Fierce gladiators and beautiful, yet no less deadly, gladiatresses!
We’re back with another installment of our Dev Diaries. Today, as promised, we’re taking a deeper look into our art department to talk about our inspirations and what exactly we’re working on right now. Enjoy the read!
A glimpse into the art workshop
We recently shared some insights into the art style we’ve chosen (if you missed that post, you can catch up here). We mentioned then that the cartoonish style and tongue-in-cheek approach to the world gives us incredible freedom. It allows us to experiment and boldly mix various cultural references. Mythology, pop culture, and even niche themes—it’s all fuel for us when building the world of Glads & Lads.
However, we want to maintain a sense of common sense in all of this and don't intend to introduce things that completely clash with our core vision. So, while we’re open to outfits inspired by Lovecraft’s works (like the set you see in the graphic above), you don’t have to worry about our imagination running too wild. We don’t want you bumping into a gladiator dressed as Spiderman in the middle of town—that’s just not the direction we’re taking! And speaking of the city and meeting other players… we have some very important news for you.
Make sure the neighbors see your massive sword!
Recently, during one of our regular team meetings, a heated discussion broke out. We reached the conclusion that we absolutely do not want players to feel locked within four walls, surrounded only by windows, tables, and dry rankings. After a serious brainstorming session, one conclusion became clear: a player who loots an epic sword during a grueling dungeon crawl doesn’t just want to watch a number in the rankings go up. They want to head out to the town square, stand by the fountain, and wait for everyone else's jaws to drop. We simply had to add this element to our game!
We won't lie—this was a significant technical challenge for us. As you know, the 2D perspective in our production strictly limits how a character can move, but our art team rose to the occasion. We’ve prepared dedicated movement animations for both male and female gladiator versions. As a result, the game world will become much more vibrant, and cities will bustle with well-geared warriors. And let’s be honest—there will surely be plenty of laughs when you spot a buddy who spent all his gold on a shield that was way too expensive, leaving him with nothing left for decent pants, proudly running across the square in his undies... but with what a weapon in his hand!
Parallel to our work on the city and characters, we are grinding away at the UI design—all the inventory windows, crafting screens, and other interface elements you’ll be interacting with daily. This is a crucial aspect for us, so we are intensively testing different solutions to ensure the gameplay experience is as comfortable and intuitive as possible. Whether you prefer playing on a large PC monitor or go for a quick session on mobile devices—the interface must work flawlessly. We aren't afraid to experiment with different layouts because we know the devil is in the details. We want managing your gladiator and crafting to be a pure pleasure, not a struggle with clunky menus.
Together, we are writing the history of Glads & Lads, and we’re thrilled that you are a part of it. In the next episode, we’ll focus on the "meat" of the game: character progression, the combat system, and general gameplay. There will be plenty to talk about!
And finally... we have a little leak for you. We are working hard on a video that will showcase all aspects of Glads & Lads! This will be a turning point that will give the project incredible momentum and finally show the world what our game really is. We can’t wait for you to see it!
In the meantime, if you’re not there yet, jump onto our Discord. That’s where the most action happens and where you have a real impact on what Glads & Lads will look like on launch day.
See you in the next post!
The Gamefluence Team
