Bringing Nefertiti to Life

In the world of Godforge, character design isn’t just about creating stunning visuals—it’s about crafting heroes with a rich identity and lore that seamlessly integrate into the game. In a recent deep dive, Simon from Fateless Games took us behind the scenes to explore the concepting process of Nefertiti, a rare hero from the Aaru faction. With the guidance of Alex, the art director from Magic Media, we get an in-depth look at how a character goes from a simple idea to a fully realized design. Let’s break it all down!

For those unfamiliar, the Aaru faction in Godforge features heroes deeply inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology. Players have already seen some of these powerful figures come to life, including Horus, Isis, Anubis, and Ramses, who has already gone through the full 3D rendering process. Now, it’s time for Nefertiti to take center stage.

Alex explains that Nefertiti is based on the legendary Egyptian queen, who lived around 1370 BC. With such a historically significant figure as inspiration, the team had to carefully balance historical accuracy with the unique fantasy elements of Godforge.

The first step in the design process is setting up a mood board. This step helps capture the essence of the character and serves as a guide for shaping their overall look. Alex’s mood board for Nefertiti included:

• The famous bust of Nefertiti (currently displayed in Berlin, Germany)
• Various ancient Egyptian paintings and symbols
• AI-generated references for potential facial structures

By gathering these resources, the team establishes a clear direction for Nefertiti’s design before moving on to sketching.

Using Photoshop as his main tool, Alex begins sketching Nefertiti’s design over a 3D base model. The initial rough sketches focus on establishing key silhouettes and shapes. This phase is crucial because a strong silhouette ensures that a character remains visually distinct, even from a distance.

Alex also emphasizes shape flow, a design principle that ensures all visual elements guide the viewer’s eye naturally across the character’s body. Some of the important details that emerge in this phase include:

• Egyptian-style bracelets and arm accessories
• A regal yet elegant posture to highlight her queenly presence
• Avoiding an overly “sexy” appearance in favor of a more powerful and sophisticated look

This initial sketching stage lays the foundation for refining Nefertiti’s details and personality before moving on to colors.

Once the rough sketch is in place, it’s time to breathe life into the design with colors. Drawing from the famous Nefertiti bust, Alex chooses a muted blue and gold palette, symbolizing royalty and divinity in Egyptian culture. However, due to age and wear, historical artifacts often appear faded. To adjust for this, Alex deepens some of the hues, making them more vibrant and suitable for a high-fantasy game setting.

A key trick used during this phase is the Dodge Tool and Burn Tool in Photoshop, which help refine shadows and highlights, giving the gold elements a realistic metallic shine. These tools are especially useful when working without direct photo references.

Since Nefertiti is a rare-tier hero, her design process differs slightly from that of legendary or epic-tier characters. While legendary heroes in Godforge are built almost entirely from scratch, rare heroes often incorporate pre-defined parts from existing characters. This speeds up the design process while maintaining a high-quality aesthetic.

For Nefertiti, Alex repurposed elements from other Godforge characters, such as:

• Lower arm pieces from another female character
• Upper arm armor originally designed for Ramses
• A decorative chest piece from Bastet

To maintain a unique look, these elements are then retextured and adjusted to blend seamlessly with Nefertiti’s design. This method allows the art team to maintain efficiency while delivering a polished final result.

With all the major design choices in place, the last step is review and refinement. Nefertiti’s design goes through multiple iterations with feedback from different members of the team:

1. Dane from Fateless Games provides initial feedback on any necessary refinements.
2. Esther from Magic Media does an overpaint, further improving details and ensuring the design meets the game’s artistic standards.
3. Final adjustments are made before Nefertiti moves on to 3D modeling and implementation in the game.

This collaborative effort ensures that every hero in Godforge meets the high-quality standards that players expect.

Seeing a hero like Nefertiti come to life is a fascinating journey, showcasing the careful planning, artistic talent, and strategic efficiency behind Godforge’s character design process. From mood boards to sketching, coloring, and refinement, each step is crucial in creating a hero that not only looks incredible but also fits seamlessly within the game’s world.

As Godforge continues to expand its roster of heroes, it’s exciting to see how these techniques evolve and shape the game’s ever-growing universe. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes looks at upcoming heroes, and be sure to keep an eye out for Nefertiti when she finally arrives in the game!