This is not an "official" update from the team, just a personal update for those that follow me here in these pages. I haven't posted anything about the Board Game in awhile and thought I'd give you all an update from my perspective.
On my end the work continues every day. As a result of the Kickstarter a lot more work got added into the game for me and the team. Primarily, from my perspective, a lot more cards. And more cards means more art is needed. So that has been my primary focus over the past month since the KS ended. And it will continue to be my main focus for at least another month or so. I have literally created more art for this project than any other project in my entire career. Easily.
In addition, over the past few days, I've also been working with T'amber on the board game related custom skins. Mostly providing inspiration and art for him to work from, but we've also been beating the bushes looking for creative ways to help make these skins something special.
I wish I had more exciting news to share. From my end of things every day is like a normal work day. Some days are more about getting reference that I can use in the upcoming pieces. And some days are more about rendering, painting, compositing, and creating effects. I wish that I could create 100% hand-crafted pieces for every single card in the game, but that would be impossible. So every single card is different and takes a slightly different approach. Some of them demand 100% creation from scratch and others are complicated pieces that require a lot of effects work, like painting explosions, gun effects, nebulas, and other pieces in order to bring something to life. I'm essentially using every single tool in my toolbox to create these original pieces. Because every single card in this game is an original piece.
So where do the ideas come from? I get a google sheet from the team at Titan Forge that includes a title and card description for each card. And then it is totally up to me to figure out how best to illustrate that specific card. Some are more literal and some are more abstract. I've also tried to include a lot of fun easter eggs when it comes to locations, settings, and other pieces into the art. Something for long-time fans of the game and lore players to enjoy. It isn't always possible. And that brings me to the other point.
These cards are small. Poker sized for the ship cards and half-poker sized for the other cards. So I also have to be very, very careful with the amount of details in each piece. This is the big struggle to always keep this in mind. The final pieces are going to be small and need to survive that transition.
But that's the fun of it. Working on Eve Online art every day and creating some really amazing pieces. I'm very fortunate to be working on this project and with the team at Titan Forge. I'm so grateful this opportunity came along and that I was given a chance to work on this project for the past year. I still have a hard time believing it sometimes.
Speaking of which, back to work.
These cards aren't gonna illustrate themselves.