Hi! My name is Gustavo, I am in charge of the art for Souls Tree and I’ll be the one starting this new series of blog posts where we’ll share some thoughts about the development of Souls tree. I think it would be appropriate to start off with an introduction to one of the most appreciated aspects of our game: the aesthetic choices and character design!

We all have our own aesthetic preference, but in video games it is important to take into account all the design decisions, constraints, the overall narrative tone and gameplay mechanics.

When we started thinking about the game's aesthetic, we agreed that for a tactical game with a light backstory where you collect unique units, a cartoonish style was appropriate. A reference example that I think illustrates the tone quite well is that of Warcraft 3.

 The game focuses a lot on acquiring and developing units, so it was key for us to make sure that each Hero felt unique and that they had interesting animations where they could express their different roles and personality. For this reason, we opted for a "chibi" art style that mainly highlights the character faces and weaponry, allowing us to create different expressions and animations that are attractive enough to clearly explain their actions.

The color palette is something that has changed a lot since the early stages. I do not consider myself an expert on the subject so it was quite a learning process to reach a palette that made us all happy.

Old Colours

New Colours

When designing the visual aspect of the enemies, it was essential to define some narrative aspects. It is important to think about how these creatures function in their universe and where they come from, so that there's unity among them and they truly feel alive and characteristic within their environment.

The first creatures in the game were created with dark magic, mainly using animal bones, leaves and branches from the forest. This is why when they are killed they turn back into leaves and bones.

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That’s all for today. Let us know your thoughts on our game's aesthetic!

-Gus

We just reached 100 downloads and we couldn't be more happy! Thanks for checking out Souls Tree and all the feedback -Fede