The study above is a sketch for the virtual dioramas we will create for Cathedral-in-the-Clouds. It basically came out of a little “game jam” we did at Tale of Tales. Created in only a few days, this sketch does not represent the quality that we are aiming at for the final dioramas, which will take several months to make. But it is through experiments like this that we learn, bit by bit, how to achieve our vision.

Arma Christ can also be downloaded from itch.io

Michaël’s thoughts

We have been using game technology for a long time now and it shows. We know a bunch of tricks that we can apply to make things look cool. But the result is too simplistic, too “industry-standard.” We need to work on achieving a more unique, personal look.

This was created in Unity version 4. The new version 5 has even more features to achieve physically correct realism. But that’s not what we want. We want to draw our own, subjective realism. We want to have wonky perspective, wrong shadows and colors that are too bright. These industry-standard technologies put an upper limit on the aesthetics. I don’t want to be limited like that. Maybe we need to explore some hybrid 2D-3D forms.

I’m not entirely sure about the amount of action in this scene. For one thing, in the final dioramas, the action should probably be a lot slower. I do like how the small events show the passing of time. And the little drama helps me focus.

Auriea’s thoughts

The making of the sacred object of the crown of thorns was an emotional process. I feel that the making of images that have a potent symbolism out in the world should also be approached with a certain sobriety and thoughtfulness towards what that object or image means for the maker, for the viewer. It caused me to think what this means to me.

We have to not only look at how these stories are depicted in art history but also within ourselves in order to give each image its form. That will be a fun process because it will require much more than copying how we have seen it depicted elsewhere.

I would like for the dioramas to look fresh and contemporary by getting away from a dependence on illusionistic “natural” materials. This paradoxically may happen through borrowing certain things from the past: Pushing the saturation, really going for color (think digital polychromy); Learning perspective tricks and the ways images are realistic yet entirely not in Northern Renaissance painting. These will be the keys for a successful look.

Please let us know your own thoughts about this experiment on Kickstarter!