Scorn: The Art of the Game E-Book

Matthew Pellett

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 78

Beschreibung

Official lavish in-depth coffee table art book for the first-person horror adventure game Scorn, inspired by H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, to be released on Xbox series X/S, Microsoft Windows, Steam, and Windows Store.In this coffee table hardback, uncover the concept and vision behind Scorn, alongside insight from the artists and software designers at Ebb. The game is set in a nightmarish universe of odd forms and somber tapestry inspired by the work of H.R. Giger, and designed around the idea of "being thrown into the world". This lavish book explores the characters, creatures, weapons, and locations, with maps, user interfaces, concept art, and original designs. The unsettling biomechanical environment is a character in itself, and every location reveals its own theme, puzzles, and characters that are integral in creating a cohesive lived-in world. "It blends the anatomical and organic with the mechanical and architectural to create fleshy, irregular landscapes inhabited by shambling monstrosities" – PC Gamer magazine

Leseprobe

THE ART OF THE GAME

SCORNTHE ART OF THE GAME

Standard edition ISBN: 9781803363059Ebook edition ISBN: 9781803363981

Published byTitan Books A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd144 Southwark StreetLondonSE1 0UP

First edition: October 2022

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© 2022 Ebb Software GmbH.All Rights Reserved.

Content WarningThis book contains references to and images of gore and adult themeswhich some readers may find upsetting.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission ofthe publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other thanthat in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on thesubsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

THE ART OF THE GAME

MATTHEW PELLETT

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

6

THE PROTAGONIST

14

THE SCORN UNIVERSE

22

The Assembly

24

The Wall

42

The Field

52

The Crater

64

Polis

80

The Blasted Labyrinth

100

The Tower

108

INHABITANTS

114

Moldmen

116

Crater Creatures

124

Homunculi

130

Cyborgs

134

Shells

138

WEAPONS AND INTERFACES

144

Guns

146

Interfaces

154

Logo variations

164

Promos and covers

168

Trailers

178

Storyboards

186

Acknowledgments

192

INTRODUCTION

Mankind’s fascination with horror stretchesback hundreds of years. Through campfire stories, books, films, and video games, we’ve endeavored to scare with, and in turn be scared by, the unexpected, the unexplained, and the unimaginable.

Part of that fascination comes down to there being few absolutes in horror. One person’s fear may be deemed ridiculous by others. Stories or situations that creep and crawl beneath somebody’s skin could very easily have no effect on somebody else. The thrill of a scare may be followed by relief that it’s over, or lingering unease and haunted memories. Bloody slasher films and subtle, subversive psychological thrillers are both classed as horror, but the two approaches are so different to the point of being unrelated.

In Scorn, Serbian developer Ebb Software took a very specific journey for its interpretation of horror. CEO and game director Ljubomir Peklar wanted to make a game with no direct comparison. He envisioned a first- person adventure that could make playersfeel unsettled not with explicit displays of gore—though Scorn doesn’t shy away from some gruesome moments—or through intense action sequences, but primarily by players studying and being immersed in environments that mix the familiar with the unknown.

“Odd shapes and somber tapestry” ishow Ebb Software defines the building blocks of Scorn’s universe; a Gothic and surrealist biomechanical vision designed by concept artist Filip Acovic with the intent of fascinating and confounding. Indeed, the idea of the “unexplained” is so entrenched within Scorn’s design that it even applies to the development team itself.

“We abandoned the notion that we are going to understand everything we see in the game,” says Acovic about the early days of embarking on a journey to craft a world like no other. “It’s not just the player who is

RIGHT For decades, games have explored the ideaof players being trapped inside a giant living creature.Scorn takes a different path. Players explore constructed,mechanical spaces, where the building blocks for thesestructures and mechanisms happen to be organic matter.

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SCORN: THE ART OF THE GAME

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

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SCORN:THE ART OF THE GAME

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going to experience this; it’s us also, and we made it. That’s particularly hard for some people to accept. They tend to require some explanation: ‘How was this done, who did this, and for what purpose?’”

Scorn’s genesis isn’t one of meticulously mapped out plans, then, but of themes that Peklar wanted to express and experiment with. “There wasn’t a well-defined story,” says Acovic. “It was a thing of pure inspiration: he [game director Ljubomir Peklar] presented ideas to me, and then we started talking. I made a few early pieces to get a feel of what the world would be like and how it would look.”

Those themes number in the dozens. Many are only apparent in certain locations or items or creatures, but three of the core themes that act as umbrellas over the whole project are ones of existence, entropy, and the relationship between human beings and technology.

“You are just born into this conundrum, like we all are,” says Peklar of that initial theme of existence. “And everything is related to our own existence,” This tether to our own existence is crucial. In the years since Scorn was first unveiled, many people have suggested its world is alien. “It’s not,” confirms Peklar. “It’s an extrapolation of our world, we just push it to the limits.”

Peklar views the convergence of humans and technology as an important offshoot of that first theme. “Are we losing ourselves and our own essence?” he asks. “Are we being overwhelmed by technology?” It’s these questions that led to the team studying H.R. Giger (1940–2014), the

creative visionary behind the Alien films. Many artists and creators look towards the work of Giger as a first step, but end up with visions far removed from those of Scorn. Peklar believes the reasoning for this is clear and all stems from motivation.

“Giger’s work was never chosen as an inspiration because it looked interesting or featured cool-looking imagery. Most people don’t know how to read his art properly,” says Peklar. “We wanted to explore similar themes and it was just a logical step to go there. Giger’s pretty much it if you want to explore fusion of mankind and technology, or sexuality and technology. Many people like xenomorphs and that’s it, but there’s so much more to Giger’s art.”

Peklar and Acovic would rather look past Alien’s iconic xenomorph design and instead study the film’s Space Jockey: the pilot of the crashed spaceship on LV-426. “The Space Jockey is mysterious,” grins Peklar. “It’s dead. You can construct many different stories about it, but you don’t know anything, really. That’s what’s interesting. The mystery is what gets your mind percolating and reflecting.” For Acovic, it was the Space Jockey’s visual identity rather than its mystery that played a big part in weaving the fabric of Scorn’s concept art. “The Space Jockey is particularly interesting in the aesthetic sense of what we were trying to do, because you aren’t sure what you are looking at,” he says. “He seems to be fused with the chair. It is indistinguishable. The technology and the living tissue all looks as if it’s part of one

LEFT Unconventional construction materials and methodsturn even the most standard wall into a feature. Scorn’spacing affords players the freedom to meticulously studytheir surroundings without fear of retribution.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

thing. You can’t really separate the technology from the biology of the environment, and it’s exactly the same as what we’re trying to do.”

Everything within Scorn abides by this idea of solid materials impregnated with organic growths. Weaponry, walls, control panels, statues, doors… the list goes on. Throughout this book you’ll see depictions of items and buildings of all shapes and sizes, all conceived as natural fusions of organic matter and technology. From top to bottom, the universe is a biomechanical construct, and it’s one ravaged by decay.

The theme of entropy forms a core component of the protagonist’s design, feedingdirectly back into the existence theme, yet it’s also vitally important for the overall universe. “The whole world is that way,” says

Peklar. “The idea of a world in its final stages is very compelling.”

Scorn’s biomechanical world can be considered as a body stretched out on a gurney, quietly undergoing rigor mortis, muscles locked stiff and microorganisms adjusting to their new, quieter surroundings-turned-food source. You, as the player, have ventured over and given it a violent shake for one final death rattle, rousing long-dormant mechanisms from eternal slumber for the final time. Your interruption is but a temporary disturbance in the decaying process, and it’s in this depiction of putrescence where Scorn’s second major outside influence is most apparent.

“The key visual representation of decay in Scorn is informed by Beksiński,” says Filip Acovic, meaning Zdzisław Beksiński

RIGHT Every mechanismwithin Scorn’s worldneeds to adhere to theuniverse’s biomechanicallaws. Here you can seefuses that connect intosockets via optic nerve-like tendrils, with organictubing carrying signals offto other areas.

BELOW Whilebioluminescence issometimes used toilluminate dark corners,explorable spaces aredesigned around theavailability of externallight sources wheneverpossible.

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OPPOSITE References toH.R. Giger’s Space Jockeyfrom Alien (1979) aremost apparent in Scorn’sreliefs. Remove this hardsurface layer and you’llfind tissue and organslurking beneath.