From programmer art to final art

Hey, who remembers this?

One month ago, I showed off this lovely piece of programmer art for Blackwell Deception.  I drew it myself, using such high-tech drawing tools as a white piece of printer paper and a ballpoint pen.  I then scanned it into my computer and incorporated it into the game so I could program the basics of the location.  I made sure to add the words "This is a yacht" for the benefit of anyone unlucky enough to actually try it out. 

Eventually, Pepe (the background artist) took pity and did a preliminary sketch of the room:

It actually looks like a boat now!  Kinda.  You can faintly see Chelsea Piers in the background, which is where the boat is docked before setting off.   I greedily incorporated this sketch into the game so I wouldn't have to look at my own artwork.  Eventually, after several bouts of going back back and forth with the coloring, the final product emerged:

Overall, I am very happy with this.  It's the very first scene in the game, so I wanted to make a good impression.  There are clouds that drift by and a water reflection that shifts around.  When the boat starts moving there's a nice image of the George Washington Bridge that scrolls in the background.  Simple effects, but they do the job nicely.

Like with Convergence, I plan on releasing a free stand-alone demo to show off the game.  You should see this background (along with a few others) incorporated in that demo a month or two before release.

-Dave