Factory Town – Horn of the Abyss update #5

Author: Liso1 May 14, 2019 11 Comments

The development of the Factory, the second town to be introduced in Horn of the Abyss and 11th overall in the game, is in full swing. As you already know, on April 28th, the Streamfest convention took place where some of the freshly developed content was unveiled. It included the following video, which, if one forgives the obvious shortcomings of hasty production, can be considered the second trailer for the Factory town.

We were always planning to publish another illustrated update in May, but, thanks to the team’s increased productivity in the course of preparation for the festival, we are now able to show you even more than was initially planned. Make no mistake: the town graphics are in the earliest stage of development. Many things will likely change before the release, so the following content is nothing more than a sneak peek inside the Factory.

Provisional appearance of the townscreen. Factory unit and hero portraits.

Here are some facts Horn of the Abyss Crew is able to confirm so far:

•  The Halfling (Tier 1) and the Gunslinger (Tier 6), complete with their upgrades, were chosen for unveiling not because they somehow epitomise the essence of the new town, but rather because out of the whole lineup, only these two had been agreed upon in terms of appearance before the decision to participate in the convention was made.
•  All humanoid units from the lineup have now been made public; these are the Halfling, the Gunslinger and the Mechanic (formerly Flamethrower Operator), described in the previous article.

Animated model of the Bounty Hunter, 200% scale. By Quick-Sighted Dog, Axolotl

• Neither in the New Year Day teaser and the festival trailer, the Factory town musical theme was played. These two videos have dedicated scores, specially written for this cause; however, you can expect certain melodic elements from these tracks to make a return.
• The provisional release date for the Factory town is still December 31th. The version 1.6.0, one to introduce the Wasteland terrain, will be released this summer.
• Three big announcements for the Factory have been published thus far: the New Year Day trailer, the interview from mid-January, and now this piece featuring the most up-to-date material. We also do not intend to keep mum until the release; within a month, you can expect another article.
• While many town elements are far from completion, most of the decorations and textures for the Wasteland terrain are now finished and will not change until the 1.6.0 release.

Wasteland terrain. Factory village and heroes.

Textures of the Wasteland terrain. By Docent Picolan

Model of a Factory village for the adventure map. By Don_ko

Factory castle and heroes on the adventure map. Wasteland terrain

Conversely, one of the rawest elements shown at the convention is the Wasteland battlefield, an eleventh-hour addition to the demo. Naturally, it will see change.

Provisional Wasteland battlefield, Halfling and Gunslinger units with their upgraded versions, a Magic hero of the Factory.

Now for select renders of the Factory buildings and some tidbits from the townscreen creation process:

Models of the Marketplace and Resource Silo for the Factory townscreen. By Don_ko

Model of the Saloon, 6th tier dwelling, for the Factory townscreen. By Don_ko

Model of the Blacksmith for the Factory townscreen. By Don_ko

Raw draft of the Factory townscreen background. By Docent Picolan

Current townscreen background. By Agar, Docent Picolan

First estimate of the townscreen population. By Don_ko

Animated video of the provisional Factory townscreen layout. By Don_ko, Agar, Docent Picolan, DrSlash

An animated combat model of an Artificer class hero. By DrSlash

Special thanks go to Axolotl (3d tweaking and animation for the Gunslinger), Ivan Vorontsov (demo mapmaking), fiorin (3d modelling and animation for the Halfling) and the crew member gotthit for his efforts in last-minute programming for the demo.

Original article by Docent_Picolan.