Greetings once again. It's time for another monthly report from Broken Hammer! If you are wondering why our site looks different, it's because we took some time to touch it up before this blog post went live. Ultimately not a whole lot changed, but it's looking fresher now.
That said, starting off this update, a congratulations is in order for Georgy our lead artist who just got his degree in engineering. The diploma came at the start of the month and he sent us the picture on the left.
It's been a lot of work for him. Not only keeping a very grueling college schedule in Russia, but also drawing for this project.
He's fought hard to get to this point. This last semester was especially brutal. Really can't be happy enough for him and his scholastic ventures.
We joked about him now being able to make a real airship. While just a joke, we can't quite rule out the possibility he may someday surprise us with one.
Stranger things have happened...
But for now, lets get back on track with Dust and Air as we ramp up our summer schedule.
Art has been advancing well with Georgy moving forward on Calle's development.
To the right is a composite of images from concept to a color pass. It's actually part of an image we've teased on various media over time.
Just an example of how we take our images from concepts to more final pieces.
This is similar to an image we ran back in our GoGo campaign which involved Gwynevere.
There we showed the scene from early concept to more final.
After this piece comes finishing up Calle's models and ideas are already circulating regarding poses and expressions for that.
Naturally as with any character and model, our artists have a big input on the final designs. It's part of something we like to foster here at Broken Hammer. Design choices they have can influence the story and vice versa. In fact there is one potential amendment Georgy made to Calle for the more final version of that image above, that will be going into Calle's story... Okay maybe, there is another on top of that, but it'll be a secret for now.
Moving on, in other art related news. This has been something that has been a long time coming since the end of the GoGo campaign. A behind the scenes bit that frankly we thought would have been resolved sooner. Mostly with how best to maximize the funds we received.
Discussions with potential recruits haven't panned out so much. Many of the artists we'd like to bring on board, have very busy schedules or they have quite high rates that won't fit the budget. Besides that, a common issue is often found with just finding people who have interests in landscapes and backgrounds. Which is one of our big needs. This means we're limited to more art students coming from high school or college. Who unfortunately, commonly have issues of maturity and work ethics. Thus we've started looking outside borders and seeking talent from places abroad. To which I am happy to announce that we'll be setting up the foundation blocks of an intern system. This won't just be for western or local talent. It will also be for artists abroad. Right now specifically in Asian markets where some don't always value creative talent or have steeper barriers to entry. This is in fact,one of our ultimate goals. To get to Japan and Asia, along with being able to help foster artists or musicians who struggle to get recognized. To do this requires someone special. Someone who knows the cultures and the languages. Someone who we've gotten contact with this year.
In many ways, this is her baby. She presented this idea to us and we're excited to see it move forward because it's right in line with where we want to go in the future.
We'll have more about her at a later date, along with her future role with Broken Hammer.
So finally as we start moving towards the closing of July, the writing side of development continued with production on both Day 2 and Day 3. The final new Day 3 scenes were added into engine along with animations. New art assets have been detailed. The script has grown by a good 10-12k in word count with very minimal increases in art required. Music discussions have continued with one small setback as Gimmen sustained an injury while doing trail work. We're wishing him the best as he recovers. We also received word that Cody will be taking a season off before going to the next level of education. We look forward to touching base with him in September as he'll be back in Cali by then after spending some time in Oregon with his family. Till then, August looks to continue being busy as we keep moving forward with Calle. Beyond her there is only one other major supporting character that needs to be modeled. Red shirts follow after that, which are much simpler to design. The weight will then shift more onto the music and audio to finish rounding out the rest of the Neutral Arc before getting it ready for release. So, busy month, hot temps, and lots of cold lemonade a flowin...See you in the skies!