ART WAR 4 | 2D | War of the Elements | Techno Mage | caffeinatedbrushes

During the brutal and unjust invasion of their country, a group of shaman engineers were forced to learn the ways of warfare.

Before the engineers had harnessed the power of lightning to make airship engines. But now..

The story for videogames is always what draws me in. I loved games where the story and the world-building would suck me in and help me to forget about all the stresses of life. Games like Final Fantasy 7, Xenogears, Secret of Mana...

Even Mega Man Legends or Soul Reaver. Soul Reaver, in retrospect, has some very very rough gameplay. Why then is that game so memorable? Everyone was enthralled with the writing, the stories about vampires, betrayal, and hundreds of years worth of history for their world.

So to start my entry into the competition I'm thinking about the story...

There is a country in the southern hemisphere of a fantasy world. For a long time now this country has managed its industry of engines. Engines for trains, automobiles, ships, and airships are exported to many other countries.

The engines are leagues more powerful than something like a Tesla engine in our real world. These engines are made with crystal technology. The engineers of this country (country R)
have devised a way to mix their ancient religious art of shamanism with advances they have made in science in order to harness the power of the lightning spirits to make engine crystals.

They infuse a rare sand (which is found abundantly in country R) with lightning in a secret process to create engine crystals that they export. This is the main industry of country R and a pillar in their economy.

Recently a military empire (country I) has come under new leadership and is slowly arresting control of the continent. Their leadership has decided to obtain control of country R's crystal engines exclusively for use in a campaign of war and domination. Country R did not have a large military. They called on their close allies to come to their aid, but few surrounding nations were willing to cross the empire. So country I was successful in their invasion and occupation of country R.

The plan for the manipulation of the shaman engineers began with the kidnapping of their children and loved ones, who were relocated to prison camps. With their loved ones held hostage, the engineers had no choice but to participate in the empire's war effort.

However, right before the 5th year of occupation, it was rumored that some of the engineers had been banding together in groups to wage gorilla warfare. The Shaman engineers were forced to learn new ways to manipulate the power of lighting. Instead of using spiritual magic to continue the development of their industry and country, as they had done for almost 130 years, these brave scientists were forced to find new uses for their magic. These scientists had to learn the ways of destructive magic. After almost 5 years of living under occupation, the shamans of country R began to fight back...

(The names of the countries are placeholders until I can think of something cool )

I'm working on some art but it's very rough. I'll post something soon this week!

Here are some basic lines for a resistance fighter concept. The idea is that this character was an engineer working on crystal engines before the occupation of her country. Maybe in the beginning of the resistence the engineers are forced to fight in their old work clothes because that is the best thing they have.

I'm going to explore some more concepts for resistance fighters, and I have to concept out what the occupying force will be like also. Since the idea is that they used their shamanism to discover methods used for the creation of crystal engines, maybe I should more shaman elements to their design.

I'm debating what kind of weapon to give her. Have to explore some options.

I added some colors and an ambient occlusion pass. I think this design would be an NPC in the ally guerrilla army.

Problems I have with the design:
-Not enough Shaman elements
-Doesn't convey electricity yet

Thank you I'm glad you like it! Hopefully, the final image will convey more hope.

Still on the list, I have to develop the main protagonist and the enemies.

Thank you! Yeah, I probably should not have rendered out this design so far, and instead, I should've worked out more concepts in black and white.

Whether it is environments, characters, or props in my favorite games, the best designs always seem to be informed by the story.

Had a bit of time to draw up this weapon design. I think it would be a good fit for the engineer type characters. Axe on one side, and hammer on the other. Would, of course, make people think of Thor all charged up with lightning.

Dunno if I'll just work out the enemy design in the final composition because time is running out!

Here's an idea board for ya

The progression of these thumbnails started with the top-left and went clockwise. Early on I thought a french tilt would add some interest to the composition. Some storytelling and background details will come with the other enemy bodies on the ground behind.

There are still some surprise elements to the scene that will reveal themselves as I make progress. Those who read the story above might be able to guess what subject matter I'm going to add.

I'm working a lot, and I have a 9-month old so I'm changing lots of diapers also. But I will make enough time for this competition!

Techno mage final paint it.jpg2480x3508 1.19 MB

Made some progress on the line art and added some flats. From here I'm going to add the weapon in her hand, and then get started on the background. It would be bad to completely render the character before even starting the rest of the image.