At Comic Con 2008, Scott Cuthbertson, 38 Studios Director of Creative Development on the MMORPG Copernicus (working title) first introduced us to Art Director Thom Ang, Thom comes to 38 Studios after 15 years of experience at THQ and EA working on high-profile game franchises like Medal of Honor. After the introductions were complete, it turns out that the presence of 38 Studios’ Art Director was no mere conincidence. Scott had quite a suprise for us.

“Thom - working closely Todd [McFarlane, of McFarlane Toys fame] - is really solidifying the artistic vision of the game, and we’re happy to say we’re going to teach you guys a little bit today with pictures... we’re really sort of brining to light what we call the ‘idealized reality’ the artwork style. We can finally start giving you guys a little bit more than just the old party line.”

Cavern: (caption)
"The drums of war pounded through
the great hall as we
sharpened our blades for battle."
(Artist: Scott Duquette)

Scott then let our eyes feast upon our very first look at Copernicus, a postcard-sized set of concept art from the environments group, and offered a few hints about the art style and how it ties into the game. “When we use the term ‘idealized reality’, it is something that we use internally as a two word explanation of the style that we’re going for in game. We’re definitely not trying to recreate reality. We’re going for our very own fantasy style, epic in scope, very much in line with an R.A. Salvatore novel, but with a distinctive 38 Studios style... Up through the first year and a half of the company through the conceptual phase of the game, we had a broad, broad sweep of different types of art styles that we tried - little nips and tucks, R.A.’s involvement, Todd’s involvement - getting honed down to a very distinctive style of the game.

“Now we’re in the process of going from the conceptual phase to the prototype and some digital imagery that you can drive around in, as well as making sure it’s technically possible to take this painterly, artistic style and make it something that’s real in the game. And not just something where you can say, ‘Well, that’s a pretty painting, but it doesn’t really look like that, does it?’ It really does.”

Thom added, “One of the things that we’re doing to ensure this does translate into the actual game environment is that the concept artists who did this are actually the modelers. They’re taking their own paintings and, as artists they’re amazing, but as modelers and world builders they’re also amazing. They’re not having to hand this off to trust someone else to interpret it... They’re doing their own efficiency tests on it, so they’re involved from the beginning all the way through to end delivery."

Thom emphasized that 38 Studios is looking for a familiar fantasy look, but photorealistic- not so much. ”That’s the reality part of ‘idealized reality’ - this is the world that you’re in. It hearkens back to this storybook, fantasy, sort of old classic Disney sort of look. That’s what we’re going for... this is our identity.”

Crops: (caption)
"The rich harvest made the brewmaster
smile as an autumn breeze
wafted through the fields of gold."
(Artist: Damarcus Holbrook)

Scott continued, “This is a light study, you get a very distinct tone - you’ve got that sort of saturated look, that very pleasant tone here - these beautiful buildings that are hanging out of the trees... There are some familiar elements here, we don’t want you to feel like you’re in some alien world.. Maybe that’s a wheatfield to you and me, but if you take a closer look - I’ve never seen a tree like that, or grass like that. So it definitely has a signature style to everything.”

From Thom: “In the lighter moments, the art will have a little bit more of a whimsical approach to it. But we’re going to be using lighting, palette, and temperature shifts to get an emotional tone to itt... we’re looking at more of a theatrical approach, a stagey approachin terms of setting up the tone and the mood of the story. We like to have a little more artistic license.” From Marketing Director Mary Kirchoff: “The cultures themselves determine whether there’s a whimsical atmosphere, too. They affect that cohesive artistic vision too, a lot.”

Ten Ton Hammer’s John Hoskin pointed out that there’s not much that’s angular and squared off in the concepts presented. Thom agreed, “For efficiency reasons in most games, everything’s squared off. It’s easier to fit the pieces together. But after a while, you just start feeling this grid. We definitely wanted to make it a little bit - and this is the word that everyone uses - wonky. Just a little bit skewed - trying to get something that feels a bit more organic. When it’s all squared off, that already is inorganic. We wanted to get something that feels like it’s been built up, it’s aged, weight has pulled down on it a little bit, even when it’s a constructed city... There’s a patina of time that we’re definitely putting in with the artwork, because with the story, there’s a patina of time too. There will be stuff that spans millenia. Some things you’re familiar with, some things you’re not, but you’re definitely going to say, ‘I know this... this is part of what I know as a human being.”

Scott continued. “Obviously this is just 5 little snapshots, but hopefully it shows a little bit of the diversity of where we’re going. All of these things will exist within the same world. When you’re in London or some other city, architecture’s different, culture’s different, language is different, tone is different, but it’s all earth. It’s all one cohesive world. We’re going for the same paradigm. We haven’t actually solidified as far as how many cultures, how many races...”

“And that’ll be dicatated by the story, too.” Mary Kirchoff added. “Rather than setting a random number and making that work, we’re all about story.”Crafting a setting for the world that meets the larger story, that’s what we’re all about.”

“Obviously, the missing piece is characters,” Scott said, finishing up“That’s down the line yet. Obviously we’ve got uniqueness to the charaters that are going to fit into the world; they’ve got to come alive inside a world like this. So as we begin to reveal the characters, you’re going to feel more and more of the texture of the world and how the cultures intermingle. But the characters are the next big reveal, down the road somewhere.”

“I can’t wait to show you [characters],” Thom said, smiling. “They’re pretty fantastic.”


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Copernicus Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.

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