Art Department Dumpster Fire
Every week there's another avalanche of "look how good our assets are" content, and this week delivered in spades. Let's talk about Ritual Tides - because apparently we need another first-person horror game set on a British island. What's next, a survival sim in rural Yorkshire?
The CEO of Vertpaint sat down to chat about "psychological horror" and "visual direction" - code for "we spent six months making a walking simulator with jump scares." But hey, at least the Cave Wyvern from Gino Kolling looks sick. Dude figured out how to make something that's simultaneously "cool and foreign yet animalistic" using PolyPaint. That's either a breakthrough or a complete admission that we've run out of new ideas for monster design.
Speaking of which, The Nocturn Note - Bar environment by Jonathan de Abreu proves that taverns are the new "hello world" of 3D art. We've progressed from simple cubes to meticulously crafted tavern interiors with proper floor design. Progress?
And because we can't have nice things, Zelda with suspicious stare by Topplerganger - because what else are we supposed to do with Nintendo IPs? Meanwhile, the cybernetic huntress looks like she stepped out of a battle royale that peaked in 2017. Overwatch fans still coping hard, I see.
Tech Bros Love Their Toys
While artists are busy making hyper-detailed flesh materials that might trigger your trypophobia (yes, that's a real article title), the actual engineers are over there testing Steam Controllers like they're the damn Mona Lisa. Valve's newest piece of hardware apparently needs a podcast to explain why it exists.
Look, I get it - controllers are important. But dedicating an entire "we tested the Steam Controller" episode feels like the gaming industry's version of reviewing a toaster. The Game Developer podcast gave this hardware the full treatment, which is adorable. Meanwhile, actual innovation happens in VR startups that then get crushed by market forces.
Speaking of crushing dreams, Survios laid off most of their team. The VR specialist worked on Alien: Rogue Incursion - which is either prescient or tragic, depending on whether you think Alien franchise fatigue is real. Either way, another VR company learning that the market isn't biting hard enough to justify paying rent.
What's Actually Coming
- More British island horror games - because literally nothing else is happening in game design
- VR layoffs continue - the tech isn't working, it's the market
- Steam Controller reviews - because apparently we care about input devices now
- Overwatch-inspired characters - for the battle royale game that definitely needs more skins