It’s been a while – too long, really – since we shared the incredible concept art being created for Firefly Online. Starting right now, we’ll be making up for lost time.
Here, for example, is one of many planet-based ship docks that you’ll be bringing your ship to when you want to give her a little TLC (or some shiny upgrades). Don’t you just love the contrast in old and new architectural elements?
Cutscenes and other cinematic elements of Firefly Online will be generated in real time by the game engine, so that a player’s unique game elements (your ship, your character design) will be an intrinsic part of gameplay. That means even in the title credits, it’ll be your ship and your character’s image you’ll see onscreen, not something prerecorded.
Now, you might wonder how good animation produced in real time can really be on your average computer? We wondered that, too. That’s why we recorded this little cutscene of Serenity landing on a small colony world. This scene is playing live, in game, on a humble iMac. Turns out Unity adjusts to the limitations of each platform rather nicely, don’t you think?
It is ironic that Timothy M. Earls, one of the most prolific set and concept designers working in Hollywood today, is uncredited for some of his most famous work: The ships of Firefly.
Tim’s screen credits include Iron Man 3, Babylon 5, Glee, The Lone Ranger, Terminator Salvation, Mission Impossible III, The Italian Job and Star Trek: Voyager, to name a few. But most Browncoats know him through his concept designs for Firefly, where he created the look of ships from the Dortmunder and the Reaver Trans-U to Serenity herself.
Because there is no greater authority on what a ship of the Verse should look like, Firefly Online could not be happier to announce that Tim Earls has joined the FFO team as ship concept designer. In this role Tim will be creating a number of brand new ship designs for the game that build on the legacy of the original show. In fact, it could be said that Tim will be picking up where he left off 12 years ago, extending the Verse and giving us ships we might have seen – had the show stayed on the air.
And just to give you a taste of what’s to come, here’s Tim’s first FFO ship concept: The Kepler Class Light-Bulk Science Vessel. This ship was used extensively as a survey scout during the terraforming of the Blue Sun system, and is one of the most most rugged and graceful ships to ever sail the Black. It’s design is so sought-after, that some saw conversion to civilian use and are now owned by a lucky few captains.
The Kepler Class Transport will *not* be available to everyone. Only folks who sign-up for the “Founders of the Verse” preorder package will be getting the Kepler as their starter ship. We’ll keep you posted on development of the Kepler (and the Founders package) over the next several weeks. And you can expect to see many more ships coming from Mr. Earls.
Music can often make the difference between a good game and a great game. Think about all your favorite games: We’re willing to bet most, if not all, came integrated with some epic tunes.
One of the many great things about working with a property like Firefly is all the awesome and inventive music that was part of every episode. And, yes, Firefly Online will definitely take full advantage of that amazing body of work. But even 14 episodes of amazing music isn’t enough to fill a Verse-spanning interactive adventure. So, along with tunes familiar, FFO will feature many original themes as well.
To help us with the daunting task of creating new music that can hold up to the powerful legacy of Firefly’s original soundtrack, we went to David Joseph Wesley (www.djwfilmmusic.com), who in addition to being a brilliant composer with an impressive list of credits is also a huge Browncoat. According to the composer, getting to work on FFO is one the most exciting things he’s done. Just listening to this first composition you can tell he’s pouring his all into every note.
Without further ado, we present our first original theme for Firefly Online, the appropriately-titled “Back to the Verse”. To give you a little better sense of how the music will integrate with images of the Verse, we’ve included a little animated slideshow of previously-published FFO concept art (sharp-eyed viewers may also notice an Easter Egg of two):
If you’d like to learn more about David’s other work, you can go to his website or follow him on Facebook and Twitter: