Steam News6 February 20264mo ago

The Art behind Realms at War

The Art behind Realms at War The GrimmGitz are hard at work to bring this game into the light.

In this update5

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Full Realms at War update

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What changed

0 fixes4 additions7 changes0 removals

Gameplay
UI and audio
Maps
Balance

addedSteam post imageThe Humans of GrimmhavenWe really love world building and creating characters that enrichen the world they exist in. One of our ongoing debates is whether or not to include blood into the game. We love grimdark settings and fantasy settings that depict the reality that comes with sword combat (lots of blood). So perhaps this is something that you could help us with, do you think blood should be added into this game?

changedSteam post imageThe Humans of GrimmhavenSteam post imageOnce we had our overall in game style set, we have had to make some interesting decisions on the UI, how its laid our and more importantly, how it'll look in general.

changedSteam post imageThe Humans of GrimmhavenThe ultimate goal of Realms at War is to have the player feel immersed in the world, so we really wanted the UI to look at feel like it could exist in the setting.

changedSteam post imageThe Humans of GrimmhavenNot only have our artists had to study the foundations of these styles, but they've then had to tweak it a little so as not to look like straight up carbon copies of medieval manuscripts.

changedPlanning for the futureSteam post imageIt has always been a goal to make monsters and creatures apart of our bigger plans to incorporate into the gameplay too, so we have the team really going to town on creating whacky medieval inspired fantasy monsters that will be roaming the countrysides of GrimmHaven for you, the player, to deal with.

addedDesign ProcessThen, after all of these drawings they get made into an asset/unit that can be used in game and set up with game mechanics. (but thats a story for another day)

Realms at War changes

addedWe really love world building and creating characters that enrichen the world they exist in. One of our ongoing debates is whether or not to include blood into the game. We love grimdark settings and fantasy settings that depict the reality that comes with sword combat (lots of blood). So perhaps this is something that you could help us with, do you think blood should be added into this game?

changedSteam post imageOnce we had our overall in game style set, we have had to make some interesting decisions on the UI, how its laid our and more importantly, how it'll look in general.

changedThe ultimate goal of Realms at War is to have the player feel immersed in the world, so we really wanted the UI to look at feel like it could exist in the setting.

changedNot only have our artists had to study the foundations of these styles, but they've then had to tweak it a little so as not to look like straight up carbon copies of medieval manuscripts.

changedSteam post imageIt has always been a goal to make monsters and creatures apart of our bigger plans to incorporate into the gameplay too, so we have the team really going to town on creating whacky medieval inspired fantasy monsters that will be roaming the countrysides of GrimmHaven for you, the player, to deal with.

The Art behind Realms at War

The GrimmGitz are hard at work to bring this game into the light. One of the things that tends to stay in darkness during production, is the artwork and concepts behind the game, so this is our little way to share some of the work created for the game so far (focusing on the currently available units).

Steam post imageThe Humans of Grimmhaven

Early on in development, we weren't exactly sure on how the games style would look and we tried a variety of different looks. In the end we settled on a mix of realistic materials on heroic scale figures, to have the game look like a tabletop wargamer, but feel somewhat realistic.

We really love world building and creating characters that enrichen the world they exist in. One of our ongoing debates is whether or not to include blood into the game. We love grimdark settings and fantasy settings that depict the reality that comes with sword combat (lots of blood). So perhaps this is something that you could help us with, do you think blood should be added into this game?

It wasn't until we settled on a simplified animation style that the over asthetic became fully realised.

With this animation style we have been able to expand ourselves with our designs and overall work load as we haven't required completely unique rigs and animation sets for each individual unit, they all use the same animation. As a microscopic studio, this means we get to focus on other cool stuff!

Steam post imageOnce we had our overall in game style set, we have had to make some interesting decisions on the UI, how its laid our and more importantly, how it'll look in general.

The ultimate goal of Realms at War is to have the player feel immersed in the world, so we really wanted the UI to look at feel like it could exist in the setting.

Converting the units into Medieval styled characters and setting up some more medieval/fantasy styled banners, papers, boarders and so on has been a real handful.

Not only have our artists had to study the foundations of these styles, but they've then had to tweak it a little so as not to look like straight up carbon copies of medieval manuscripts.

Planning for the future

Steam post imageIt has always been a goal to make monsters and creatures apart of our bigger plans to incorporate into the gameplay too, so we have the team really going to town on creating whacky medieval inspired fantasy monsters that will be roaming the countrysides of GrimmHaven for you, the player, to deal with.

With these hurdles of establishing the artstyle out of the way, and with the art team more comfortable with the overall style, we have been able to speed forward with our design to in game assets.

Design Process

From initial concepting/idea generating.

To refining the idea with colour and variations.

To placing them in the world making them feel like living creatures.

To... ruining it all by turning it into a medieval style where it's as though the in world artist was told what the creature looks like, but never has actually seen one in real life

Then, after all of these drawings they get made into an asset/unit that can be used in game and set up with game mechanics. (but thats a story for another day)

These are the steps that we are now undertaking for all of our units/creatures in Realms at War and it's a really exciting and fun stage to be in because it's the foundation building of our setting.

The Demo Build

We're really happy with the starter army set and have worked for years to balance them while also making them feel strong in their own unique ways.

Watching people play with this army has been such a treat, seeing new and unique strategies evolve after only a few matches.

Speaking of developing strategies, we are working on AI Bots for you to beat up, so stay tuned for that!

Until then you will require a friend or someone randomly hosting a match to verse.

As is stands they are the only faction you will see in the demo, however we want to leave traces of what to expect in the released version, as this is a Fantasy setting after all.

On game release you can expect to find... (and play as)

The Undead

We are working hard to make our second faction as well rounded and balanced as the Humans of Grimmhaven are, but with magic being introduced it changes a few things in terms of gameplay.

All those corpses laying around on the ground are there for a reason... ;)

Join the Discord for more: https://discord.gg/K9BwGhTgW6

Stay awesome everyone and get your armies ready for War! -The GrimmGitz

No AI was used for the creation of these assets.

Artwork by: https://www.artstation.com/approximakes https://www.artstation.com/revi_art8 https://www.artstation.com/zena_jackson

PS: how many of you have found the one and only achievement in the game yet?

Source

Steam News / 6 February 2026

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