The Great City Tartarus.
Taking inspiration from old greek mythology as Milton did I have named the devils prison city Tartarus although all the many areas within it have different names and their own look based on various aspects of different mythologies and religions. In this way I neither approve or disprove any religion, my devil is as much a malleable faceless force given form(s).
Story.
The devil created a prison world in the form of a small puppet theatre which is the only doorway in or out. Inside the puppet prison is a fake world which prisoners come to believe is their own real world, in this way they are tricked into staying there endlessly searching the great puppet world.
The look.
Tartarus is based on many different places, I have looked at baroque architecture as this is my feeling of what hell would look like, a place of excess and beautiful wonder with a kind of broken jumbled look about it, think an old museum with long red velvet curtains and junk everywhere. Less a place of fear and more just a place someone could get lost in forever.
I looked at babylonian and old sumerian ruins although I only took pieces of babylonian architecture in the end. I looked at specifically old english baroque architecture and prague's many beautiful buildings. My version of hell would incorporate these styles asian and european together. A mish mash of world culture to create the devils fake city.
Other areas have slightly different looks but I'll come to these later.
This was my first mood board, I really felt baroque domes should populate the main cityscape the player sees upon entering tartarus. With it being a kind of half limbo type prison I looked at willow trees being its main type of vegetation this is certainly not a christian version of a hellfire prison and nor is this hell, my devil old scratch fashioned this realm himself so its design can bend any rules that may constrict my design.
The babylonian black and white image gave me the idea for a series of towers over the city which light this fake world (which obviously has only a fake sun.)
The Tower of Maalik.
The tower of Maalik is based upon the Islamic tale of the angel Maalik who guarded the hellfire with his 19 mysterious followers. His 19 followers are the stone angels atop 19 towers over the great city that light it. The tale of Maalik tells how he told the wicked they must remain in hell as ''they abhorred the truth when the truth was brought to them'' (from the Qur'an)
Maalik will feature in the story. I won't give too much away here but its ethically important. The tower of Maalik will be a playable area.
Another mood board collecting a few ideas for the tower of Maalik and the gardens (more later)
Concept art Depicting the main square of Tartarus, This area will lead to every other area the player will travel too and the player will need to return here a lot to cross over to other paths. While very eastern in style There will be plenty of european baroque references added, This is merely a concept rough
Inspiration.
I drew inspiration from journeys architecture Which brought together many aspects of different cultural designs. Their beautiful renditions certainly helped me think about the importance of the shape and form of buildings in regards to play.
I also drew alot of inspiration for my asian/european devil prison from Mike Mignola's concept art for the city of Pandemonium based upon the works of Milton. The domes and intricate details conveyed in silhouette are very powerful and his designs here are just stunning. I think my own city will swap the majesty and roman look for a more scottish look. Epic square cut cliffs and standing stones, While the devil built this prison and would have tartarus built in his own style the prison must serve the function of distantly persuading its prisoners that they are still in their scottish homeland, the areas they are kept will show this more than the city. After all this prison is a vast fake world with its own culture derived from as many religions as have trickster gods.
A few colour palettes for the first area. The one on the left is more for decoration while the one on the right is for the eastern design of Maalik's tower and his guardians. The european sections will have warmer greys.
Sam.
