COH Art Book Final

THE ART OF THE COMPANY OF HEROES SERIES TM

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Foreword

FOREWORD

Heroes has always been to create Our approach with Company o Heroes has

were the other important eature to this battle. Tey effected the

an authentic World War War II experience. One o the primar y

outcome o the battle by slowing the German advance and making

ways we deliver on that authenticity is by ocusing on where

it difficult to flush out Allied orces. We urther simulated the

environment meets gameplay, and try to answer the question:

realities o this battle through the use o choke points or vehicles

what is unique about the various regions o Europe and how do

and inantry only sections.

those regions influence the b attles ought there? In addition to environments, we also raise the bar with our in-game units by

Ultimately, this book showcases some o the art and game design

using new techniques and sofware to urther push the quality o

concepts the team incorporated to help bring this renowned

our materials and delve deeper into the realm o believabilit y.

ranchise to lie. We eel we were able to deliver a quality product that hit all the note s we wanted it to. We hope you enjoy!

As we began researching the Ardennes region in preparation or Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault, we Assault, we identified defining

Ian Cumming,

eatures that would help our maps stand out. Te overall color

Art Director, Director, Company o Heroes 2

palette or the area, rom buildings to the fields and orests were vibrant and almost untouched by the war. Tis was our angle. Te idea o providing players a beautiul, pristine landscape to play in but also be able to destroy seemed very appealing. Forests

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Foreword

FOREWORD

Heroes has always been to create Our approach with Company o Heroes has

were the other important eature to this battle. Tey effected the

an authentic World War War II experience. One o the primar y

outcome o the battle by slowing the German advance and making

ways we deliver on that authenticity is by ocusing on where

it difficult to flush out Allied orces. We urther simulated the

environment meets gameplay, and try to answer the question:

realities o this battle through the use o choke points or vehicles

what is unique about the various regions o Europe and how do

and inantry only sections.

those regions influence the b attles ought there? In addition to environments, we also raise the bar with our in-game units by

Ultimately, this book showcases some o the art and game design

using new techniques and sofware to urther push the quality o

concepts the team incorporated to help bring this renowned

our materials and delve deeper into the realm o believabilit y.

ranchise to lie. We eel we were able to deliver a quality product that hit all the note s we wanted it to. We hope you enjoy!

As we began researching the Ardennes region in preparation or Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault, we Assault, we identified defining

Ian Cumming,

eatures that would help our maps stand out. Te overall color

Art Director, Director, Company o Heroes 2

palette or the area, rom buildings to the fields and orests were vibrant and almost untouched by the war. Tis was our angle. Te idea o providing players a beautiul, pristine landscape to play in but also be able to destroy seemed very appealing. Forests

Content Summary

CONTENT SUMMARY

4 Concepts and Prototypes 19 Map Design 26 Unit Visual Design 33 Shipping the Game

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Concepts and Prototypes

CONCEPTS AND PROTOTYPES Mood Pieces During the early stages o game development, concept art like those pictured in the ollowing pages help set the tone or the overall game. Tey help the entire team share the same mental image o what the game strives to be like and guides the entire development process. By comparing the pieces o artwork, one can understand the evolution o this ranchise. And, in the case o Ardennes Assault , it’s apparent how different the US Forces are rom the other actions in the core game: less armored units at their dispo sal; tighter and more strongly coordinated squads and a more commando-style approach.

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Concepts and Prototypes / Mood Pieces

Company o Heroes 2

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Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault

Concepts and Prototypes / Maps

Maps Even beore they are thought o in terms o gameplay and level design, maps must be considered in terms o overall mood, atmosphere and identity. A great map is a subtle combination o how well it plays and how unique & memorable it looks. Tis is even more crucial or a single-player campaign, during which players are to ollow a set and linear path tied to a storyline. In such case, not only do the environments have to provide a good enough sense o variety, they also have to heighten the tension and the drama o the plot.

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Company o Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Company o Heroes: Opposing Fronts

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Company o Heroes

Company o Heroes

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Company o Heroes

Company o Heroes

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Company o Heroes

Concepts and Prototypes / From Prototype to the Final Game

From Prototype to the Final Game Final art assets are ofen implemented at the last stages o development, long afer gameplay mechanics and level design are locked down. Te ollowing prototype images showcase the evolution o game’s engine over the development liecycle. Pay attention to the UI and you will notice that the original Company o Heroes was actually prototyped using the Impossible Creatures engine. Tese early prototypes are crucial as they give an idea o what we can realistically achieved once the game is completed. Te team will create a tech demo early on enabling them to ocus on a limited set o art assets and maps to act as a quality benchmark that represents the final quality o the game.

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From Prototype to the Final Game

Company o Heroes ( Prototype)

Company o Heroes ( Final )

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Evolution o the Angoville Map




Map Design

MAP DESIGN Where Art Meets Gameplay Te Company o Heroes series calls or maps that balance the historical / visual fidelity with the demands o interesting gameplay situations. As can be seen on the map exploration concept on the ollowing page, artists and map designers are constantly weighing their design decisions against a couple o key questions: Is it plausible enough? Is it visually interesting? Does it serve any interesting gameplay purpose? Tose are the three main objectives that the various components o the map have to meet to be part o the final design.

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Map Design / Where Art Meets Gameplay

Map Goals opography: – A dense playable orest with vehicle prohibiting border – Can it still hold up visually once bombed? – ‘Inantry entrance’ treatment; lighting and terrain to lead player in – How dense can we get a town without break pathing/gameplay? – Achieve the ‘eel’ o being in a valley with terrain what are limits? Pristine Landscape: – Achieve a believable orchard that doesn’t break gameplay – Rural roadway and tree arrangements – Belgian specific arm compound layout – Beligian specific building treatments or town – Beligian rural building treatment looking or high contrast to terrain Defining eatures: – Iconic structures; what can we reuse? – Iconic structures; what are we missing?

Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault

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A lot o research goes into making sure that the battlefields created or the game are believable. And in the case o Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault , which takes place in the rather densely orested Ardennes region, trees were evidently given quite a bit o attention. Nevertheless, when it comes to game design, un & balance trump realism. And so the oliage o some trees had to be made a bit thinner in order or players to still get enough o a glimpse o what i s happening around those areas.



Oak Summer variants

Pine variants

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Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault Oak Tree L - Modifications (Lef) – Punched holes in tree or more visibility o units to create asymmetry or better reuse throughout map – Mainly deleted billboard leaves, very ew static leaves removed – Removed two secondary branches to create holes

Map Design / Color Palette & Identity

Color Palette & Identity As Ardennes Assault ocused on the events around the Battle o the Bulge, the game’s single-player campaign aced the challenge o a distinguishing a limited se t o similar looking environments (e.g. the Ardennes orest region). In order to still give players a sense o progression and variety throughout the campaign maps, while still keeping a consistent setting, the art team used plants to build specific undertones into the environment. Tis resulted in each map having a sub tly dominant color, with the overall color range mirroring the emotional journey o the player as he gets deeper into the darkest and grittiest parts o the conflict.

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Beore (Lef)

Afer (Right)

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Light – Colour XP – Persistent

Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault Company o Heroes 2 Colour range

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Unit Visual Design

UNIT VISUAL DESIGN

Te design o the units – and their choice o gear – is motivated by historical accuracy as well as how readable their unctions will remain to players. It’s also critical to give each unit a unique style that is special and memorable. Te ollowing pages, displaying side by side comparisons o antagonist actions, illustrates how distinct shapes and colors were used to differentiate the units (within their own army and their opponents) – all o it while staying within the realm o the plausible equipment or the time. Company o Heroes 2 makes heavy use o climatic effects, this task was made even more complex with the introduction o skin variants or the winter period and the summer period.

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Unit Visual Design

Unit Archetypes: US Forces Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault – Warm hues – Worn, battle atigued – Heavier winterized treatment – Uniorms the same across seasons Inantry

- Simple silhouette - Plain pattern - Not a lot o detail - Monotone - minimize backpack

Elite

- Complex silhouette - Broken pattern - Contrast and detail - Duotone - Heavier below waist

Utility

- op heavy silhouette - Heavy backpack - Not as much contrast - lots o packs - Duotone, dark top - minimize side pockets

Rear Echelon

- Simple silhouette - Long coat - Not a lot o detail - Duotone, coat/pants - minimal accessories

Stealth

– Not a lot o winter clothing – Addition o scarves, gloves or winter

- Simple silhouette - Monotone - Lots o detail, low contrast - Blends with terrain - Blend in accessories

Paratrooper: Elite Unit

Variations slight adjustments or variety but stays within Archetype guidelines

Follows pattern, colour and weight guidelines but doesn’t utilize duotone. Tis still fits within the Elite Archetype guidelines

Readability in game (Top) Making sure the Archetype rules read and help identiy unit

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Unit Visual Design

Unit Archetypes: Oberkommando West Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault – Cool blue/green hues, darker – Clean – Light winterized treatment – Uniorms the same across seasons Brigadeuhrer (Officer,Major)

Panzerusilier (Armoured Inantry)

Volksgrenadier (Inantry)

Waffen SS Inantry (Elite)

Fallschirmjaeger (Paratroopers)

Pioneers (Engineers)

– Organized, well equipped – Addition o scarves, gloves or winter

- High-contrast duotone - Low contrast duotone - Low contrast duotone - Monotone

- Low-contrast duotone

- Shearling jacket over

(light over dark)

uniorm

- Overcoat + Camo smock

- No web-gear

- Some web-gear

- No backpack

- No backpack

- Overcoat - Minimal web-gear - No backpack

- Bottom heavy silhouette - Camo uniorm - Some web-gear - No backpack

Winter Variations

(light over dark) - Bottom heavy silhouette - Camo short-legged overalls over uniorm - Lots o web-gear

- High-contrast duotone (dark over light) - Bulky silhouette - Lots o web-gear - Large backpack

- Small backpack

Readability in game (Top) Making sure the Archetype rules read and help identiy unit

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Unit Visual Design

Unit – Soldier Company o Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault US Forces – Elite Archetype (Lef) – Complex silhouette – Broken pattern – Contrast and detail – Duotone

Concept

Model

– Heavier below waist

Archetype rules remain legible at each stage rom concept to model

Patterns and Silhouette need to read clearly at each stage

In Game

Some adjustments were made to push contrast back into the pattern design to make sure they were readable rom deault camera Readability in game (Top) Legible rom Deault Camera

Unit Visual Design

Company o Heroes 2: Uniorm Colour Studies (Applied) Russian

German

Summer

Summer

Winter

Winter

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Unit Visual Design

Company o Heroes 2 Winter VS Summer Skin Sets or the Wehrmacht Ostheer Officer

Pioneer

ank Hunter


Ostruppen

LMG Squad

Vehicle / Artillery Crew

Mortar Squad

HMG Squad

PanzerGrenadier

Sniper

Grenadier

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Unit Visual Design

Company o Heroes 2 Winter VS Summer Skin Sets or the Soviet Union Officer

Sniper


Combat Engineer Squad

Recon Squad

Constripts Squad

Weapons Specialist

Mortar Squad

ank Crew - Male

Elite Rifle Squad Soldier

ank Crew - Female

Shock roops

Maxim Machine Gun Squad

Soviet Medic

Shipping the Game

SHIPPING THE GAME Marketing Assets Even in the digital age, the box art o a game remains o paramount importance. It is the visual constant that everyone interacts with whether digitally or hard copy. Relic is lucky enough to have ownership o this critical touchpoint as opposed to having it created by a team outside the studio. Te studio’s art team works closely with the marketing team to come up with key marketing visuals, as can be seen here with an early concept or Ardennes Assault’s box art.

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Shipping the Game / Marketing Assets

Box Art Exploration

An early packaging exploration or Ardennes Assault , along with its previous “working title”

Box Format

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COH Art Book Final

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