Influences.

Post » Sat May 12, 2012 11:57 am

(Devs, feel free to chip in.)

I see some really interesting influences colliding for Dishonored. Let's discuss!

Someone seems to have been reading a lot of China Mieville. :biggrin: It's really clear to me in what's been released so far. Particularly, they seem to be (subconsciously?) filtering in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas-Lag and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rat_%281998_novel%29 influences.

The visual style has me more confused. I see Half-Life and Thief, but what else? I don't know much about art. Are there any specific styles or periods the game seems to lean on?
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April
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 7:05 am

The team said during the Game Informer interview that they were trying to take their inspiration from art and books, as opposed to movies and other games. Arkane developed Theif, so it's normal that you may see some of the same art style, and the lead artist on Dishonored (Viktor Antonov) was the lead artist on Half-Life 2.
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Multi Multi
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 8:08 am

The team said during the Game Informer interview that they were trying to take their inspiration from art and books, as opposed to movies and other games. Arkane developed Theif, so it's normal that you may see some of the same art style, and the lead artist on Dishonored (Viktor Antonov) was the lead artist on Haf-Life 2.
C'mon Arkane did not make Thief http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkane_Studios
But Harvey Smith (Co-creative director of Dishonored) came from the same company that did. There also may be a couple of other ex-LGS staff that are with Arkane now too that I am not certain though.

So the design of first person games made by Looking Glass studios are the primary influence I would have thought, I know if I were to make a game LGS and Arkane would be my Influences.
As for the Art style I have not got a clue other than thief and half-life 2.
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Jeremy Kenney
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 5:09 am

I know about the Half-Life and Thief influences, which is why I mentioned them. It was mentioned in interviews that their inspirations were mostly books and art, though, so I'm wondering if anyone's spotted what those inspirations were.
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Alex Blacke
 
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Post » Fri May 11, 2012 10:55 pm

I know about the Half-Life and Thief influences, which is why I mentioned them. It was mentioned in interviews that their inspirations were mostly books and art, though, so I'm wondering if anyone's spotted what those inspirations were.
Meh, the only art I pay attention to is games themselves, and the art within them. for example in sytem shock 2 there is digital art terminals on the walls that you can scroll through. the whole game is a truely advanced art form, the fact it has traditional paintings within it is proof of that. granted in vanilla SS2 they were slightly blurry but modders have took that game to perfection near enough, the art terminals look beautiful now. hold on ill get some screenshots.

EDIT: can only upload images via URL, yet for profile pics you can upload from your hard drive, i dont get it?
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Jenna Fields
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 10:16 am

C'mon Arkane did not make Thief http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkane_Studios
But Harvey Smith (Co-lead designer of Dishonored) came from the same company that did. There also may be a couple of other ex-LGS staff that are with Arkane now too that I am not certain though.

So the design of first person games made by Looking Glass studios are the primary influence I would have thought, I know if I were to make a game LGS and Arkane would be my Influences.
As for the Art style I have not got a clue other than thief and half-life 2.
Sorry, my mistake. As for books and art, all that I can think of right now is H. P. Lovecraft.
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Milagros Osorio
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 7:15 am

Sorry, my mistake. As for books and art, all that I can think of right now is H. P. Lovecraft.
Yeah maybe.
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stevie trent
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 11:14 am

My girlfriend watched some developer interviews and says that they took inspiration from early 20th century painters and photography. I'm not sure I see it, yet, except in the concept art. But then, we haven't really seen much of the world. More stuff to look at, please, devs. :D (Also, gameplay footage!)
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pinar
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 6:36 am

Is it just me, or does Dishonored have a serious Ghormenghast-ian vibe to it, too?

I am totally pumped for this to come out. Ghormenghast + China Mieville + H.P Lovecraft? Who could NOT like this? Who? That's right. No one!
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Toby Green
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 6:42 am

I know that they are staying away from video game influences, but I am hoping more and more that the game goes in the direction of Bioshock. I love everything about Bioshock, and I think that Dishonored could really benefit from going down that route. I know that they have been compared before, and I hope that the comparisons continue.
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Alexx Peace
 
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Post » Fri May 11, 2012 7:56 pm

While the similarities are somewhat unavoidable -- each replaces steam with some other pseudo-scientific/magical/awesome energy source -- I like that Dishonored veers away from steampunk and into "whalepunk". Bioshock Infinity's coming out this year, too, so I think I'd just feel more meh about both projects if they aped each other's style. If you're going to stylise a game significantly, you should go all out and try to create something different.
I'm happy that the similarities aren't glaring. Dishonored is slightly more realistic, is more distended/large than Bioshock, and it has a different colour palette, and I appreciate that.

I was surprised to hear Harvey Smith describe the world as "steampunk", considering how averse he was to the term previously. I think some marketing people got to him. :ninja:
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Brandon Wilson
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 12:08 am

I pray this game is more like System shock series than the Bioshock series. Bioshock is good but it simply cannot stand up to its big brother. Go play!
But it definately looks like bioshock, graphically, but it better have more depth, like SS2 or Deus ex.

" Look at You, Slacker!" (irrational) ha ha ha I laugh at my own joke cos no one else will get it. [censored]
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X(S.a.R.a.H)X
 
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Post » Fri May 11, 2012 8:30 pm

check out the gameinformer hub for dishonored and go to: look and feel of dishonored
the designers discuss their influences in the video.
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Britta Gronkowski
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 4:54 am

check out the gameinformer hub for dishonored and go to: look and feel of dishonored
the designers discuss their influences in the video.

Yes, I saw that. I wonder if those are the only influences, because I'm definitely seeing Mieville and Peake in the game. Mieville for the general whalepunk feel, and Peake for the macabre city and political intrigue. (And, honestly, I've been thinking about it and I don't really see Lovecraft. Lovecraft is too weird for what the games appears to be trying to be.)
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Heather M
 
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Post » Sat May 12, 2012 11:28 am

I saw Peake for the macabre city and political intrigue. (And, honestly, I've been thinking about it and I don't really see Lovecraft. Lovecraft is too weird for what the games appears to be trying to be.)

Do you really see Melvyn Peake? When I read the Ghormanghast Trilogy years ago, I never pictured in my mind anything like what I've seen so far for Dishonored. But then again the imagination is subjective. Likewise, any of Peake's illustrations I have seen, that I can remember don't make me think of this game, or rather the other way around. I do agree with you, though, about Lovecraft. I'm really not sure about any influence from him. I do tend to see a conglomeration of Victorian, Edwardian and eearly Industrial era art styles though. One painting that comes to mind is by James Whistler called something like "Old Battersea Bridge"...dunno, just syain' is all. :unsure2:

BTW, Oof, I tip my hat to you. It's not everyday you meet someone who has read the Ghormanghast Trilogy.
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sophie
 
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Post » Fri May 11, 2012 10:21 pm

Do you really see Melvyn Peake? When I read the Ghormanghast Trilogy years ago, I never pictured in my mind anything like what I've seen so far for Dishonored.

No? Do you remember how, for instance, the head cook was described in caricatured detail? Almost any character met throughout the course of the story is described in elaborate, exaggerated prose. The way that characters are drawn (with words, not pictures :tongue:) reminds me a lot of Dishonored's character design.

But then again the imagination is subjective. Likewise, any of Peake's illustrations I have seen, that I can remember don't make me think of this game, or rather the other way around.

That, I agree with. I don't see any of Peake's illustrations in Dishonored.

One painting that comes to mind is by James Whistler called something like "Old Battersea Bridge"...dunno, just syain' is all. :unsure2:

I looked that up. There's definitely a resemblance there. Whistler is the guy famous for painting his mum, isn't he... ? :tongue:

Ya, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McNeill_Whistler, and that is him. You're right. Particularly the concept art for Dishonored is very similar.

BTW, Oof, I tip my hat to you. It's not everyday you meet someone who has read the Ghormanghast Trilogy.

:nod: We who have read him tend to be awesome people. :wink: /awesomefive!
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Post » Fri May 11, 2012 8:09 pm

The first thing i tought when seeing the screenshots was... This is New Crobuzon style. Dishonored (hopefully) smells a lot like China Mievillè :)
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