Hi! Back from a brief holiday.
Love, love, LOVE the art. #2 in particular gave me major Pan’s Labyrinth / del Toro vibes. One thing I would remove, though, is the dome from #4, because this isn’t really a domed city. What I would say instead is a half-formed ring of cities around a hollow center, this ‘ring’ clearly opened up to welcome another floating city trundling into the ring. I also really like the art that @Joriam posted here: VERY immersive. One idea I would love to take from that is to have little pocket communities around and cross-connecting major cities - that’s our highly experimental distrikts minor right there!
@IvanC, I totally agree with your picks. As a landmark I would request the Ramos Harvest Division as well, because of how important it has become to all the cities - to the point where it has slipped into language, replacing directions: “Seaside” and “Harvestside” are often-used navigational markets in street slang. The Harvest image would also let us show multiple distriks in the distance.
I am glad that you like it. I am a big fan of #2 too.
The idea actually is that the dome itself is the Ramos Harvest Division - a central structure which connects the districts that are still to be drawn around it. In the talk with the artists we sort of imagined the story of Witness where its original core evolved into this huge power central. Do you think that could work?
M&M are trying to catch the deadlines which are rather short at this point for us but there is still some margin for changes.
Just to keep you all updated, this is the scheme of the graphic novel: menabò_WORLDBUILDER_2.pdf (2.9 MB)
It is in Italian and will be translated in the final version, tells the story of Edgeryders, Comunità di Messina and introduces concepts (iceberg included)
Some of the sketches of Witness
in this last one you can see how the dome has evolved into Ramos Harvest Division and connects to the five borroughs, i mean districts (hello Mr Scorsese and NYC, there is a reason why you are a model for the wiki) which will be more detailed
This last panel is absolutely fan-tas-tic! It looks better than my imagination lol
I love the different architectural styles. I love how you can sorta infer an architectural idea with a simple glimpse. The counterpoint between the Acropolis style VS panopticon style is rad. The whole minitown that looks like the top towers of the Sagrada Familia is also amazing.
Here is the graphic novel gn_WORLDBUILDING_def_light.pdf (2.7 MB) and the version embedded SciFiLab_docs_Worldbuilding_standalone.pdf (12.2 MB) in the publication we think of using as promotional material, but still deciding the times. Please don’t share them before we decide the proper timeline.
Here are their single images, extracted from the graphic novel:
This is the final set of Witness images created by Michela. It contains views and glimpses of the city. I find them really beautiful and would love to hear your comments.
The Migrant Train
Inside Libria’s council
The Covenant - (inside the library?)
Officers of the Ramos Harvest Division
And finally, Fatamorgana (who could somehow be introduced into Witness’ lore)
I really like the whole lot. I’ve been wondering who the Lady of the Lake was, and mow that we have an answer I would love to add her in. Very prow of the ship / Lady Liberty icon vibes.
That image from Libria feels like an anti-imperial museum they would have set up: just the kind of thing that might work for a hyper-Hayekian state.
I do have one critique: it makes little sense for the city (we really need a good name for this!) to be anchored so closely to landmasses: if they were large enough landmasses anyone sane would go off to land.
I am very glad you liked the work. Sure Ivan, in the third image we are in the Covenant’s library. The lady is the fairy Morgana, sister of Merlin, which according to legend has her castle on the banks of the Strait, where in some days she creates fantastic visions. As for the proximity to the landmasses, we wanted to represent the city in the Strait territory, where we were supposed to meet.
Oh, wow, I have only now realised the term fatamorgana is related to the King Arthur and the Round Table arc. Is it a Norman heritage or did it reach Sicily in another manner?
When you spoke of it I thought it was only a phenomenon that occurs in Messina as it happens elsewhere. Now I like her even more
Sure a Norman heritage! Another legend says that the Count Ruggero arrived with his army on the Calabria banks and, thanks by Morgana fairy, saw the Sicilian coast so close that he could understand the Arab army position and consequently moor his ships in a safe area. A mix between science and legend.
It’s interesting how far the Arthurian myths resonated. When I saw it I immediately thought it was the pre-Vulgate Arthurian Lady of the Lake (Ninain / Nimuë). Fatamorgana is Morgan le Fay / Morgaine from the same legends? Post-Vulgate texts sometimes gave Morgan the “Lady of the Lake” title.
In fact, there are similarities, legends also speak the fairy Morgana arose from the waters of the Messina strait, where she have her castle, to offer her help to Count Ruggero.
Some reflections around esthetics/illustrations for the card game
For the witness and events cards I find film posters are a good inspiration, especially those of Laurent Durieux. The esthetics are good at drawing the eye to the key element of the story, while still conveying the broader context in an evocative way.
It can also apply to individual notable persons/ personas, as the perspective can still leave enough to the imagination
Collaboratively out what the key elements should be in the images can be a way to identify new entries into the cannon - in a social, fun way.
As I understand the final titel is not yet decided, correct?
I would like to bring up that maybe naming it just after “witness” the world might not be the ultimate option since the namerecognition of it is not yet very high and it does not connet directly to the mode or theme of the game.
I would like to open up the search for a name to the community to gather ideas and engagement that way.
Could I do a mini playful call for that?
Would describe the game a bit and ask people for their name suggestion and why and if we pick it in the end they will get a free game once it is in print?
(hello Mr Scorsese and NYC, there is a reason why you are a model for the wiki) which will be more detailed
