concept bible

7/31/2019 Concept Bible

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This chapter will give you a brief example of

how I envision the storyboard for Shadow of

the Beast 4.

The following storyboard example takes place

when our hero faces his nemesis for the sec-

ond time. Aabron has ventured to thestronghold of Zelek and ventured to oldest

and innermost place of the castle. A diresituation with unforeseen consequences pro-

ceeds...

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I have walked these halls before. Rekann said. His

voice echoed off the far end of the corridor eventhough he spoke in a lowered voice. The ancient cas-

tle had seemed alien to the mage so far, but nally his

knowledge of the place could prove useful. Aabron

wondered if Rekanns presence was all in his head orif he in fact was there with him, as they carefully madetheir way through the gothic interior.

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Keep your voice down old man Aabron hushed. I

can smell the stench of dark magic. He continued

with his inhuman voice. One of the numerous side ef-fects of his beast form his twisted vocal cords. Fortu-

nately, Rekann had taught him how to control it, to

such an extend, that he could form human wordsnow.

A faint memory struck his mind, months before Aabron

lived in a silent world. As a beast, his communication

had consisted primarily of grunts and screams. Whenmeeting others of his kind, they would enter a contest

of power, using body language like animals. Silent, but

mortally dangerous.

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Oh? Rekann replied in a mock manner. Do I trace

fear in your two hearts beastman? The mage snick-ered. The ghostly image of Rekann would manifest

now and then. In this certain situation he was fully vis-

ible, other times he would be more faint, and some-

times he would icker out of existence. His sendingmagic wasnt a constant he could control completely.

He could form the ow of magic, but the stream oftenfound boundaries where it couldnt go.

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Cautiousness. Aabron hinted as his red eyes darted

around the foreign architecture. You might knowwhere to go, but you dont know where Zeleks pawnshide. He crouched into a predator like posture, the

scent of monsters was growing near.

Wait, something is wrong. Rekann replied. This timehis jolly attitude had changed. It must be powerfulmagic, I ... As he was about to form his last sentence,

the ow of magic was whisked away. Aabron knew itcould happen, as it had done before. But could it be

a coincidence right here in the beast mages strong-

hold?

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Aabron hid motionless in the shadow of a grand gar-goyle. He could feel it too, the presence of power-

ful dark magic. The place became silent after Re-kanns presence dissipated. Too silent. He could feelhis hearts pump faster, the drumming pounded in his

ears.

It was as if the corruption in his body and mind dou-

bled by this dark presence. He could hardly contain

his new found control, everything in his body tearedat his mental inuence. Like a wild beast trying to

claw its way out of Aabrons skin. He had felt this way

before. It was the dark inuence of Zelek himself.

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At that realization a gloomy voice spoke from above.

You wretched little puppet. Aabron instinctivelydodged out from the shadows, he knew the power

of the Zelek, and took no chances. Zelek was cun-

ning and spiteful, he would not hesitate to launchan attack at an unknowing opponent. Zelek broke

into a hideous laughter So Rekann was right, you

are afraid? The beast mage mused. I hardly evenmoved and here you scuttle around like a frightened

little mouse. How pathetic!.

The silhouette of giant tall gure stood almost mo-tionless on top of one of the gargoyles. Huge horns

protruding upwards and two glowing eyes looking

down. The gure tilted its head. Aabron rememberedthe beast mage very well. In their last battle Zelek

fought Aabron with an advantage, this time though,

it seemed the tables had turned. Within this conned

space Zelek would not be able to use his dragonform and so Aabron would have the upper hand. It

seemed too easy.

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A cry pierced the hallway and Aabron spun around.Sister! He screamed. At the far end of the passage

a young girl was pulled out by two grunts. Aabron

hearts rushed. He could feel his kin at the far end of

the room. His family. His lost life. For a moment he for-got about Zelek and as he rushed towards his sister a

crackling sound shot through the castle.

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A scorching blast of magical re melted a hole inthe ground in front of Aabron. Did you really think

I didnt have a contingency plan? I created you, I

know your every move, I am your god, beast messen-

ger. Zeleks form sprawled into life and he held is skullstaff high. It was glowing ercely. I am your god, and

now you will die for your hubris.

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This chapter gives two axamples of ingame

screenshots.

Being a third person action adventure game,

the antagonist will dominate the center of thescreen. The camera will be xed to follow him

in most situations. There will be HUD in the topleft corner of the screen that shows Aabronsstatus.

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Every game need selling art. It could be for abox cover, a poster, a internet portal or may-

be a magazine.

Shadow of the Beast already have an

established identity. The logo speaks strongly

and every old fan will recognize it.

This chapter shows an example of a poster

that works with the original logo and gives anexample of what the game is about.

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This chapter covers the concept of Aabron,the protagonist of the Shadow of the Beast ofthe beast games.

The hero of the story. Aabron is both man andbeast. He is driven by a hunger for revenge.

He is proud, dominant, strong, resource-

ful. Few other things than revenge stir in hisheart, but occasional he might ally with the

denizens of world if it helps him achieve his

goal. Aabrons only weakness is himself andhis younger sister. His inner beast is something

he gradually learns to master, but Zelek ab-ducts his sister, he is powerless, and only more

slaughtering can solve that problem.

Aabrons is agile and athletic. He was the

beast messenger of Zelek, and his speed is

unmatched by most of the other strongerbeasts. Playing Aabron is an experience

where you get to be the monster. Aabrons

movements and personality reect this.

Playing Aabron is also playing a heroic man.

When in this form Aabron knows that he isweaker, and his movements and personality

reect this.

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This chapter covers the concept of Rekann,the mentor of the Aabron, and good goodcounterpart to Maletoth.

Rekann is old and wise. He has lived longerthan the rule of Maletoth. But even though he

is wise, he is a little naive. A naivety that gave

Maletoth a chance to overthrow the old king.He is kind, charismatic and trustworthy, but he

has a strong sense of persona, and his words

bear power.

Rekann is a mentor, and he teaches Aabron

about himself, and the world. In the end, it is

his plan that gives Aabron the tools he needsto kill Maletoth.

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The grunts appear in Shadow of the Beast I.One of the more interesting creatures to ght

in the rst game is these big brutes. They try to

hit you with their sword if you come to close,so you have to be quick to strike before they

do.

Not the most interesting mechanic, but com-

paring it with the numerous of other creatures,that just storm at you with no regard for their

life, it is cool.

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In the third game, you meat a tribe of cave

men like creatures. Although fairly easy to kill,the death animation is great. They literally gib

when you strike them with your shuriken. A

great feedback that makes them a memora-ble encounter.

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Zelek is the creator of Aabron, and all the oth-

er beasts. It is hinted in the original story that

he is the direct subordinate of Maletoth, andthat there are other mages that could take

his place as The Beast Mage, if he didnt nd

a suitable substitute for Aabron. A powerful

position, a powerful being, evil being, but stillnot as dominant as Maletoth himself.

Zelek is a vengeful soul, when beaten by

Aabron he doesnt just take a new child as

the Beast Messenger, he deliberately goesout of his way to steal Aabrons sister in spite.

Zeleks power is that of transformation, reand lighting. In the rst game he is portrayed

as a giant beast, and you can only see hisgrotesque foot. But after he is beaten, he is

more of a beastly ghost-like being, with the

ability to take the form of a black dragon.

Since Zelek is the master of the castle in the

rst game, it is only reasonable to suspect heis also a master of the technologies presented

there. His magical power of lighting could just

as well be electricity.

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Maletoth is the supreme antagonist. Even

though very little is said about him, we can ex-

pect him to be overly badass since hecontrols Zelek through fear.

He is ultimately dominant, powerful and clev-

er, tricking an entire Kingdom, and then con-quering it.

In the third game you nally encounter the

mysterious super villain. You had picturedsomething immensely powerful, evil looking

and dark. However, it seems Maletoth is noth-

ing but a ying head and two hands. With allthe amazing monsters in the game, this is a

shame.

The battle against him is easy since you have

gotten your ultimate weapon so not even

here is Maletoth especially imposing. In a new

version I would take a lot of effort into remak-ing Maletoth into the ultimate antagonist, he

is.

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Shadow of the Beast is a fantasy world rstand foremost. It is a land with unworldly cli-

mate and marvelous creatures. It has magic,dragons, ghosts, castles, swords and axes. But

Shadow of the Beast is more than this. It bears

a hint of something out of place that youdont see in your regular fantasy genre.

While the land offers you regular gothic cas-tles, forests and monsters from the beginning

of the rst game, the technological level isgradually varying from stone age to high tech

throughout the story.

Apart from the rst game, there have beena slight hint of Asian inspiration throughout

Shadow of the Beast.

Another aspect of Shadow of the Beast that

makes it so unique is the arches. Arches in themountains, arches in the bridges, arches in

buildings and arches in the concept art.

The fauna in Shadow of the Beast ranges from

normal looking oak trees, bonsai trees, alien

looking mushrooms to actual alien environ-ment.

Following is an example of environmentalconcept art.

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