I would like to guide you through the creation of a city scene for Renowned Explorers. Hopefully this will bring you some tips and tricks on creating a scene of you own.

london_01

In the first phase, the sketch, I try to focus upon the main composition, a city with a flowing line that guides the viewer’s eye through the image, and telling you enough about the atmosphere and location that you’re in. In this case, a curving street with street lamps sided by the Big Ben and the river Thames. London!

london_02

Phase two: Rough lighting blocking
Enhancing the composition by bringing the main focus towards the Big Ben. As you can see, it’s the only object that catches that much light, and has the most color differences. To push the focus of the image further towards the center, I frame the right and left side of the image with two big buildings.

london_03

Phase three: Focus details
Time management is key in a game like Renowned Explorers, where we have to produce lots of content. The trick is to only detail the areas where your eye travels past. In this case, the Big Ben and Parliament (look at how the details stop inside the blue shadow areas!), and the rocky wall of the Thames.

london_04

Phase four: Final details
To get your eye back towards the Big Ben, I create a flow of detail and repetition with the street lights and the people scattered around. And after some feedback about the Thames being more of a moat than a river, I broaden the flow of water. To truly set the mood of England, I add some rain and umbrellas, and we’re done!