Are the damn drawings so horrible you don't even bother comment? At least tell me if you actually saw them... <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Allright, here are some more concept art, and let's see the info about them:
Concept 3:
Contains several images illustrating some normal city folks, their costumes, and every-day affairs. By them, I hope to inspire whoever the writter of SE may be, to imagine rich sidequests for the player. Every npc in this one can come with a sidequest, and anybody who played Antara will likely guess their type. We may have to help the soldier watch the streets at night; follow a thief's path and recover the goods stolen; help the old mage to find some special item (potion,book...); hear some story about a hidden chest full of neat stuff in a swamp, while eating dinner in the Tavern; help the lady find his runnaway son; or help the blacksmith in change of a needed steel/iron item (key, plate,...).
Concept 4:
There's a pic of Baratus being congratulated by his Leader, after a battle, or in a reunion, etc. Can be used as the Leader model, if you like him.
In the botton, there's two pics showing a new monster I designed, and I feel it could really be implemented, and would fit into Hexen's world and engine. I wrotte myself a bunch of notes, so here's the description:
SWAMP THING:
It has 3 different attacks: 1- tentacle ; 2- Throw arpoon/sharp bone from tentacle ; 3- Bite.
It's a monster which shows up from inside the waters, and possess 8 tentacles, which one having it's own life, and in terms of engine, it's own will and behaviour: when it comes from inside the water, it has 2 directives - the 1st one is to attack any near enemy, and the 2nd one is to "populate" the zone within 90? in front of the THING's head, in order to prevent charges and attacks to it's most vulnearable and fragile part.
The tentacles move slowly, and 3 at the maximun move toward a single enemy at the same time, the others keep the area in front of the head protected. When a tentacle looses all his HP, it's destroyed and won't come back. So it has a defense mechanism, which consists of: when the tentacle is receiving too much repeated damage (like the 3 fast hits of the red mage's wand), it dives into the water, and emerge in another place (often from behind the player). Other tentacles may do this, even when aren't being attacked, in order to surprise the hero.
When the player is out of the area the tentacles can reach (often it's the own lake where the THING is located, but large lakes may need to have a marked area for this), the THING will attack by throwing the sharp bones that are placed in the tentacles. In terms of gameplay, they are endless, and have poison, which acts like the Cleric's flechette, but stronger. When hitting with the tentacles, all the damages merge to be one (the cutting damage, the concussion damage and the poison damage).
The head moves veeerrryyy slowly, and can't get out of the water. It has an absurd amount of HP, and can attack the player by bitting him. It can act just like the tentacles when attacked too much, diving and appearing around the player, bitting him in a fast move. The damage of it's bite is VERY big, to add a bit more of difficluty, since the head only attacks by bitting when the player manages to avoid the tentacles and get near it, or, normally, when all the tentacles were destroyed. It's common to see the head diving (when it's out of tentacles), and taking a large amount of time (like, 10 seconds...), before appearing suddenly.
If the player get out of the water, the SWAMP THING will wait for him for about half a minute, and then will dive, and won't come out untill the player gets into the water again, and go near it.
Concept 5:
Just a dragon in this one, but since I intended to actually include it as a NPC into SE, here is some details:
The dragons won't attack automaticly the player in sight. Actually, there's a big chance (60-70% ?) it won't attack at all (maybe just make some noises), letting the player even get near him, for a talk, if it wants, with the small human.
As a side history, the Dragons lived together with humans, hundreds of years ago, accepting being worshiped, their offerings and their dumb vassalage. But somwhen the humans decided the Dragons were too much of a threat to their race and progress, launching a war that lasts untill today. The races are deadly enemies, which explains most of the attacks from both sides. For being a superior race, magical, yet rare, the Dragons are in disadvantage, and since the elder leaders of the race refuse to declare official war against the humans (considered untill now for them as friends and pupils who must be brought back to reason), and actually form a united army, which would be surely invencible, isolated Dragons continue to suffer, being chased and attacked contuniously, and their repeated deaths just contributes to weaken and threaten even more this mighty race and it's surviviour.
DRAGON: Dragons are very dangerous, by all means. They move quickly besides their size, and it's attacks are very strong and lethal.
They have 3 attacks: 1- Claws ; 2- Bite ; 3- Breath.
The dargons may fly to avoid repeated attacks, landing somewhere near the player. Their attacks (be it claw, or bite), is so powerful that will trhow the player several metters away, without counting the damage inflicted. When the hero is too far for it's claws, the Dragon will attack by using it's magical breath, wich may consist of 4 types:
1st: Fire, which is the deadlier of them all, killing REALLY fast. In the center of the cone of fire, it's impossible to live, but in the outer limits, it will just cause continuous damage, like normal fire, but really fast. The idea is: either you duck behind somethign, or you will die.
2nd:Energy, which is the second more powerfull, and consists of a continous stream of balls of energy, acting like a machinegun.
3rd: Posion comes next, and acts as the Cleric's flechette, but way stronger, leadig to death almost everytime (unless the player start to drink some healing potions, and fast).
4th: Ice, which consist of dozens of ice shards (way deadlier than normal), and form a mass which is very difficult to avoid.
Repulsion discs are worthless against those attacks (or at least, work in 50% of their original potential).
A Dragon is very intelligent and wise, and it's a lot easier to talk to them than try to kill.
Concept 6:
The last concept is another race of enemies. They're called Hiktos (?), and are a warrior nation, consisting of barbarians and wilders. They consider all civilized nations as enemies, and declared a terrible war, that lasts for several generations now. They spread destruction and fear, by attacking isolated areas at the neighbour countries, that have a frontier with their own, called Wild Lands, or Black Land. The soldier of those countries often find themselves helpless and useless, since the Hiktos tend to retreat after fast and furious campaigns, and few Lords dare to send their Legions into the dense forests of the Black Land.
They are fierce warriors, even more terrible due to their great number in attacks. Even though they possess all these negative aspects, they are also konwn by their complete lackness in civilized manners and moral corruption of the modern civilizations, and their rigid code of honour and conduct made them earn, as a race, the respect of even the Dragons. That's why there are rumours that in the middle of the Black Land, where the major villages (giant in size), are located, entire populations of the 2 races live togheter, in harmony and peace.
They live in harmony with Nature and with their land, respecting animals and all involved with it.
HIKTOS: a normal Hikto warrior possess just an axe. There are some with bows, and every now and then, a group of warrior have also a xaman with them. They can cast Mage's spells, and although we can find xaman with high levels and lots of spells, they are rare.
The Hiktos attack in groups (huge. 9 to 20 normally, but some groups are even larger). Due to the lack of armor, they are vulnerable to powerfull weapons and attacks (can be killed quite easily), but they are also fast, agile and strong with their axe arm (much stronger than Ettins or even Centaurs). 20 to 30% of the groupes have a xaman, and 70 to 80% have archers.
That's it for now. I hope those were useful to the project, and I hope to see some of them in SE.