2025-07-11 · Art & world

Art overhaul, armor presentation, and undead environment concepts

A substantial portion of the recording focuses on visual development, especially armor presentation, race-specific architecture, and the ongoing overhaul of character art.

Character and race visual overhaul

The game is undergoing a broad redesign of characters, including appearance and animation quality. This follows an earlier overhaul of the environment. The stated goal is not a shift to realism, but a major improvement within the game's stylized direction.

The redesign applies across races rather than to a single faction. The Gronthar are mentioned specifically in response to a question, but the answer states that every race is being reworked visually.

Armor construction and silhouette

Armor is described as moving away from flatter, texture-driven presentation toward more volumetric forms. Added physical volume on shoulders, boots, and torso pieces is considered important for making characters look more substantial.

Armor sets are also shaped to fit the silhouette of each race rather than being treated as simple texture swaps. The explanation references a system of attachment bones, base meshes, and sockets used to build visual variety while preserving race-specific fit.

The recording also notes that creating a true undead version of another race would require more than recoloring or texture work. Features such as exposed bones and altered body shape would effectively make it a new race from an art-production standpoint.

Druid and plate armor concepts

Concept art shown includes druid armor experiments and at least one plate armor concept. The druid set is discussed in terms of silhouette and visual effects potential, while the plate set is used to illustrate the move toward more dimensional armor modeling.

Undead architecture and props

The current environmental focus is the undead race. The team is working through a race's architecture in a concentrated way before moving on to another one. Concepts shown include an undead forge, interior floor layouts, crypt-like structures, and a castle ground-floor plan associated with Hostad Castle (caption unclear on spelling).

Some architecture pieces are intentionally designed for reuse in multiple locations, including battleground spaces, while still preserving a distinct undead style. Because undead are described as formerly human, some of their architecture retains echoes of human construction.

Undead elevator concept

An undead-themed elevator is shown as an environmental asset exploration. The footage is described as not final and lacking full post-processing, but it is presented as part of a push to improve visual quality over earlier builds. A rotating mechanical element is discussed as a possible animated detail.

Early building and interior exploration

Very early examples of building interiors and floor decoration are shown as rough explorations rather than approved final assets. These are presented as studies of how interior spaces may be unveiled and dressed.

Historical visual progression

The recording compares very old images of Scars of Honor with more recent builds to illustrate how much the project has changed. Extremely early solo-developed prototypes, first public test screenshots, older human models, and outdated environment shots are all described as no longer representative.

This is presented as both a benefit and a drawback of open development: old media remains searchable and can create a misleading first impression for new viewers even after the game has advanced significantly.

Mount concept art

One mount concept is highlighted as a favorite, though it is also said not to have made it into the game in that form. The mention serves mainly as an example of concept work that existed during earlier phases of development.

Source

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