Dev Diary #2 | The Art and the Sandfox 🖼️

Launch is on the horizon Fox-friends. In case you missed it, be sure to check out our previous dev diary where we shared some tips on traversal.

In this dev diary we’re diving deeper, yet looking at the surface of the game – the art. It’s the first thing you see about the game and it’s the first thing created for The Siege and the Sandfox, acting as the catalyst for the game’s creation. We concepted how the world would look before anything else, making the art direction a key part of the game’s identity.

Don’t forget to read to the end for our helpful Fox-friend tip 👀

Why pixel art?

We’re big fans of pixel art’s simplistic beauty and the challenge of making a collection of squares look visually stunning.

We knew we wanted to work with pixels, and to try to create a rich, warming, classic SNES-era like feel, while still making it our own and bringing it up to date with modern effects from Unreal. Pixel art also feels like a nod to some of our inspirations and games loved by the team, such as Super Metroid, Prince of Persia, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Batman (NES) and Metal Slug.

Another aspect of pixel art that we love is the unique character and cartoon-like overemphasis you can add to animations and gesticulations. Inspiration from Monkey Island can be seen throughout in our hand-animated sprites, as well as from broader Lucas Arts point-and-click adventure games from the 90s.

Not just a pretty face

While many games use light and shadows mostly for visual effect, in The Siege and the Sandfox the lighting is an integral part of the gameplay, working as a mechanic for stealth.

Playing such an important and frequent role, we wanted to make sure it looked great too. This is why we’ve hand-painted all of our normal maps - taking advantage of Unreal Engine’s great lighting – and used some particle effects and non-pixel art in certain situations, mostly for reflections and refractions.

🦊 Fox-friend Tip: Mind your perimeter 🦊

More movement often means more noise, so a word of caution:

Crouch often and keep a close eye on your noise indicator circle.

Landing from a higher point with a thud, and sprinting with your feet thrumming the floor, is a sure way to be heard by enemies. You’ll notice a faint grey circle emitting from your sprite that indicates the radius within which you can be heard. We advise slower movements when exploring new areas, to avoid running straight into an enemy.

Emerging from the shadows into safety, the Sandfox breaks into a sprint – footsteps thundering through the cave.

We hope you’re enjoying these dev tip snippets, Fox-friends! Let us know what else you’d like to hear about in the comments! Launch is fast-approaching now, so we’ll be showing a lot more very soon.

• The Cardboard Sword Team

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