Immersion in games is found in visual elements that build a virtual human connection, which means your world-building needs to have this, too.
The key to standing out is a perfectly tuned story that uses culture, fashion design, product design, and cinematography to problem-solve new solutions in a strategic way and deliver an experience for players to engage with.
It’s a mix of appeal and function, which is, of course, the hard part. (Always has been!)
This is why I point a lot of my clients to a good research process, before we start any work, because unlike an AI database that tries to repeat what other people perceive as good, the research phase will find what is your edge amongst the competition, for you, it’ll find what you want to say and that only you can offer, so you virtually have no competition.
Great projects do this.
Deux Ex is a Renaissance period with a sci-fi skin on top.
Fallout is a Cold War era period with a nuclear sci-fi spin on the Atomic Age.
Witcher is a medieval fantasy supported by Slavic folklore.
Wolfenstein is WW2 with historical drift.
Great projects have authentic roots. It’s what makes them believable and touches people, builds community, and of course, sales.
The Best Strategies for Concept Art
It’s almost a religious habit now to avoid looking at other Concept Artists’ work when I’m creating something new. I’ve gotten comfortable with this way of working so much that being influenced by someone else’s final product makes the process harder for me.
When designing robots, I look at the latest developments from Boston Dynamics, Open Bionics, and ASIMO.
When designing dragons, I study bugs and lizards.
Art imitates life, and it’s hard to design while looking at the world through someone else’s viewpoint, trying to copy experiences that are theirs and which I haven’t lived.
