We wanted something that doesn't take itself too seriously. More specifically, we wanted to prove that a violent, cryptic ambiance, does not necessarily demand desaturated colors.Īs such Dead Cells tries to ally the despair and feeling of fallen glory found in the remains of an ancient, triumphant, kingdom with a lighter tone, a colorful character and some strokes of humour. While we understand the benefits of this design, we also wanted to add our modest contribution and new touch to the landscape of hardcore games.

Random beautiful screenshots found on the Internet For instance, highly contrasted and low saturated palettes are heavily used in Salt and Sanctuary or the Souls series, creating quite a dramatic atmosphere.

In the first scene, the main character rises in a glow of warm light while the cadaver of fallen giant rests in the shadow of cold colors.ĭespite featuring zombies and developing a game where the foreboding sense of danger never really leaves you, we choose not to mimic the artistic direction of similar titles. This idea can be seen applied from the very beginning of Dead Cells. We really like the contrast created when a peaceful, warm environment, somewhere you might even want to go on holidays, meets the gloomy tracks left by the abominations actually living here. We always make sure to add some unsettling background elements, which might suddenly appear to the player paying attention to the background. To keep the consistency between the Lore and the visuals, we apply this principle to each and every level. On the contrary, we put the emphasis on analogous colors for the outdoor levels as it allows for more nuances and depth in the landscape but, even there, we still use complementary palettes to highlight the difference between outdoor and indoor areas.Ĭomplementary palette used on an indoor level (Toxic Sewers)Īnalogous palette used on an outdoor level (Promenade of the Condemned) Always saturated, but never welcoming Complementary palettes (composed of opposing colors) are great for giving a confined feeling to a space, which is why we use them a lot in the design of our interior levels. On a pragmatic level, we’re using as much vibrancy as we can, which means we focus almost exclusively on increasing the saturation of the midtones. Which feels great for a game wanting to be as fast-paced as we want Dead Cells to be. This leads the player to have a better understanding of the action and consequently a faster reaction time when responding to potentially lethal threats. Saturated backgrounds and characters really shine when it comes to keeping the player awake and alert, drawing the attention of the eye to any new element appearing on the screen. The first would be the consistency between the gameplay and the art direction.

We chose to use highly saturated color spectrums for several reasons. What: A saturated color palette in a cryptic locale We laid the foundations of the artistic direction of Dead Cells on three pillars: a saturated color palette, Celtic architecture and the theme of alchemy. Among others things, I’m tasked with designing the backgrounds of Dead Cells and I hope that sharing some insights on our production process may, somehow, help someone someday. Hello, my name is Gwenaël Massé, and with Thomas Vasseur, we're the two artists of the indie studio Motion Twin. Who: Gwenaël Massé, Artist at Motion Twin If you're chiefly interested in Art Design Deep Dives, check out this great one on the hand-drawn art and animation of Jotun, and achieving seamless branching in Watch Dogs 2 ’s Invasion of Privacy missions. Check out earlier installments, like this great Deep Dive on creating a new language for Planet Coaster, or maintaining player tension levels in Nex Machina, and achieving seamless branching in Watch Dogs 2 ’s Invasion of Privacy missions.

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