Concept Work: Song of the Ten Thousand Year Tapestry

I've been thinking about what I want to do for thesis, and since I had a little bit of free time I thought I'd whip up some early stuff so I remember what the ideas were. Admittedly it's quite early to be thinking about, but I would like to build up ideas while I have the time to think.

Song of the Ten Thousand Year Tapestry is a fairytale adventure set in the Dark Ages. A tailor's son tries to save his family treasure, a magic self-weaving tapestry that depicts his family's past, present, and future, from an evil king (a fairytale version of William the Bastard) seeking to abuse it for his own purposes.

Historically, I was heavily influenced by the Bayeux Tapestry depiction of the Battle of Hastings as well as the kingdoms of the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. In media I drew influences from the movie Dragonheart, and games like the Banner Saga, Legend of Zelda (Both the early concept art of Katsuya Terada and the cel-shaded world of Windwaker), and Broken Age. In a way, this idea is a blending together of many of my favorite things, put into one of my favorite (but criminally under-explored) historical periods, the early Dark Ages of the 8th-10th centuries, a period where the Normans, Byzantines, Vikings, and Saxons all thrived and created much of what would become the classic Middle Ages.

While very Zelda-esque in appearance, 10KT would play much more like a classic adventure game, focusing on the problem-solving, critical thinking, and using the environment over swordplay and violence. Being a simple tailor, you are massively outclassed by the Norman knights who obstruct your path and can only very rarely try to fight them directly. You will soon throw away your sword altogether in favor of a magic needle.

While I am still working out the details on how specifically I would want it to look, there are a few elements I have set. There is very little red, that color being reserved exclusively for the bright Tapestry and important elements relating to it. Environments and characters have exaggerated proportion and a saturated, painted illustration appearance, with duller colors being associated with dangerous things like the Normans, mundane weaponry, and certain architectural elements. Friendlier characters are brighter, cooler shades.

I hope to explore this concept further as the semester goes on, as well as into the summer, along with other possibilities for thesis. I can certainly say right now that I am very excited about this and, if I learn the sufficient skills, I plan to experiment with it in Unreal to further refine my designs.