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“Realism in a historical title such as THREE KINGDOMS is very important,” Teo affirms. So where does the balance lie between trying to maintain historical realism and the potential freedom afforded by making virtual weapons for a video game? Variation and verisimilitude between large numbers of similar units wielding the same weapon is a key consideration when working on Total War games, as Beth explains further: “Just like characters readability at a distance is important, but unlike characters we don’t want something distinctively unique in the design! Since there’ll be hundreds of the same weapon wielded by lots of people, we don’t want parts that stand out in a weird way – like a big distinctive scratch across a blade.”
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And if the weapon is part of the character’s costume, you need to think about where you can position it so it doesn’t create skinning or deformation issues.” Teo agrees: “You don’t want it to be so large that is intersects with the character when used – or too small. Character animations will dictate where the weapon is held by the soldier’s hands, where the impact area of the weapon is, and how long and/or big it can be.” The challenge with bespoke weapons for heroes is communicating their story through them, especially if it is closely related to the character’s identity.”īeth, meanwhile, is keen to emphasise the importance of medium: “Again, technical limitations are the biggest challenges. Teo believes that a lot of this hinges on who will be wielding the weapon, saying: “The challenge when making weapons for units is making weapons that won’t be too visually overwhelming when being held by hundreds of them at a time as part of a big army while also keeping them interesting. Much like when designing armour for Total War: THREE KINGDOMs, the process of designing weapons has its own particular intricacies.
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I’m also looking at museum artifacts and weapon props in Chinese TV shows and movies to inform myself as much as possible about shape languages.”Īnd what about the all-important question of whether handling actual weapons helps when designing them?Ī resounding “Definitely! All such experiences can be a source of good insight and inspiration!” from Teo, and as for Beth: “Oh, I bet it does! Sooo, CA – fancy giving us artists some weapon training?” Duelling dragons In Beth’s case, “it’s looking through that book and at our existing concepts, especially if it’s for a hero as the weapon should fit the character design if it’s for a particular person. Teo explains: “Some of the more elaborate weapons will have descriptions in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, from which we get information and inspiration, but for the most part we rely on historical research online, archaeological findings, and descriptions from books – and some artistic liberty and imagination.” Briefing (and little books) aside, both Teo and Beth have their own approaches when it comes to the next steps of the research process.