The Waters Above Sneak Peek (Patreon)

Hey y'all! Here we are again for another early look at the art assets for The Waters Above. Unfortunately, this month, we don't have anything new to show. Anime Weekend Atlanta has kind of slowed our production down a little bit but we are already starting to get back on track for next month.

In lieu of an early look at a CG we decided to show off some concept art for our key visual! But first, here's the writeup we turned in.

Clio and Maera holding hands, falling backwards to the earth. Camera is directly above them and they are facing it. They seem completely carefree. Maera looks like a person who has finally been able to let go of their burden. She's relieved, like she’s turning a new page in her life. Her eyes are closed and she's smiling brightly. Clio is thrilled. It's what she's always wanted. And she’s finally getting to experience this freedom with Maera, and Maera is happy about it. She's holding Maera's hand in both of her own at her chest and she never plans to let go. So Maera should be stretched out, Clio is holding Maera’s hand to her.

Miles below them is the large transparent dome that is the vault of heaven, and below that is the earth. Green foothills and rivers and rolling mountains, like the Appalachians, are all beneath them. On one side you can see the edge of the earth, and the unfathomable abyss beneath it.

Bubbles stream up into the camera as they sink through the water. They are relatively close to the camera and take up maybe a third of the image.

I'm not sure there was any particular significance to this one; I just got a visual stuck in my head and wanted to go with it. Looking back, it's very anime, but I still think it really fits the game!!

And here are the sketches we got from Namie!

As you can see, Namie flipped where Earth was from the writeup! It really does make the composition of the image a lot stronger and I do like how it shows them smiling, in each other's arms, as their world gets flipped upside down.

And, just to make sure y'all don't walk away without having seen anything completely new, here's a writeup for an upcoming key visual for the full game! We hope it piques your interest!

Clio and Maera are standing hand in hand in front of the Celestial Authority building. They are anxious to move forward. Apple is running ahead towards the stairs, possibly pointing.

The building itself is in ruins. It was once an imposing structure, huge and dominating, meant to show just how much control the Celestial Authority had over each and every aspect of society here. It was ornate and regal. Now it is falling apart. References below show the temple of Baalbek which is a good representation of what we are thinking. The building should look as if it has been in ruins for centuries. Erosion, plant life reclaiming the area, etc. There is a large staircase in front of a series of pillars for the facade, then a stone building behind the pillars. The pillars can be of a similar style to how you drew the ones in the interior.

We would like to frame this with the characters on the left side, and the building itself on the right. In the center we would like to put the menu options. We would also like to use this as our cover image for the full game.

For the palette we were thinking blue overall, but like the wilderness bg, having colorful coral sprouting up in the ruins. We don’t want it to be extremely monochromatic however, just primarily blue