Haha, thanks for all the positive compliments in all their varieties, guys :).
@BrickRoad said:
The difference is one is damned by god, and by definition, 9000x more epic (and also spontaneously becomes a Japanese game plot). If I could drop Bastion and make a game about the goddamned batgirl, I would D: (jk jk jk) !!!!!!" Is there a difference between the goddamn batgirl and original batgirl? "
Kasavin-narrated edition for DLC! @X19 said:" The main question that's been on my mind is well, who IS that narrator guy? Is Kassavin touting some fancy vocal FX or did you guys get an A-grade VA? "
" @jenzee said:
How did you decide on the art style of the game? Did you get influenced by the music (also audio) of Bastion or is that an aspect which gets added so far in a game making cycle that it doesn't really factor into your vision of the game." I figured this is as good a place as any to answer any unanswered art/Bastion related questions anybody might have for me (or the team)!"
The art style for the game was actually a pretty organic process. I should mention that I wasn't hired as "the artist" from the start and there were several before me, so I technically only know part of the story here :). With regards to my involvement - I was given a lot of creative freedom and there wasn't a whole lot of thought in terms of trying to make an "original" art style. As superficial as it may sound, the goal I set for myself was pretty straight forward when it came to making Bastion art. Make it pretty! Or epic. After some consultation, earlier build gameplay videos and general art direction provided by the team, I fell into a style which I felt comfortable with, functioned within the requirements and also "felt right" on an instinctual game-art level. And yes, during the process I was totally listening to one of the earlier tracks on loop which Darren had composed awhile back :). Of course, being creatures of influence what "felt right" was informed in large part by my experience playing 2D games in the past, though I'm not sure I consciously acknowledged this fact during the process. Basically, when I was asked to create a "2d hand painted, isometric world for an RPG", my thoughts immediately went to older 2D/2.5D games I respected greatly such as Phantasy Star 3, Shining Force, WC2, Tales of Phantasia, FFT, Baldur's Gate, Castlevania SoTN etc - and I thought to myself "What would they do if given the chance to create their work in STARTLING HD!?" It is also probably worth mentioning that I previously worked as an environment artist at Gaia Online for their MMO, so the style I developed there via influences from my peers brought itself over to Bastion in a lot of ways as well. :) Anyway, the first thing I came up with basically seemed to resonate with the team, and we just kept moving forward with it! Too easy to be true, hm :)?
I also remember being a little apprehensive of the "post apocalyptic" theme, given that I had lately become extremely bored by "all brown and grey, everything looks the same" aesthetic of a lot of post-apocalyptic games at the time. What was great was when Greg, Amir and team mentioned they wanted some undertones of "post apocalyptic beauty" which were my thoughts exactly :)!
Wow, this is long. Hopefully that answered (at least part of) your question! Also, I let Darren know about your question - hopefully he can find some free time to hop on here and answer :)!
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