Tales from the Junk Drawer Vol. 3

Fresh from the Asset Kitchen

Hi everyone, and welcome to another Dandelion Void devlog. Today we’re showing off a wide swath of new art assets, including a variety of new lootable and craftable props, as well as new furniture you can find in the map!

Tales from the Junk Drawer Vol. 3

Those following the devlog might remember our two previous entries in the “Tales from the Junk Drawer” series, where we show you an out-of-context list of items along with their names and descriptions. Today we’re happy to bring you volume 3, with a special focus on food!

What are these different items’ gameplay properties? We will leave that to your own speculation.

Area spotlight: cafeteria and kitchen!

In a previous post we discussed the different types of environment art you can find in Dandelion Void, and noted that we were hoping to expand into more domestic and civilian areas. Meanwhile, part of updating our crafting system has also been a big focus on expanding the game’s cooking offerings.

With a need both for new places and new cooking options, it didn’t take long for us to decide that a cafeteria + kitchen combo would be the next best area to work on. This gives us ample spawn options for the new ingredients we’ve added, as well as tools and furniture to prepare them on.

Concepting Process

Our process of concepting furniture uses a technique called photobashing. We start by chopping up reference images by hand, looking for specific era-appropriate details like the shape of a handle or the trim on a surface’s edge. Once we have a collection of motifs we like, we then reimagine how they can be used for a wider variety of appliances and furniture. This creates visual cohesion across different assets.

A peek into Brian’s Photoshop process for creating concept art

Photobashing is a spectrum. Sometimes we can get away with skewing, chopping, and painting over an existing reference image. Other times, such as for this corner counter, it’s more important to show proper scale and perspective. In these cases, we’ll first create vector art with the proper proportions, and then paste additional photobashed details on top.

The overall shape of this cabinet was done with vector art, while the legs, handles, and trim are photobashed in

Some studios justify using generative AI for concept art because “the player will never see it,” but we don’t believe generative AI has a place anywhere in our creative pipeline. Customers might not see a restaurant’s kitchen from the seating area, but of course they still care about the standards to which their food is made. Using generative AI would compromise the quality of Dandelion Void, and legitimizing its use has damaging effects on the entire game development ecosystem.

The purpose of concept art is to communicate one artist’s vision well enough to allow another artist execute on it. Brian wasn’t professionally trained as a concept artist, so it’s taken some time to develop this process. But we believe the benefits of investing in new skills on the team far outweighs any short-term efficiency gains from corner-cutting with generative AI.

And everything else aside, it’s just fun to make this stuff!

Cafeteria assets

The Pergola is enormous by the standards of any normal starship, but space is still at a premium. We imagine that most meals would be prepared and eaten in communal areas rather than private homes.

Our goal with the cafeteria assets is to create the feeling of a warm, slightly kitschy space. The Pergola launched in the late 70’s, so bold colors and complex patterns are a must!

Concept Art (Brian):

Finished Models (Dara):

One bountiful source of reference material has been vintage furniture catalogues from outlets like Sears. These are a treasure trove of era-appropriate styles and patterns. Many of these catalogues can be found on websites like the Internet Archive — if you'd like to have some fun paging through, this is one of our favorites!

Kitchen assets

Every cafeteria needs an adjoining kitchen. Since this is a food prep operation at a community-wide scale, we base these assets off of the equipment you would find in commercial kitchens rather than residential ones.

Concept Art (Brian):

Finished Models (Dara):

The Sears catalogues have fewer applicable references for the kitchen since they focus on consumer goods, but fortunately we’ve found another source:this auction website for industrial equipment. Many of the items are used so there are plenty of era-appropriate hits in there, and the listings include photographs from many different angles. We are pretty excited about this new resource, as it includes references for not just food service, but also agriculture, industry, and beyond!

Closing time

We hope you enjoyed today's look at food items and the places they are found. I’m quite happy with the progress we’re making towards our ultimate culinary vision for the game… we’re so close, I can almost taste it.

Until next time, everybody please take care and have a great week! - Robin and the Manzanita Interactive team