Devlog#1: How art – and our artist – shaped our game design choices

What started as a simple tower defense game is going to be a TD + deck-builder and there is the story behind it

How and why this picture influences our game design choices

We are three friends (artist, animator/game-designer and programmer) making Tower Petroleum. It all began as a simple tower-defense project. Just you, your tower to defend and MONSTERS.

How comics came

One day we were sitting in a bar talking about comics, specifically about From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. We are great fans of the comic media and that evening we were discussing that if we should try to tell the plot of the game using comics, it could fit in the game and the art style.

"Hold my beer" – Basil said.

At first, they were rather cartoonish comics with simple style

Tower Petroleum the first comic sketch — The first comic sketch

But it was definitely not enough. With over 20 years of experience in art and animation – and the thrill of finally diving into game development – Basil pushed his comic drawing to new heights, and that’s how these beautiful pieces of art came to life:

Then we thought it would be cool to allow the player to influence the story at least to some extent, by making decisions right inside the comics. And the choices made would affect the later gameplay.

"Bloody hell, and I have to program all that" – Andrei said.

How cards came

Another day Basil was trying to solve a purely artistic problem: how to fill in the empty space around the tower. Our game is a tower defense game where you – well – defend A TOWER. And on the wide monitor there's plenty of empty space around the vertical tower.

So his plan was just to draw the portraits of the characters, who are involved in the story so far. He made some sketches and when we met ~~for our monthly strategic planning session~~ in a bar, he presented the idea.

Tower Petroleum character portraits — Character portraits

It hit us! If the game wants to tell a story, we can bring characters to live through gameplay! That was the turning point: combining deck-building mechanics with comic-style characters.

"Bloody hell, and I have to program all that as well" – Andrei said

Tower Petroleum character card close-up — Character card close-up

Tower Petroleum tower gameplay session overview — Gameplay session overview

Postscript and bonus sketches

Amazingly enough, through almost the entire development process, it was the art that drove development forward: we made better UI, brought lights into the game, better effects and so on.

We are really looking forward to seeing what the game demands us to do next.

In the mean time some early sketches from Basil for you to enjoy

If you like what you see, consider subscribing to our mailing list and adding the game to your wishlist on Steam. And lets keep in touch.