Jagged Alliance 3 - DevDiary 10 - Art Direction

Haemimont Games and THQ Nordic explore the artistic style of Jagged Alliance 3 in Dev Diary #10:

DevDiary 10 - Art Direction

Hello and welcome to this week's DevDiary focused on the Art Direction for Jagged Alliance 3. My name is Nelson Inomvan and today I will have the pleasure of being your guide throughout the beautiful land of Grand Chien.

One of my many tasks as an Art Director is to help the art team in crafting a unique aesthetic for the project and make sure the original vision is preserved throughout the development process.

A Look Back

One of the first things we did when we started work on the project, was to go back and play the first two games. What we quickly learned was that what made those games be what they are was not in the realm of a specific color palette nor the technical bells and whistles of the time, but rather in what I call  “the fantasy” element.
The concept at the core of the game, the big idea that revolves around you as a player assembling a crew of mercenaries, embarking on a thrilling adventure reminiscent of action-packed movies from the 80s-90s and that should still be key when it comes to the visuals.

I still remember the rip-o-matic we put together and shared throughout the studio. It was a mash-up of scenes from some of our favorite action flicks of that time, and we used it to set the energy in the team. It was a good example of what we sought to convey with the visuals.

Making that deep dive into the first two games, made us also realize and appreciate how rich and thought out those titles are. The attention to detail (e.g. crows and the fallen enemies)  was on another level, and it became clear to us that we had to step up and match that standart at the very least.

Maybe this is the place to express our respect for the teams who created those classics. The immense passion, love, and elbow grease poured in those games is still visible even to this day.

The Road We Took

Throughout the pre-production phase, the game underwent multiple iterations until the visuals finally encapsulated the initial design concept we were striving for.

At one point, we experimented with a "dirty-gray" military aesthetic, but soon realized that something was missing from that picture, making the game look too generic. Thus, our search continued until one day something interesting happened, shaping all of our subsequent decisions.

We went back and took another look at the design documentation, which encompassed a vast amount of information about the world, and an idea sparked: What if we make the country of Grand Chien and, more importantly, the continent of Africa at the heart of our art vision, rather than the other way around?

This simple yet effective idea changed our thinking and the process led us to the concept of “contrast” or what we ended up calling it - “Wet and Dry”, those two words encapsulate the breadth of what the continent of Africa can offer and thus make it the central character in the stage of “art”.

Now we had the opportunity to explore the vast array of breathtaking locations, each boasting its own distinctive weather patterns, allowing players to immerse themselves in the continent’s remarkable richness. From the always wet muddy jungles filled with mosquitos to the dry savannas or scorching hot wastelands. Furthermore, many of these elements would have a significant impact on gameplay, thereby influencing your decisions as a player.

We've even taken into account minute details such as the presence of puddles in jungle areas and their potential impact on the effectiveness of your fire bombs.

Key features such as dynamic movement, exaggerated weather, strong lighting  and cinematic-style color grading all played a role in pushing the world of Grand Chien and achieving this distinctive art style. Additionally, the ever present signs of entropy that can be seen in all human made everyday objects added a unique depth to the world.

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Thanks Redglyph!