by Alvaro Ribeiro, Art Director

Since early 2021, when we first began developing Relics Untold, I was already excited about how its art would turn out to be. As an artist myself and co-founder of a company extensively based in art, my first thought and impulse was to guarantee our game had outstanding, recognizable, and memorable illustrations.

With a Miniature & Card Game in our hands, we had a lot of room to be artistically creative (and a lot of work to do, naturally). But when we first started talking about the art, many card mechanics were already outlined by Relics’ game designers, with their nearly-final version of abilities, base-stats, and base-story done. So, although we were free to create, we had a roughly built path to stay on.

We first developed briefings specifying what each card would need from the art team based on what it represented: a wizard with healing powers, a character to be part of a specific faction, a unit with a certain art style, with a powerful or stronger look. That’s how we started designing the first unit from our game: the Priest.

The game mechanics would direct some of our choices regarding this card. The Priest is a support character, serving better when healing and helping other units than battling the enemy (although, of course, you could send him to battle, he’s certainly not your best choice). This was the initial outline to guide the early concepts.

During this process, we knew we had to learn everything about our character. Since he had a support role, maybe he should stand in a less offensive position, making a specific gesture, and wearing a facial expression that translated his personality, his profession, his fears and desires, and, ultimately, who he is.

He’s a priest, so maybe he should be praying? That would definitely work, especially because “Pray” is literally one of his actions. We would also have to show where he would be in the illustration. In his house, his place of work, or in the middle of the Malediction hunting for some Relics?

Of course, as you may have imagined, we couldn’t count on game mechanics alone to achieve the perfect illustration we wanted. We also rely heavily on lore. So we delved deeper into the character’s story: where does he come from? What does he want? Where and how was he raised?

In this case, the Priest comes from the Order of the Shattered Throne faction (a little spoiler for you here, little easter-egg hunter!). Reuniting with the lore team for many sessions of brainstorming, we learn that this faction is heavily militaristic, but also very religious. They usually go big, longing for greatness and power above all things. That is one of the reasons why they tend to build extensive cities and larger constructions, with massive and overwhelming walls to impact the world with their supremacy.

With that, we searched for many real-world references we could use, in architecture, fashion, symbology, and psychology. What do this Order’s buildings look like? What kind of clothes do they wear? Do they vary by social class, by profession? What symbols do they use in their daily lives? How does their society work?

Images merely illustrative. Final product still in development.

Step by Step

With all those references in mind, we work on a briefing, and using the combination of world lore and character lore, the concept artist creates the first sketch.

We then start a feedback process, approving and working on some elements, for example, refining the helmet, changing a little bit the hand posture, or adding some more details. We go through this until we’ve reached the final concept art, alongside with the color palette that character will follow. All of this is always done with weekly meetings with game designers and the lore team, so we can make sure everything is consistent to how mechanics work and how the story of Relics Untold unfolds.

After we have the concept art done, there are two steps: 3D sculpture (for the miniature) and illustration (for the card).

Cards and Miniatures

For the illustration, the most important thing is that the character is recognizable, so when the player looks at the card, he can instantly know which miniature corresponds to it. But between miniature and illustration, we have much more freedom in the latter. We can add backgrounds, light effects, or even flying characters. And that is one of the main reasons why illustrations tend to be more epic and immersive, enabling the player to completely visualize who the character is in Relics Untold’s universe.

The back-and-forth feedback process usually takes several days for each illustration, but the final result is definitely worth the trouble. It is also a great advantage for artists to have their name printed on the card, since it establishes a certain “glamor”, attracting more attention and working, in its own way, as a portfolio.

Meanwhile, a 3D artist starts to work on the miniature. We follow the same back-and-forth process, approving things and changing others through the WIP (Work in Progress) version of the sculptures. After done, the 3D file goes to our 3D print team, where we build supports for each mini and make them ready-to-print, as we do with all of our SLT files.

It’s, of course, a challenge to design two very different versions of the same character, and yet, making them look very similar. It is something we are doing very well, though, and that is the main reason we are all so excited to keep telling you about this whole process.

Until next time!