COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
Pre-Production Concept Sketch - Janoan Artifacts

Greetings Elyrians!

Let us take a small diversion this shiny day: As I was looking through the concept sketches we've wracked up over the last few years, I saw an image I wanted to share. So, apologies for the diversion from the series, but this seemed like a good place for it.

Here's the image I wanted to share:


What you're looking at here is a series of style sketches for the items you might find inside a Janoan settlement or structure. It's not a comprehensive collection and it doesn't include the "set piece" items like trophy trees; it's closer to a mood board or something similar, meant to give you an idea of the "flavor" of the background in a Janoan village or home.

Mostly I wanted to share this today because I wanted to highlight things like the stove here, vs. the stove from last week's shiny. You can see how the concept evolved from the initial sketch here, which was essentially a "made with limited resources" model, into more nuanced "limited resources doesn't mean limited ingenuity" thinking that better reflects the tribe in question.

In a lot of ways, that's the point of these sorts of sketches. We take archetypes and ideas that we feel will fit our design goals, then we visualize them, consider the result through the lens of our lore, and refine from there. In that way, this sort of work is never ever throw-away: Every sketch matters and every moment we spent making them was a moment spent crystalizing the tribes in our minds so we can get to the point, as Heat has in his architecture designs, where we're thinking like the tribes do, acting as their advocates as we move each aspect of the game's design into real gameplay.

And, on a personal note, I just really love Heat's work. The entire artist guild here is full of some talented folks, and I love when they get the chance to show off.

I hope you enjoyed it! Unless you've got some special request I can fulfill, we'll return to our architecture series next week.

Until then... Stay shiny my friends! :)


  • Snipehunter
3/15/2019 5:21:59 AM #16

That bed looks uncomfortable but then again Hrothi beds could be made of rock lol. Some of the pottery looks cool.


Just a lonely peasant on the road looking towards a distance future with the sweat on my back and a tear of cloth in my hand a family crest it must be. A adventure will i have, I dream of dreams my destiny awakens me.

Friend Code: A48E0C

3/15/2019 5:55:32 AM #17

I don't mind the diversion. I like seeing items and tools. :)


If you like alchemy, settle in Amestrys. If you can find it...(NA-E)

3/15/2019 8:00:52 AM #18

Are the handles of the axe and saw made of bone or from naturally-shaped pieces of wood? Probably wood because bone tends to be brittle, but....


3/15/2019 8:51:10 AM #19

Posted By Poldano at 01:00 AM - Fri Mar 15 2019

Are the handles of the axe and saw made of bone or from naturally-shaped pieces of wood? Probably wood because bone tends to be brittle, but....

On the other hand it is Janoa we are talking about and after generations of collecting and displaying trophies from their kills I would not be surprised if they came up with ways to strengthen and preserve bone for use in items and weapons.


3/15/2019 7:48:29 PM #20

Posted By Ravenlute at 01:51 AM - Fri Mar 15 2019

On the other hand it is Janoa we are talking about and after generations of collecting and displaying trophies from their kills I would not be surprised if they came up with ways to strengthen and preserve bone for use in items and weapons.

Or armor. :)


  • Snipehunter