COH Concept Gallery

So for a long time, I've been meaning to post my COH concept art in one convenient place for easy perusal, and I've finally gotten around to it! If anyone's interested, you can find the work at my new DeviantArt page, PIXELSAURUS.

So far, I've uploaded 41 pieces that cover Issue 14 through the GOING ROGUE era of the game, and I hope they'll make for an interesting behind-the-scenes tour of how these familiar characters and locations first began to take shape.

Very soon, my hope is to add more recent work from CITY OF HEROES FREEDOM, but stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I'd be more than happy to field questions about this material or about concept art in general. Curious how a specific asset came together? Why we did X instead of Y? How to get a certain effect in Photoshop? Just let me know--it's always fun to talk shop about concept art.

Cheers,
NS

Exellent work, David. I am totally looking forward to the FREEDOM designs soon

I've been watching that page as you've been uploading the art - the things that I found especially interesting were the things that got cut or changed - like the original Paretorian tech lab concepts, and the neon lights and signs idea for Imperial City

Excellent work. Really enjoy seeing the work that goes into bringing the vision to life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frosty_Femme I said "ur" which is not a word. It's a sound dumb people make when you ask them to spell out "you are".

Thank you for sharing all those! The footnotes were especially helpful to draw attention to the details of each picture. It was fun to peruse the beginnings and the might-have-beens.

I rather enjoyed the pictures and insights of your namesake: Noble Savage. Also, the Magisterium was great, as you can't get that much of a birds-eye view in-game even from the highest flying point. And of course it was a treat to see your concept piece that was the first to actually make it into the game.

Now I want to go re-read the original comics then go through the current Praetoria zones and stories again. Thank you for all you have done over the years to shape City Of Heroes!

Excellent. I so enjoy seeing the concept art behind what we have in game. Thank you for sharing!

You mentioned the more realistic style you're going for in Going Rogue, and I'm wondering if by that you mean 'movie oriented'? For example, the promo art for Who Will Die Part 3 clearly shows a patterning on Statesman's costume and cape which I found reminiscent of the Superman Returns suit. And how is that effect achieved in your work? I find it adds a nice depth to bodysuits like his that are otherwise relatively featureless.

On that, can you forsee textures/patterns being incorporated to costume sets (I see it somewhat on the Thorns and IDF costumes) on a general level?


S.

Your old deviantart page was already in my google chrome favourites.
Awesome sketches! I admire your work, I love drawing and I can say you are amoung my favourite artist.

I want Calvin Scott's Belt as a costume item!

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

Been reading through your notes on some of the concept pieces, and I just want to point out that Bobcat is in Studio 55 (not 54, as your note says, David).

Also... Wow, loving these pieces!

Any chance for more full comics, even if they are electronic only? I'd love to see you and Hickman collaborating on some behind-the-scenes stuff that is both ingame and here on the forums.

And Samuraiko can do the trailers for you!

After seeeing your concept art, I'm surprised at how much detail or them was preserved in world objects; and equally surprised at how much detail was lost creating the in-game characters.

I noticed for instance that the size difference between the male and female concept characters was not so vastly different as they are in the game. While that doesn't seem like much of a point, it is when you get to Noble Savage. Making Maurader the largest possible size really took away from the impact of Noble Savage's "I'm a lab experiment" look. And don't get me started on Mother Mayhem.

P.S. Yes, I know there are limitations in a 5-year old game engine. It would still have been nice to see the concepts more true to form.

Great work that gives great insight. Almost like you're on the Praetoria City Planning Commission, which effectively you are .

You're artwork is great. Bobcat still looks terrible though

- Were you given any instructions/mandates other than "make cool stuff we haven't seen before" for creating the pieces?

- Was there a story (the official one or a personally-created one) that you followed to make the designs? Like a timeline for which tech led to which and why it looks different (and so cool), or was it matching everything to an initial piece created from Rule of Cool?

- What music inspired you during Going Rogue, or do you get your inspiration elsewhere?

Some really nice art in that gallery. i sort of wish they'd used the cargo escalator concept for the the Praetorian tech map stairs.

Would it be best to post comments in the Divart pages or put them all here?

Those are awesome sketches. Shame they aren't a smidge bigger, some of them would make tremendous desktop wallpapers