Development Diary 1: The Announcement

26 Aug Development Diary 1: The Announcement

Posted at 16:34h in R22, Uncategorized by Dom 20 Comments
11 Likes

Hellblade was first revealed at Sony’s Gamescom press conference exactly two weeks ago with the debut of the game’s teaser trailer. Our intention with the trailer was to create a teaser that announced the game with a bang, generated intrigue and set our stake in the ground for the game’s tone and quality.

Our first development diary tells the story of how we created that trailer:

 

 

Here is  a version of the trailer from very early in its development, with some of the blocked out environment and selected shots from the mo-cap shoot:

 

 

These are hi-res screenshots taken from the engine of the environment, environmental objects and sword featured in the teaser:

HighresScreenshot00014 HighresScreenshot00012 HighresScreenshot00011 HighresScreenshot00010 HighresScreenshot00009 HighresScreenshot00008 HighresScreenshot00007 HighresScreenshot00006 HighresScreenshot00004 HighresScreenshot00000



These are some of the pieces of concept art created for the teaser:
HellBlade__BloodEagle_01HellBlade__MagicCircle_Topdown_02bHellBlade_Animal_Skin_Props_01HellBlade_Senua_Hand_01HellBlade_Teaser_OpeningScene_01
Something that we do throughout the development of a trailer is paint-over frames in photoshop to steer the direction of lighting. These set of images show some of the video’s frames pre and post this paint-over process:

image_kr hellblade_grading_art

 

 

 

20 Comments
  • Zura
    Posted at 18:07h, 26 August Reply

    That was nice! I can’t wait to see more from this game!

  • Eric
    Posted at 19:03h, 26 August Reply

    So much cool stuff here! I really admire the team of artists you have working on this project. The illustrations are just incredible. I’m so excited to see more about this project as it develops!

  • Tygre
    Posted at 20:05h, 26 August Reply

    TAKE MY MONEY! TAKE MY FIRST BORN! I can’t wait for this release.

  • Zubin
    Posted at 20:25h, 26 August Reply

    Thanks for letting us follow along. Love to see how this all comes together!

  • Jose Antonio "Pep"
    Posted at 20:42h, 26 August Reply

    What an amazing insight into your development process! First of all, I’d like to say that I’m really proud of you for taking the step into becoming an independent studio. I can’t wait to see how Hellblade turns out. Just don’t let go of your creative vision, Ninja Theory; fortune favours the bold.

  • strant
    Posted at 20:48h, 26 August Reply

    Great Work loved Enslaved and Heavenly Sword

  • Jay
    Posted at 21:01h, 26 August Reply

    Excellent behind-the-scenes feature. Looks like some crunching was needed to finish the trailer.
    Really looking forward to seeing more of Hellblade in the future.

  • Maria Bucceri
    Posted at 21:18h, 26 August Reply

    So happy we can follow along on progress and support yous guys!! You’re fans are with you all the way!!

  • Kim
    Posted at 10:34h, 27 August Reply

    Very cool stuff! I was waiting excitedly for your reveal at Gamescom, and you really did not disappoint. Heavenly Sword remains one of my favourite games of all time, and I’m really looking forward to this next title. Cheers!

  • Joshua Fullerton
    Posted at 13:33h, 27 August Reply

    I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen so far and the BTS video has only helped to amplify my enthusiasm. The only thing I feel down about is the fact that this character referred to in the video as “Senua” looks and feels so much like Kai from Heavenly Sword but may be someone completely different. I so badly want this to be the sequel and the mood and tone suggest as much but it’s likely a brand new IP. Either way I’m excited to see the progression of this game!

  • Daniel Prem
    Posted at 16:22h, 27 August Reply

    I´m happy that I posted your first dev blog that early. I though I´d have to wait a month or so. The thoughs and facts behind the trailer are awesome and I really appreciate your work. Go on, your fans are with you.

    • Daniel Prem
      Posted at 16:24h, 27 August Reply

      Upps, I meant “that you posted your first dev blog” – sorry, thats my mistake – I am just to exited ^^

  • Deftones
    Posted at 23:17h, 27 August Reply

    Pretty good quality..
    I love this studio.
    Mr Antoniades and Mr Taini are so talented..
    Hopefully its not gonna be an exclusive.

  • Dom
    Posted at 10:18h, 28 August Reply

    Thanks for all of the kind comments. We really enjoyed putting this together and are busy creating a new one.

  • JOHN BOYAJY
    Posted at 17:47h, 31 August Reply

    this looks fantastic looking foward to this game as i did with heavenly sword an enslave also dmc which i loved.

  • Malik Robinson
    Posted at 07:00h, 01 September Reply

    This looks very promising 🙂

    Also, I like this whole, “walking us through the process”, thing.

  • max
    Posted at 03:10h, 04 September Reply

    nossa ta muito bom o jogo mal posso esperar pra uma gameplay

  • Niccelson
    Posted at 08:22h, 17 October Reply

    I’ve always loved how Ninja Theory uses in-engine cutscenes as much as possible to keep the game flowing smoothly, rather than chopping everything up with pre-rendered cinematics. So here’s my question: Are you currently intending to have a lighting engine that gives the same effect as “painting over” the still images like you did manually in Photoshop? Because that would look glorious.

  • Here’s the First Dev Diary for Ninja Theory’s Hellblade | RealGamerNewz
    Posted at 06:18h, 21 March Reply

    […] can head over to the game’s official site to view more art and images. Hellblade is a timed exclusive that will first launch on the […]

  • simon georgeff
    Posted at 06:03h, 02 May Reply

    Big Respect for publishing this Dev Diary. Awesome to have this resource to learn from and be inspired by. Great Work Ninja Theory!!

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