Legacy of Ykesha Developers Diary
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EverQuest®: The Legacy of Ykesha™ Developer's Diary: Innoruuk's Idol
Over the weeks until we launch The Legacy of Ykesha (LoY), we will be presenting these diaries to try to give some insight into what happens during the creation of an EverQuest expansion or extension.
One of the most interesting things about any EverQuest zone is the way it feels, the atmosphere of the place. Travel through Neriak, especially if you’re not very welcome there, and you get a sense of the evil that lives there. The Plane of Innovation feels very… oily, rusty and mechanical. Each zone has a very distinct feel to it.
There are several tools that designers and artists use to give zones their feel. Lighting, textures, buildings, and obviously the NPCs. But it’s not uncommon for us to forget how important the artifacts and objects in a zone are, everything from the huge statue of Firiona Vie in Kunark to the hangman’s noose in the Plane of Justice.
Artists and designers work together to determine what a zone will look like, how it should feel and what sort of objects it should contain. The Legacy of Ykesha called for trolls that live a sea-faring, nomadic life influenced heavily by the power of Innoruuk, god of Hate. These trolls have been isolated for a long time, and they have certainly formed their own ways of thinking about their worship of Innoruuk. The team decided that having an idol of sorts, a representation of the melding of Hate and the life of ocean-bound trolls, would help to show just how different these creatures were.
We asked Ronnie Ashlock, the artist that built the idol, to talk about how he built it.
As the art team began working on the city of Dulak, I had discussions with Shawn Lord, Lead Designer for LoY. He saw the idols in the city as very dark and other-worldly, like something from a Lovecraft story. This was a great visual cue, and I began to envision the idols as some massive construct of tentacles and chitin. This is one of the concept drawings that came out of our discussions.
Innoruuk’s Idol Concept Art
The sketch was a great starting point, but I suspected it would be unworkable as a 3D concept. This hunch proved true as I took my first pass at constructing it for the final game. I made the outer shell of the model resemble the outer shell of the sketch as close as possible. But that was indeed unworkable. So taking great liberty with the sketch, I fashioned a proper nautilus shell by lofting a spiral. I then created the tentacles out of other lofted splines, taking careful considerations of the polygon count limits needed to make the model usable in-game.
Wireframe Mesh of the Idol
After the mesh was done to my satisfaction, I began to texture it. I wanted to suggest an amphibian and evil look to the idol. Shawn said he wanted people to feel that something just wasn't right about the place; something sinister and disturbing. So I took ordinary family photos of babies crying and manipulated them into the screaming faces seen on the pedestal. I daresay I think I was pretty successful in making people uncomfortable.
Texture for the base of the Idol
Final version
Click here to see an avi movie of the Idol
As the art team began working on the city of Dulak, I had discussions with Shawn Lord, Lead Designer for LoY. He saw the idols in the city as very dark and other-worldly, like something from a Lovecraft story. This was a great visual cue, and I began to envision the idols as some massive construct of tentacles and chitin. This is one of the concept drawings that came out of our discussions.
Innoruuk’s Idol Concept Art
The sketch was a great starting point, but I suspected it would be unworkable as a 3D concept. This hunch proved true as I took my first pass at constructing it for the final game. I made the outer shell of the model resemble the outer shell of the sketch as close as possible. But that was indeed unworkable. So taking great liberty with the sketch, I fashioned a proper nautilus shell by lofting a spiral. I then created the tentacles out of other lofted splines, taking careful considerations of the polygon count limits needed to make the model usable in-game.
Wireframe Mesh of the Idol
After the mesh was done to my satisfaction, I began to texture it. I wanted to suggest an amphibian and evil look to the idol. Shawn said he wanted people to feel that something just wasn't right about the place; something sinister and disturbing. So I took ordinary family photos of babies crying and manipulated them into the screaming faces seen on the pedestal. I daresay I think I was pretty successful in making people uncomfortable.
Texture for the base of the Idol
Final version
Click here to see an avi movie of the Idol
