This project is a city street corner done in isometric perspective for an imaginary video game. My street corner is in a desert city in a fantasy setting and features tiered structures.
From the wiki I created on Blackboard:
Play: Third-person action role-playing game, much like Bastion, Diablo, or Torchlight. The art style of the game is colorful and semi-realistic. Proportions, characters, environments, and architecture will be stylized. Characters will not be hyper-realistic, but will be recognizably human. Players must find allies and combat enemies, discovering new areas as the quest progresses. This city is probably an area discovered later on in the game as it approaches a climax. It is a hub or "home base" kind of place for the player, and will act as a general base of operations for the section of the game in which it is featured.
Location: The city of Ilithir is located in the Sea of Sand, a massive desert stretching out from the center of the continent. Ilithir was founded in an age before history in honor of the three Elder Gods. This particular street corner contains a shrine to them.
Pulse or vibe: The game will utilize a wide range of saturated colors, but this desert city will use lighter tones: sandstone and alabaster are the primary building material colors. Accents like gold trim and gemstone inlays are also common in this city. Plants hold an important role in decor as well, adding much-needed cool colors to the bright, sandy tones found commonly in the desert. Architecture is embellished and ornate. The masons and craftsmen who built this city are world-renowned for their finesse.
Establishments: This street corner is home to various bright structures. The buildings are tiered and unevenly decorated with foliage and fountains. Fruit stands and lanterns are placed along the streets. The centerpiece of the street corner is the shrine to the Elder Gods, featuring decorated statues of the gods Alzerien, Nyrakiel, and Mariori.
Pedestrian areas: There are many staircases and sitting areas on the various tiers of the street corner/piazza area. The majority of the composition will be a pedestrian area. Due to the staircases, vehicle use will be inconvenient on the structure.
Transportation areas: The stone city road around the structure will be used by pedestrian and vehicle alike. It will not be very prominently featured, though.
Natural elements: Topiary and contained plant life are popular accents all over the area. Drooping shrubs hang from window sills, palm trees grow in circular gardens, amphorae overflow with floral arrangements, and lotus flowers float in the fountains.
Planes: The world contains many planes, but Ilithir is contained on a very ordinary, real-world plane. Perhaps I'll explore others as well.
I created an Ilithir board on Pinterest for inspiration:
It features images of desert scenery, fantasy cities, architecture, and isometric perspective.
Initial Sketch
This is the initial sketch on an isometric grid. It does not feature every detail, but shows a basic outline of what I want to do. Filigree and flourish will be added and modified at a later point to a degree I feel is appropriate.
Doodads
Here are some doodads I began sketching for inspiration, or to include in the cityscape. The bottom left of the page features three statuette-like structures. Each of these structures is a shrine dedicated to one of the "Elder Gods." The central part of the final street corner image, right at the street corner, will feature these shrines. While most of the rest of the world has moved on to other belief systems, the people of Ilithir still follow the most ancient religion, and so worship of these three Elder Gods is a vital part of their daily lives. In-game, these shrines will grant bonuses of some sort to the protagonist, and may become important to the storyline.
Digital WIP
Right now, it's pretty bare-bones because I wanted to get the basic structure down in digital form. I will be adding in details and color as the week progresses. I may even create additional structures, and I am considering adding a big "cap" of some sort onto the tallest structure to add some visual interest... like a fancy roof, or maybe a hanging garden sort of thing. By the end, I hope to make it into a very vibrant, lively scene!
Update 2 (31 March 2015):
So this week I've mostly been working on creating some props. Props I created include potted palm trees, urns and jugs, a bench (minus two legs), an awning, and the three shrines to the Elder Gods. As you can see, they are slightly different than the sketches, but Alzerien's and Nyrakiel's are fairly similar. Mariori's took a different turn when I realized the difficulty of having multiple organicly shaped tendrils together in close proximity. I'm not fully satisfied with what I came up with as a replacement, but I'll dwell on it. I enjoy the curve of the ascending shape around the orb, but I think the base is what needs work. As well, I'd like to make the palm trees seem less menacing and add a lot more vegetation (shrubs, flowers, maybe olive trees).
I added some windows and doorways to the structure, but it is far from being complete. It still needs a lot of detail work. As I said, I focused a lot on props and doodads this week. I have been experimenting with colors and a bit with textures and gradients, but nothing worth sharing yet. Any suggestions would also be great.
Final
For better or for worse, here is the final version! While I stuck with my theme, I made some adjustments here and there. I wish I had more time to experiment with textures and details. I am fairly satisfied with the result.
