The fourth episode of the Disco Elysium documentary focuses on the work of the artists.
Fourth Episode of Disco Elysium Documentary Focuses on the Artists' Work
The fourth episode of the documentary about Disco Elysium is dedicated to the visual style of the legendary game and its designers. Aleksander Rostov discussed the techniques he used to create the visual identity of the iconic game.
The graphics in Disco Elysium are not just a wrapper; they are a separate narrative element that tells the story of the characters and the city where the events take place. The portraits convey the mystery of Klassje, the reliability of Kim, and the instability of Harry. Rostov was inspired to take this approach by the canvases of Velázquez. The image of Martinaise was born from Soviet-era panel buildings in the residential districts of Tallinn and the landscapes of Stroomka Beach. The melancholic grayness and desolation of the place where Senior Detective Du Bois finds himself are inspired by the views of Rostov's homeland.
However, the game was not created by one person alone. This includes the visuals. An entire team of passionate people worked on changing the characters, refining details, and each member contributed something of their own. They viewed scenes as flat pictures and used techniques characteristic of painting to create a recognizable style.
An interesting story occurred when it was time to "assemble" everything. ZA/UM wanted to use virtual texturing, but the version of Unity at the time did not have such a feature. They had to turn to a third-party plugin, Amplify Texture 2. Its developers were so kind that they even shared the source code. Later, they themselves became part of the studio.
The next episode of the documentary film (you can find the first, second, and third episodes in our previous materials).