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[DEVBLOG#197] Vanilla Expanded Storytellers rework (Patreon)

Published:
2022-07-09 18:01:34
Imported:
2022-08

Content

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new development blog.

Recently I asked you about ideas how to improve and 'de-bloat' our mods. We are working internally on the list of fixes which we will deploy when the next major RimWorld update releases, or in January 2023, whatever comes sooner.

Some of these fixes require people to start new saves, some will even break their existing saves, that's why we are hesitating with just going balls to the wall with it. We need to tread very carefully, hundreds of thousands of people are relying on us.

What I can however confirm already is that I am working with a brand new artist from Ukraine who has been a tremendous help on the storyteller front. We are working together on remaking the older storytellers, so that they look fresh and also fit the storyteller style more.

I'm excited to show you some of them, but please remember: Don't share it anywhere. Show it to your missus, your man, your dog or your close family, but if I see it anywhere on social media before we release them I will go on a hunt and I will find you. I bet you never knew I can ban you from Patreon! That's right! And no refunds, too!

Alrighty then, let's take a looksie:

Maynard Medieval

Old

New

Diego Dire

Old

New

Freya Fierce

Old

New

Empress Evil

Old

New

Alfred Ancient

Old

New

This lad I'm working with is also responsible for a new upcoming storyteller in Vanilla Psycasts Expanded - Basilicus Bestower!

That's it for this dev blog. I know you love art drops, and this was an exciting one! There are even more exciting things ahead, so keep your eyes peeled.

Comments

Anonymous

Theres something about the new art that I can't quite place... Bad? No, that's not it... Soulless. It's soulless. The old ones carry a lot of voice in their style. The new ones feel generic. Like something you'd hang on a motel wall. They don't make me wonder "what's their story?" Instead they make me think "Oh, someone was asked to make a picture of something but had no inspiration to do it."

Anonymous

The art is definitely better quality as in more detailed but honestly not all of them seem like upgrades to me. For me the only upgraded ones are Freya and Maynard. The rest of them look more vanilla like in their original form.

Anonymous
>>87335639

I kind of agree for Diego, he seems more intimidating with the old style. The new one looks normal, like a very average out lander pawn. However I really like the redesigns for Empress evil and Alfred. Empress evil seems more evil than her old wormy counterpart. Alfred looks like he aged up a few years and is as crazy as any pawn locked in an ancient tomb would be. (I have seen some very bizzaee mix of powers and personalities and Alfred hits the sweet spot of a highly skilled combat pawn in his 60s with dementia and some seriously bad ass power and weird weakness.)

Anonymous

Basilicus looks like he had seen some horrible shit. It must be Slush Creamer's fault

Anonymous

Looking them over, I do like all of these- but my response would be as such for each Maynard: Definitely fits vanilla style better. Big fan of the crow, which feels a bit more sinister in the new design. Diego: The new diego honestly feels like a separate storyteller. Like how Rim Effect has the Paragon AND Renegate storytellers, the new diego would be like, a different take on the same concept of diego Freya: big fan of her new look, though her old one was one of my favorite of the storyteller arts anyway Empress Evil's new mouth looks a bit weird to me but the rest of her is 100% improvement. Alfred: the armor redesign is 10/10. Huge fan of the owl design, and the obvious wear-and-tear. Basilicus: I never really put much thought into just how high-tier cybernetics would look, it's a neat take on the sort of royal extravagance you'd expect from the empire.

RedHook25

Out of all of them Freyas redesign is my personal favorite.

Anonymous

I really like the new art, especially Alfred and Freya, but I think that the empress evil change is an almost objective downgrade, the pose is less dynamic, the legs are less detailed, and the mouth is overly detailed, It is the only new art that I think doesn't work. The new design draws the eyes to the large head and mouth whereas the old design focused on the grasping claws and chest ooze, with the "line of action" flowing through it and then being redirected back down with the curved head. the new one feels very blocky in comparison, I really like the new art in general though.

Anonymous

^ I agree with this guy, the Empress looks too hyper-realistic and detailed, especially with the little xenomorph-looking mouth. But apart from that, the rest look pretty good and give off a vibe similar to the vanilla storytellers.

Anonymous

Looks incredible, arts subjective and I for one love all the changes. Looking foward to the update!

Anonymous

I love almost all of them! I think my one main critique is that all of the vanilla storytellers' eyes look straight into the camera - because they're telling the story to you as the player. All of the new designs don't look at the camera, so they're likely to feel different to players. However, I love the new poses. Freya & Maynard especially give off very powerful vibes and Alfred really does look like one of the crazies you'd find in the tombs. On the other hand, I do agree with some of the others on the thread that Empress Evil looks quite jarringly different. I mean, I understand where the artist was going - and the art itself is extremely skilled - but it's the transition from lithe super-insect queen to huge somewhat maggot-like brood-mother that feels off to me. I mean, she's definitely supposed to be unnerving, and she certainly hits that brief - but if I remember correctly insects don't usually have teeth like those. And sure, these are giant, genetically engineered super-insects... but I think that a certain amount of realism would make the art less uncanny and more intimidating. So giving her mandibles or even simply sideways teeth might give a better impression? Again, I hope the artist doesn't feel like we're complaining about the art skill involved! All of the art itself is amazing and I honestly commend the skill involved. Just trying to offer a few ideas as to why some people might find the changes confusing! Either way, the updates look great! My only final question is - will you upload a version of each mod that either helps remove the old one so we can keep up with our current games - or maintains an older version of said mod that we can use in the meantime? If not, that's totally fine! I was just curious. Great work as always, team <3

Anonymous
>>87367352

Going to add a point to this that with the mouth its kind of weird since it's the jaw of a vertebrate, not an insect. Think more like mandibles, not the rows of teeth it has going on. Even a slug like radula would be neat, which doesn't necessarily have to even be visible like the original. Would also be neat if the dynamic pose was centered on the queen "spinning" the goo from it's chest cavity like it was originally (as if it's laying eggs by scooping them out of said goo). Not the refrigerator pose it's got going on right now. Here's a fun mockup: https://imgur.com/a/VID4t9P

oskarpotocki
>>87422087

The plan is to make the old versions available somewhere else for you to download and replace. I will communicate everything when the time comes very clearly, fear not!

Anonymous

I like the new art better but the old art resembles the vanilla storytellers' art. My favorite storyteller rework is Freya's. Now she really looks fierce!