We’ve been pretty busy here DC Universe Online, starting with our new Fall Homecoming season and into the spooky season with our Witching Hour season. Most importantly, we’ve been preparing for our next installment: The Sins of Black Adam.
Read on to learn more about the story of this episode and how our artists create the content in it DC Universe Onlinebringing them to life from conceptual art.
New episode: The Sins of Black Adam
A love that lasted forever. A deal went wrong. A daring escape from the underworld. All this and more awaits you in The Sins of Black Adam.
Black Adam’s attempt to save his lost love from the underworld has deadly consequences. They join an unlikely alliance between the Shazam family and Black Adam to reclaim Kahndaq and his beloved’s soul.
Along the way, you’ll encounter fearsome foes like Black Alice, Felix Faust, and the lord of the underworld himself: Neron.
A throne of lies
Every ruler, good or bad, needs a throne that reflects his power. Neron’s Throne is no exception! We spoke to Blake Henrikson, DCUOs Senior Concept Artist to learn more about his inspiration for the sinister seat.
Like many art forms, conceptual art is for DCUO starts with rough sketches. Rough refers to the level of detail and polish of the sketches.
Blake drew “a lot of inspiration from the typical visual elements you’d expect from the underworld, like skulls, horns, and chains,” but was also inspired by the contrast between Neron’s elegance and the fearsome aspects of the underworld.
“I wanted Neron’s throne to be an evocative contrast to his design,” Blake said, “and to refer to all the darker elements that lie beneath the surface.”
The devil is in the 3 details
Once the team provides feedback on the roughs, Blake incorporates that feedback into the final design for the piece.
“At this point in the design process, I have a choice of working purely in 2D or exploring in 3D and using that as a base before painting over it to create the final 2D image,” Blake notes.
Although he started out with 2D illustrations, Blake is a big fan of using 3D in his design process. “I think it can be really helpful to understand how a design translates into a 3D space. This is especially helpful when working on complex structures like Neron’s Throne.”
From concept to environment
The final step in the conceptual artist’s journey? Handing off the concept to an environment artist to build as a 3D in-game prop!
“Our environmental artist, Walter Diaz, did a great job bringing the concept to life,” notes Blake. “Glad for everyone to see it and get a glimpse of all the beautiful work he put into it!”
We may be biased, but we agree with Blake. This is how the throne looks in-game:
Want a closer look and see all the incredible detail our artists packed into Neron’s Throne? Don’t miss The Sins of Black Adam, the latest installment available now in DC Universe Online for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Download and play DC Universe Online today. It’s a great time to get in or get back into the game as all episodes are free to access. Create your hero or villain and become a new legend in the DC Universe! For more content details and guides, please visit us at DCUniverseOnline.com.
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DC Universe™ Online is now on Xbox One! Join thousands of other players in this free, massive online action game set in the popular DC Comics universe. Choose your side – hero or villain – and create your character to experience real action combat as you fight alongside and against legendary characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Lex Luthor and Circe. Hop in and explore the DC Universe; Walk the dark streets of Gotham City, explore the mysteries of Metropolis’ futuristic cityscape, and travel to iconic locations like Arkham Asylum and the Watchtower. The Xbox One version of DC Universe Online includes the following: – Xbox One exclusive items: Empowered Character Emblem + Empowered Cloak + Steam Aura! Join our thriving community at DCUniverseOnline.com! Please note that the download is around 35GB and may take several hours, but it’s worth the wait! Bandwidth requirements can exceed 192 KB.
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