite campaign. Thanks!

The last lich seems like a good choice for Jeyvan. The more unusual ones would be good for future campaigns.

[Sapient]

Wow that is wicked awesome. I just can't figure out what is that dark blob inside his ribcage supposed to be.

[Fog]

It's a jar of eyes!

[LordBob]

A jar of eyes it is indeed.
So we have a deal, I'll make this little guy into mean old Jevyan.


I'll be on a three week leave starting tomorrow, so don't expect any updates soon. However, I'll have my laptop at hand, which means there ought to be a couple of new images once I return.

[zookeeper]

Ok, I wasn't sure you were proposing that for Jevyan...

If there's a problem, it's the fact that he's floating around without legs. Maybe it's not a problem, but he'll pretty much need custom sprites to go with this eventually.

[thespaceinvader]

A default Ancient Lich using a naga tail instead of human legs could be fun actually - especially if her were floating under his own power.

[kitty]

Really really cool stuff for the liches/Jevyan! I especially like how non-humanoid parts are combined into the creature - can't wait to see the last one shaded!
I just hope that the eyeball-staff won't look too cheesy in the end, but changing that afterwards shouldn't be a problem.
For the sprite question - is the basic lich sprite not in for a completely new version anyways? We shouldn't worry for now if this fits the current depiction if it is going to change in the one ore the other direction in any case.


Haldric's expression variants are also a lot of fun!

I''m not so much of a fan of how Edmond turned out. The stretched out hand's thumb connects akwardly. It is also very bright considering the staff as the main lightsource. And the light effect around the staff's top is very photoshop-y, just a random soft brush... I'd like to see more of an effect. And lastly the extreme embroidery still looks rather plastic-y, perhaps real embroidery looks like that but I can't shake the impression that something doesn't fit here.

[thespaceinvader]

The basic Ancient Lich is, not the regular one. Hence being a bit freer with the designs.

[kitty]

Ah - thanks for the info, I thought both were under revision.
But for LordBob's Jevyan sketch we could still say that the pelvis would be attached very, very low to an excessively long spine

[LordBob]

I'll see what I can come up with regarding Edmond. Topped with the newspaper feeling ( ), the embroidery of his scarf really isn't working. I was thinking silver thread, hence the metallic feel, but I might just as well drop it, after all he's more country priest than archbishop.
There's more to the lighting than a mere soft brush, but on a near-white background it's hardly noticeable. Might do something about it, though.


As for Jevyan, I'd really like to see that sprite with the lower half of a naga. It's more or less what I had in mind when designing that huge backbone.

[LordBob]

Back from my holiday. As foretold, I wasn't completely idle. Didn't come up with as many portraits as I'd have liked, but there's still some new stuff for you. Here goes.

Also, I've been working on different concepts for story art. I won't post them yet as they're quite raw at the moment, but in that respect I'd like a list of what's required. Based on the existing, I've already identified :

- Title screen.
- The fall of king Eldaric.
- The prince finds Wesnoth
- Rough landing (??? I don't remember which part of the campaign it illustrates)
- Random Story Art showing riders (same)

Precisions are welcome regarding the last two. Additionnal story art can be created on demand.

Style-wise, I'd like our story art to feel as if the player was learning about wesnothian history through records of the past ; in that respect, I had several options in mind :
- Fresco on a cracked wall or canvas, such as would be found in the great halls of the royal castle, telling the history of the royal dynasty
- Illuminated miniatures with gold leaf such as can be found in codexes, similar to what I'd begun working on for UtBS.
- Stone carvings
- Stained glass windows

This might even allow the introduction of humorous/ironic differences between what the player actually experiences in the course of the scenario and how history tells it.

[thespaceinvader]

More wounds and damage, and maybe more blood and dirt on his tabard that has cleaned and faded in the second one. This is a great idea though =)

[zookeeper]

Back from my holiday. As foretold, I wasn't completely idle. Didn't come up with as many portraits as I'd have liked, but there's still some new stuff for you. Here goes.

Looks good, nothing much to critique. The shading of the metal of Haldric's blade looks kinda flat though. It's also a perfectly good idea to have that kind of slight variation to Aethyr between his first appearance and when he returns near the end of the campaign. However, considering that on his return he says that "One of my men conked me on the head, then I woke up at sea" maybe you'll want to add a dent to his helmet?

Also, I've been working on different concepts for story art. I won't post them yet as they're quite raw at the moment, but in that respect I'd like a list of what's required. Based on the existing, I've already identified :

- Title screen.
- The fall of king Eldaric.
- The prince finds Wesnoth
- Rough landing (??? I don't remember which part of the campaign it illustrates)
- Random Story Art showing riders (same)

Precisions are welcome regarding the last two. Additionnal story art can be created on demand.

Ok, let's see...

The intro can house as many images as you want - almost every part of the story screen could have a different image. I don't think the current intro images (prince_finds_wesnoth.png and story1.png) are in any way the most important ones to have, so it's largely up to what scenes you as the artist want the intro to show. I'd suggest something like this:

One image for this bit:
"We were prosperous, strong, and numerous. We lived in a rich land with many kings. Then they came, the Wesfolk. They were a wicked, brutal, and dirty lot."
"They were the vanquished refugees of some war, fleeing from their homes in a land even farther off into the west. The Wesfolk were not numerous, but they used dark magic, commanding vengeful spirits and legions of walking dead..."
"After a time of great struggle, a peace was reached. We came to dominate most of the Isle, with the Wesfolk pushed onto the most marginal of lands. In confronting their vile legions, we grew strong. Indeed, it was from this war we gleaned our first shards of knowledge about magic."

Then another image for this:
"You must recall that the route from the western continent to our Green Isle was perilous at the best of times — so perilous that a stable trading relationship between the mainland and the Isle could never be maintained."
"Things were worse still when sailing to the east. A strong, cold ocean current swept down from the north in the Eastern Ocean, pushing all ships horribly off course. Ships that traveled east and returned reported nothing but open ocean and vile sea monsters..."
"Over time our skills as navigators grew. Then, one day, the strong-hearted Crown Prince of Southbay returned home from a long voyage with a fabulous tale. He said that there were lands to the east that could be reached by aggressively sailing to the east and north, to compensate for southern pull of the ocean."

A third one for this:
"It wasn’t long after he returned that the very Crown Prince who discovered the land to the east fell ill and died under mysterious circumstances. His younger brother, the next in line for the throne, chafed at the eye of suspicion cast upon him. He conspired to start a war of distraction with the poor Wesfolk kingdoms and their Lich-Lords."
"The new Crown Prince departed with the largest army ever assembled on the Isle to make war with the Wesfolk. This is where our story begins..."

As for the rest of the scenarios, here's my suggestion:

Scenario 4: this basically just needs a substitute for fall_of_eldaric.png. Alternatively you could skip that and instead show Haldric's band coming down the mountain pass into the direction of swamps and open plains, but I think the "Eldaric's last stand" idea is better.
Scenario 13 (Peoples in Decline): this is as much the outro for the previous scenario as it is an intro, so it could just show a group of ships and endless ocean. Or, if you want to make two, then the first one can show the ships departing the Green Isle, and the second one show them approaching the volcanic island.
Scenario 15 (A New Land): arrival on the Great Continent is quite an important happening, so there should be one story screen showing the ships approaching land.
Scenario 22 (Rise of Wesnoth): the narrator-spoken introduction reads "Haldric approaches the place where Lich-Lord Jevyan has made landfall. The final confrontation looms before him." It's the final scenario, so a story image seems appropriate.

Of course, almost any scenario could have a real story screen added to it. Most scenarios currently have one narrator-spoken line in the beginning, which I suspect weren't made into story screens exactly because there was no images to go along with them.

Style-wise, I'd like our story art to feel as if the player was learning about wesnothian history through records of the past ; in that respect, I had several options in mind :
- Fresco on a cracked wall or canvas, such as would be found in the great halls of the royal castle, telling the history of the royal dynasty
- Illuminated miniatures with gold leaf such as can be found in codexes, similar to what I'd begun working on for UtBS.
- Stone carvings
- Stained glass windows

Sounds good to me. Personally I guess the fresco idea seems best, but if you want to try something else then go ahead; it seems mostly like a matter of taste.

This might even allow the introduction of humorous/ironic differences between what the player actually experiences in the course of the scenario and how history tells it.

Yes, that's a good idea if there's an opportunity for that. I can't really think of any off the top of my head, though.