Greetings, Void Hunters!

Were thrilled to pull back the curtain and show youhow our new Key Art came to lifefrom early concepts to the final result! We asked Raphael Massarani, the amazing artist behind the scenes (check out his artstation here, its incredible) to share how he approached the creation of this image, so grab a coffee, and lets dive into the creative journey with the artists own words!

Phase 1: The Birth of Three Concepts

To get started, Raphael explains: I usually begin by working on sketches that closely reflect my intentions for the final composition, story, and overall lighting. Sketch Afeatures a heroic Pyromancer holding a Soulstone, confident in her victory as she blasts her enemies away. Sketch Bshowcases different Void Hunters, alluding to the games massive roster of playable characters and intense combat! Sketch Cfeatures Arcane Weaver on her journey to face a menacing challenge head-ona boss rush, if you will. KeyArt_SketchA.jpg

KeyArt_SketchB.jpg

KeyArt_SketchC.jpg

As you can see, I sometimes like to contain the focal point of my images within a simple geometric shape. This helps me guide the viewers eyes and keep the story engaging.

Phase 2: Exploration and Refinements

On early experiments: We gaveSketch Ca go first, posing Arcane Weaver facing toward us and adding secondary enemies alongside the bosses. While it couldve been interesting, it felt too busy for a Key Art.

Back to the drawing board!Sketch Ahad great qualities, so I revamped it with a new composition and a second pass featuring the Arcane Weaver. The new version looked cool, but it leaned too close to splash art. Ultimately, we choseversion Bas itnailedthe chaotic energy of the game.

Phase 3: The Color Crucible

On finding the perfect palette: Again we started experimenting with a few color options.Option Efelt rightit complements Arcane Weavers spells, her color scheme, and the Soulstones role in the story.

Phase 4: The Final Polish

On refinement: Once composition, lighting, and colors were locked, it was time to refine, adjust, tweak, and polish. Its my comfort zone, but it still takesages!

Closing Thoughts from the Artist

Hope you love the new Key Art as much as I enjoyed working on it! Thanks to Game Smithing for the awesome opportunity:D We hope you found his process as interesting as we did, and while we have been a bit quiet over the last few weeks, keep an eye out as there are a few spicy sneak peeks coming soon for example where do you think this door leads to?? Let us know in the comments!

~ The Soulstone Survivors Team

[ 2025-05-30 17:00:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Soulstone Survivors is an action roguelite where you slay hordes of foes and face titanic bosses while learning powerful skills to enhance your character. Play as a Void Hunter, and with the spoils of every match craft weapons, unlock new characters, upgrade your skill tree and equip new runes, all in your quest for godlike powers.

With deep RPG mechanics intertwined with Roguelite elements, Soulstone Survivors offers a condensed, yet deep Action RPG experience:

Explore almost 150 unique Active Skills (and growing!);
Unlock and play with 14 Characters, with many more to come;
Experiment with hundreds of Passive Skills and Runes to customize your characters;
Progress through the Skill Tree with your Soulstones;
Face and defeat powerful Bosses;
Choose Curses that increase your challenge in interesting ways;
Overcome extreme challenges to craft legendary weapons;
Complete dozens of achievements and unlock new powers;

We have prepared the roadmap below which outlines what to expect as the game evolves:

We are a tiny team that chose to stay independent and continue developing a game we love and would like to thank you very much for your attention and interest, and to all our existing community for all the help so far, we wouldn't be here without you!

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