Posts Tagged ‘Crowfall’

By Austin Graham, Senior DET Major, portfolio

If you have wanted to see the inner workings of a start-up indie company, then look no further than ArtCraft Entertainment (ACE) based in Austin, Texas! With their flagship game, Crowfall, announced in January of 2015, ArtCraft has already had a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $1,766,204. That was just over 220% of their goal! The company was founded by J Todd Coleman, Creative Director, and Gordon Walton, Executive Producer, who are big names in the MMO field. Not only that, ArtCraft is pulling together talented artists and game designers from all over to make their idea a reality.

Crowfall is a “throne war simulator” that pits teams of players against each other to conquer worlds before they are destroyed, bring back the spoils of war and go out and do it all again. With what promises to be an intricate crafting system, diverse roles of combat, and political ties and intrigue, there are many ways to play that should keep players very busy. It is currently in Pre-Alpha development, but there is no NDA so players are allowed to stream their gameplay on Twitch and Youtube.

What we here in the DET department really like to see is the transparency and behind the scenes access ACE has given backers and players. Their YouTube page is full of behind the scenes videos showing the different skills and art forms that go into making games. From 3D modeling, to system design, there are videos showing just how much thought and work is going into their game. Below are links to a few of the videos that deal with some of the different areas of DET.

3D Modeling and Texturing: Centuar Helmet Creation with artist Eric Hart

Animation: Meet Crowfall’s Animators

Visual Effects: Meet the VFX Team

Bringing it all together: First Look – Gaea’s Wail