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7/10/2025, 10:57:50 PM
>>715093725
The classic fantasy art style is a dilemma for modern devs. The images we think of as "classic fantasy" are mostly oil paintings done for book covers or D&D in the 80s and 90s. There is a grounded realism to it, but it's also exaggerated and larger than life.
The 90s and early 2000s approached 3D fantasy art with a painterly style as a limitation of the medium. The look of Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, Gothic I, Ultima Underworld, Everquest and WoW all feel like an attempt to bring that "classic fantasy painting" look into the 3D space. And they were quite successful. This style of game art meant literally painting textures right onto models. Even games like Diablo had pre-rendered models that embraced that sword & sorcery classic fantasy book cover feel.
But now we're in the PBR modern age. Nobody paints textures anymore. If your game assets can't function under global illumination real time lighting, with complex normal maps, AO, roughness maps and physically rendered detail--you're dead in the water for consumers...
But nobody has seemed to figure out how to transfer that nostalgic feeling of classic fantasy art into the modern 3D art pipeline. Characters look too realistic--too detailed. Additionally, realistic art styles are immensely expensive and difficult to achieve... so only the top tier AAA studios can afford to pursue a modern dark fantasy art style.
The most intriguing recent game that I feel closely touches this art style is No Rest for the Wicked--but of course it's blending hand painted style with modern PBR workflows.
The classic fantasy art style is a dilemma for modern devs. The images we think of as "classic fantasy" are mostly oil paintings done for book covers or D&D in the 80s and 90s. There is a grounded realism to it, but it's also exaggerated and larger than life.
The 90s and early 2000s approached 3D fantasy art with a painterly style as a limitation of the medium. The look of Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, Gothic I, Ultima Underworld, Everquest and WoW all feel like an attempt to bring that "classic fantasy painting" look into the 3D space. And they were quite successful. This style of game art meant literally painting textures right onto models. Even games like Diablo had pre-rendered models that embraced that sword & sorcery classic fantasy book cover feel.
But now we're in the PBR modern age. Nobody paints textures anymore. If your game assets can't function under global illumination real time lighting, with complex normal maps, AO, roughness maps and physically rendered detail--you're dead in the water for consumers...
But nobody has seemed to figure out how to transfer that nostalgic feeling of classic fantasy art into the modern 3D art pipeline. Characters look too realistic--too detailed. Additionally, realistic art styles are immensely expensive and difficult to achieve... so only the top tier AAA studios can afford to pursue a modern dark fantasy art style.
The most intriguing recent game that I feel closely touches this art style is No Rest for the Wicked--but of course it's blending hand painted style with modern PBR workflows.
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