Does the art team make the ideas that the gameplay team then makes a behemoth around or does the gameplay team make concepts for a behemoth first and send those to you? who takes the lead
Heya. Usually the gameplay team comes up with an encounter design first which then influences the art design. But the process is pretty collaborative and ideas can flow both ways.
What was you favorite weapon to design and why?(my favorite weapon is the axe)
Axe is my favorite too. I haven't actually designed the concept for any weapons but I have modeled and textured a few. My favorite being the Torgadoro axe, it was a lot of fun sculpting the lava rock and trying t figure out how the shapes flow and fit together.
When designing a behemoth, what's the first thing you consider in the design
Hey there.
Usually the designers come up with where they want that behemoth to fit into the game and what kind of mechanics they want in the encounter, including what element it will be.
When it comes to the art side, we first consider that it fits within the gameplay design. But two core aspects that are core to the art design of our behemoths is that they should feel majestic yet threatening.
Where do you get ideas/inspirations when creating a behemoth and the environments of Dauntless?
Heya! As a 3D artist I'm not directly responsible the initial design. But we do draw a lot of inspiration from living animals and creatures. Especially as reference when making the 3D models. But also as fans of all forms of media, we definitely draw inspiration from fantasy, sci-fi and everything in between.
Thanks!
I'm not sure about specific inspiration. But, being umbral exotics, since umbral is this kinda mysterious and otherwordly/cosmic form of aether, we wanted to push those vibes. Shrouds 3 eyes for the sword and his darkness mode for the helm were key elements as well.
Prestige strikers when?
Good question! From what I hear, they will be coming very soon. ;)
Hey PHXL, have you guys ever saw a concept art and went "This is fricken awesome" but thought it wouldn't suit the game itself? Like mechanics or design wise?
Also, have you guys ever wanted to put a behemoth in the game with a whole new way of fighting? Like weapons wise for ex. You naturally fight embermane with chainblades or skarn with hammer or strikers etc? Like create a behemoth that you must wound in order to do damage?
Yeah, all the time! There are a lot of great pieces of fan art out there, and even though there are some really awesome designs, sometimes they may not quite hit our art style or the feel/mood we try to hit with our behemoths. The key aspects we try to hit with our behemoths, is that they feel majestic and relatable, yet powerful and threatening.
Hey PHXL, have you guys ever saw a concept art and went "This is fricken awesome" but thought it wouldn't suit the game itself? Like mechanics or design wise?
Also, have you guys ever wanted to put a behemoth in the game with a whole new way of fighting? Like weapons wise for ex. You naturally fight embermane with chainblades or skarn with hammer or strikers etc? Like create a behemoth that you must wound in order to do damage?
Your second question is more of a design question, but I may be able to give a little insight.
We are always wanting to add something new to an encounter. Such as the Boreus fight (even though, it's not everyone's favorite,) or Valomyr. Or it may not be a complete game changer but add some flavour and change up the flow, such as Malkarian where two key features in it's design were the mounting system and synced attacks, which we had wanted for a while. As for weapon wise, I feel like we may do that less as we want players to feel empowered to use their weapon of choice. But we are always trying to think of ways to change things up and make fights feel more unique and interesting.
If we have a combat or encounter focused AMA, you may be able to get more solid answers there. ;)