Amulft Graphic Novel Series: Amulft is a captivating and immersive graphic novel series that has gained wide popularity among readers of all ages. Created by a talented team of writers and artists, the series offers a unique blend of storytelling and artwork that transports readers into a richly imagined world. The series follows the journey of an unlikely hero, Amulft, a young protagonist with mysterious powers and a deep sense of purpose. As the story unfolds, Amulft discovers that he is destined to embark on a perilous quest to save his world from impending doom. Along the way, he encounters a diverse cast of characters, each with their own motivations and secrets. What sets Amulft apart from other graphic novel series is its intricate plot and intricate world-building.
It's currently in pre-alpha, and you can sign up to test it here. It doesn't yet have a release date. If you want to find out more, the best place is developer Proletariat Games' imgur page, where it posts developer updates.
There are 11 classes that deal different types of damage so far there s fire, ice, lightning, stone, wind, and poison damage, and you can combo them, casting a poison cloud and then setting it on fire to create a giant poisonous inferno, for example. At a high level we ve tried to create a strong hierarchy of detail color contrast in our shaders materials that works well for gameplay and mimics the aesthetic of 2D animation.
What sets Amulft apart from other graphic novel series is its intricate plot and intricate world-building. The authors have crafted a complex narrative that keeps readers engaged and constantly guessing what will happen next. The series is filled with unexpected twists and turns, making it a thrilling read from start to finish.
Spellbreak: Developing a Magic Battle Royale RPG
The team behind Spellbreak talked about the development of their game: art style, environment production, texturing, VFX, and more.
The team behind Spellbreak, a new battle royale RPG featuring epic magic combat, talked about the development of their game: art style, environment production, texturing, VFX, and more.
About the Team
80lv: Could you talk a little bit about the team? Where do you guys come from, what do you do, what projects have you worked on? How did you get into games?
Our team comes from all over! The founders were all previously at Zynga and a small startup called Conduit Labs, though previously they also had games like Rock Band, Resistance and Dungeons and Dragons Online under their belt. Since then the team has only grown, and the portfolio of games has as well!
As for the road to get into games, that’s a very different path for everyone. Our CEO started outside of games at Disney Imagineering and then transitioned into gameplay engineering to start his game development career. Our CTO started in games very early, focusing on tools and engine work. Our Director of Engineering spent five years building tech for finance. We think a broad range of backgrounds only helps in building these complicated long-running service based games.
The Start of the Project
80lv: Let’s talk about how the project started. Spellbreak obviously had a longer story before it went public. What were the main influences and goals? How long have you been working on this idea?
After Streamline, we went into a period where we just prototyped a lot of different games. We had one that was more like a Viking Battle Royale, where people used melee weapons to fight. We had another that was actually more of an isometric game that allowed people to find gear and abilities. After a lot of time on both, we decided to take the best from each and ultimately ended up with Spellbreak (about a year ago or so).
Gameplay
80lv: We’d love to talk about the main gameplay. You promote it as a new take on Battle Royale, but it would be amazing if you could discuss it a bit in more detail. What’s so innovative and different about it?
Spellbreak is entirely oriented around making you feel like a powerful battlemage, where your spells affect the world and can be woven together for even more powerful results. As we built it up, we also integrated gear and skills that would make battlemages more effective to allow for a level of dynamic specialization you typically only see in RPG games. This is why internally we’ve referred to it as a BR-RPG for most of its development.
Art Style
80lv: Could you talk a little about the way you’ve figured out the style for the visuals? What’s the technology behind it, how do you achieve this look? How did the earlier prototypes for the game look?
When we were prototyping we had a very different style for the game, that really worked but was more medieval than magical. When our Art director rebooted, he specifically stated he wanted to go with more of an animated, heavily stylized approach that was more reminiscent of titles such as Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Dragon Prince. Working with the rest of the art team, we’re still approaching a lot of this look. We even made our own Kuwahara shader expressly to allow things in the distance to appear more painterly.
Environment Production
80lv: Can you tell us how you generally work on the meshes and the environments in the project? You’ve got to have quite spacious arenas here. We’re super interested to learn how to make these large, visually rich places, and fill them with interactive objects. What’s a good tool for it?
Ironically, we really just use the Unreal Toolset for populating the spaces, and Maya for modeling the assets themselves. Fortunately, our environment artist is extremely seasoned, but this is no substitute for planning out what you want to build. With a solid set of plans, you would be surprised by how efficiently you can populate a map, even one as large as the Spellbreak map.
Texturing
80lv: Could you tell us a little bit about the way you’ve been working on the production of the textures? We’re really interested to learn your general pipeline and especially talk about the shaders you are using. All the textures look very cool and soft, creating this lovely atmosphere of a cartoon.
At a high level we’ve tried to create a strong hierarchy of detail/color/contrast in our shaders/materials that works well for gameplay and mimics the aesthetic of 2D animation. In order of visual primacy – Combat VFX > Characters > Environments. Almost every surface in Spellbreak uses some form of toon shading. We developed a shader for use in Unreal materials that makes use of a ramp-like texture to define how the lighting wraps around surface normals. This material can smoothly blend between an artist-controlled cel-shaded look, standard PBR lighting, and any indirect lighting contribution. Characters are almost always completely cel-shaded, omit indirect lighting, and use very flat textures to reinforce a 2D look. The background/environments are also cell shaded, but we tend to use the PBR blending a little more case by case. Environment textures contain more detail than the characters and are more heavily sculpted with chunkier, impasto-like shapes. We also use some styled edge highlighting and distance thresholds for extra detail, but we use more muted color palettes and try to avoid a lot of noise and high contrast specularity.
There’s often a player expectation of amazing detail up close, but that detail can turn into a lot of noise at a distance. Many of our materials contain distance thresholds to simplify color palettes, alpha masks, and other details so that they can sit properly in the game’s visual hierarchy at any distance from the player. This is probably most noticeable with tree foliage. We set some distance thresholds that simplify the alpha masks at controlled distances so that we can get simpler looking styled tree silhouettes that feel a bit more painterly than if we simply relied on basic texture mipmaps.
Visual Effects
80lv: Another big feature of the game is those stunning visual effects! The explosions are both massive and incredibly well-made. Could you talk a little bit about the way you’ve approached this part of your production? How did you work on the stylized volumetric effects? Did you do everything in the engine or did you use Houdini? What way did you scale the effects and adapt them to the gameplay features?
At the beginning of the project, we didn’t have much experience creating VFX, but we knew that we wanted to capture the look of 2D animation. We spent a while exploring methods entirely in Unreal that could achieve this look, that would be fully 3D, that would eschew time-intensive processes (like actually drawing things frame by frame), and that would allow for a lot of iteration and design changes. For the final results, we’ve developed a handful of tricks all in service of evoking the look of hand-drawn aesthetics.
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One of the most impressive aspects of Amulft is its stunning artwork. The illustrations are masterfully done, capturing the essence of each scene and bringing the characters to life. The vivid colors and attention to detail create a visually stunning reading experience that truly immerses readers in the world of Amulft. Moreover, the series delves into important themes such as friendship, sacrifice, and the power of determination. Through Amulft's journey, readers are reminded of the strength of the human spirit and the impact that individuals can make when they stand up for what is right. Amulft has garnered critical acclaim for its thought-provoking storytelling and exceptional artwork. It has won numerous awards and has a dedicated fan base that eagerly awaits each new installment. The series has also inspired merchandise such as collectible figurines, clothing, and accessories, further cementing its place in popular culture. In conclusion, Amulft is a must-read graphic novel series that offers a captivating blend of storytelling and artwork. It takes readers on an unforgettable journey through a richly imagined world, filled with compelling characters and intricate plotlines. Whether you are a fan of graphic novels or simply enjoy a thrilling and visually stunning read, Amulft is a series worth exploring..
Reviews for "The Intricate Plot Twists of the Amulft Graphic Novel Series"
1. John - 1 star
I found the Amulft graphic novel series to be extremely disappointing. The artwork was subpar, with poorly drawn characters and inconsistent backgrounds. The plot was also confusing and hard to follow, with too many characters introduced without any explanation. It felt like the creators were trying to cram too much into each volume, resulting in a convoluted mess. Overall, I would not recommend this series to anyone looking for a well-executed graphic novel experience.
2. Sarah - 2 stars
I had high hopes for the Amulft graphic novel series, but sadly it fell short of my expectations. The story started off promising, but quickly became predictable and formulaic. The characters lacked depth and development, making it difficult to feel invested in their journeys. Additionally, the dialogue was clunky and unnatural, making it hard to connect with the story on an emotional level. While the artwork was decent, it wasn't enough to salvage the overall lackluster experience of reading this series.
3. Mike - 2.5 stars
While the Amulft graphic novel series had some interesting ideas, it ultimately failed to deliver a captivating story. The pacing was uneven, with long stretches of inaction followed by sudden bursts of chaotic events. This made it difficult to stay engaged and invested in the narrative. Additionally, the dialogue felt forced and cliché, lacking any real depth or authenticity. I also found the characters to be one-dimensional, with little growth or meaningful development throughout the series. Overall, while there were some enjoyable aspects, the series as a whole left much to be desired.