Artbook Heavens Hope ENGLISH

THE ART OF

Foreword by Helge C. Balzer

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CONTENTS FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CHARACTER ART . . . . . . . . . 6 S K E T C H E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 18 LOCATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3D MODELS . . . . . . . . . . . 28 INTERFACE . . . . . . . . . . . .30 ART-TEAM & CREDITS . . . . . .32

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FOREWORD The creation of this adventure was itself in many ways an adventure adventure.. It wasn‘t just the long and pretty rocky road we had to walk before the project was finally realized. No, Heaven‘s Hope meant an individual challenge and special experience for each and every one of us in senior management. In my case, it was first and foremost venturing into uncharted territory, a completely different design style, much more cartoony and comic-like and more caricatural than the one I‘m used to as a designer focussed more on Dark Fantasy. The related learning processes I was subject to as lead artist for this game have engendered wide-ranging ripples within my own art and today actually influence my work in completely different genres.

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Another fact that must be mentioned is that Heaven‘s Hope went through a veritable rollercoaster ride of different visual designs on its way through two prototypes, a funding proposal and finally the influences of our partner EuroVideo, with their years of experience. This gave birth to a wildly diverse array of designs, sketches and concepts, of which but a few of the most select eventually managed to find their way into the actual game. And so it is to those ideas and artworks discarded in the process of creating Heaven‘s Hope, as well as the little stories behind the story, that this artbook is dedicated... So break a wing – and a halo. ;-) Helge.

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TALOREL As the main character , Talorel experienced the most changes on his journey through all our attempts, do-overs and revisions. Even his nature as a character was subject to cheerful experiment. Sometimes loving and naive, sometimes old, grouchy and cynical.

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I think we spent days discussing and experimenting, weighing and exploring almost every avenue. In the end, out came out the friendly, quirky and occasionally somewhat naive Talorel, whose properties as the (anti-) hero of our little story fit the essence of the story perfectly.

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INHABITANTS The world of Heaven‘s Hope is peopled by the strangest and most bizarre figures and creatures. It was important to us that these characters‘ natures and presentation reflect the quirky, wacky story and narrative style, allowing them to fit as seamlessly as possible into the context of the game. With Bill, for example, it was important for for him to portray the usual benevolent mentor who, at the same time, is also rebelling against the Inquisition and resisting the injustice in Heaven‘s Hope in his own way. Cartwright, on the other hand, belongs to the aristocracy. He has no need of money, so his antique shop is really just a facade to indulge his love for very old things. Since this emotional characteristic in some ways contrasts with what is expected of the truly blue-blooded, this character represents an interesting bundle of contradictions, for which I as a designer am always very thankful. The mouse, Poe the Raven and Anselm the Homunculus are some of the non-human inhabitants of Heaven‘s Hopes. While the mouse and Anselm are two of the actively employable player sidekicks, Poe is both a help and a hindrance in a variety of puzzles. Anselm‘s appearance in particular gave rise to a fierce entrenched battle. I think Myriel (Game Design) only managed to prevail against Seckin (Producer) in the end through through the use of perfidious blackmail and shady intrigue. ;) Well, at any rate, she had the last word.

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Greta and McCallum were established very early on. I think only two designs were needed for each before everyone had given their „Go“. Greta wears the habit of a nun of the Dominican Order, subtly underlining the Inquisition theme, while McCallum is a burly veteran sergeant of Irish descent dressed in the mandatory redcoat of the royal regiments. Marla is a snotty little girl who jealously guards her secret Detective‘s Club. The bum or village idiot was the product of a case of high spirits. There was definitely a lot of red wine involved, at any rate. In short, we thought that any angel story worth its‘ salt also needed a misunderstood, crazy prophet as a running gag.

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We really have quite the collection of bizarre characters who wander through Heaven‘s Hope bloviating and are both a hindrance and a help. We also put a lot of time and love into the development of these characters. One of the hardest parts of developing a group like that is the balance between appearance, traits and function. As colorful and chaotic as the world of Heaven‘s Hope may seem, the whole thing is based upon a well thought-out balance structure.

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S KETCHES

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L OCATIONS I think nothing in this game was changed as often and as fundamentally as the locations. „Somewhere between Sleepy Hollow and Monkey Island“ Seckin (Producer) said to me back in 2010. At least that remained unchanged! The following pages show for the most part old screens from prototypes and the concept drawer. I was usually the axial point during that whole concept development phase, constantly bombarded from all sides with: „But I like the old ones better“ or „Now I like the new ones most, but why the hell do we need to develop another batch...“

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But I think the most decisive graphical influence finally came from Jan (Executive Producer) - who otherwise gave us completely unrestricted artistic freedom - when he suggested to me in confidence that a massive lightening of the atmosphere and more friendly game design was required. Finally, I had to convince my grumbling team once again; even though our publishers had my back, it still demanded a lot of diplomacy and more than a few threatening gestures. ;-)

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Heavens Hope is a 2.5D Adventure, telling the tale of Talorel, an “inadvertently” fallen angel candidate and stunt flying student. Relive a fantastic adventure from the fall to the re-ascension of Talorel in a colourful blend of humour and amusing horror. Find Heavens Hope is a 2.5D Adventure, telling the tale of Talorel, an “inadvertently” fallen angel candidate and stunt

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3 D MODELS We decided on a combination of 2D and 3D graphics for reasons of production flexibility and the variety of artistic possibilities. It was very important to us to keep the voluminous, relaxed style of the concept art alive throughout the entire creative process. Another Another very difficult task is fusing the 2D and 3D graphics so that everything works seamlessly later on. Our partners at Lumatics did a great  job in accomplishing that!

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I NTERFACE The user interface was a battleground upon which countless designs gave their lives. This is always a particularly hot topic because the Technical Director, Art Director and Game Designer can all justify their need for more influence. But I think we finally found the best solution for the game without having to reinvent the wheel.

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C REDITS Producer Seçkin Ölmez Creative Director Myriel Balzer Art Director, Illustrator und Concept Artist Helge C. Balzer 3D Art - Lumatics GmbH & Co. KG Dennis Rettkowski Alexander Pohl