The In-World Graphics of Katorga 12
Propaganda posters, warning signs, info-graphics: ordinary props for an extraordinary island. When the project began we knew that they could serve as more than splashes of color in the environment. The signage could help passively deliver exposition, and further draw the player into our story. Let me talk about our intent, concepts, and execution for Singularity’s in-world graphics.
The E-99 symbol
Element 99 is the driving force behind our narrative. It is a highly unusual element that can bend and pervert time, and it is responsible for the Soviet Union’s dramatic rise to power. Our goal was to create a simple, interesting “E-99 Hazard” symbol that we could showcase both in-world, and in the game’s branding.
As we worked through many designs, a few tenets emerged:
- It couldn’t be too scary or aggressive, the radiation symbol is scary because radiation is scary, not the triangles or palette itself.
- It couldn’t look contemporary, meaning we did not want the mark to feel like it was designed last year. It needed to have some period-appropriate wonkiness to ground it in our reality.
- It should be simple, iconic, and of course relate to time.
Here is a sample of the various iterations we tried when designing the symbol. In 1, we played with an arrow (of science!) piercing a barrier- it had nice movement but was too abstract. Notice in 2, we were looking at the literal definition of a Singularity- “A point in space-time at which gravitational forces cause matter to have infinite density and infinitesimal volume, and space and time to become infinitely distorted”. We looked at an abstract horizon, where one couldn’t see what lie beyond. Also, the shape created a kind of torch, which relates to Prometheus and his fire- nice, but again, too abstract. 3 is the result of critique and revision.
We liked this mark best, because it relates to time (the hourglass), time irregularity (the infinity loop) and science (electron orbiting the nucleus of an abstract atom).
Placing the mark into the world:: Once satisfied with the mark, we made a few comps of how to make it into believable, in-world signage. This is one example, while you play be on the lookout for it’s variety of uses!
Posters and Propaganda
An alternate history, especially one that deals with the Soviet Union winning the Cold War with science, begs for over-the-top, narrative enhancing propaganda! When developing these, again, certain rules surfaced:
- These posters must convey strength and power- not necessarily evil or malice. The most compelling baddies don’t believe they are villains.
- They should feel authentic, not just in content, but in execution. We didn’t want them to look like digital paintings.
- Finally, they should feel weird. They were made by 50’s era Soviets, not Raven employees. And not just any 50’s era Soviets, we’re talking alternate history 50’s era Soviets. We all had to break some old habits and render in unconventional ways to push this aesthetic.
Along with the posters, we created a series of twisted film strips that referenced the “Duck and Cover” nuclear PSAs from the early 50’s. These film strips are beautiful, and deliver exposition in a novel way. Be sure to find and watch them all!
A variety of in-world propaganda posters.
A sample from the “E is for E-99” filmstrip.
In-world Signage
Less sexy than logos and posters, but every bit important, is the in-world signage. Hazard signs, info-graphics, even the type on the shipping container help inform the narrative. All of the work for the E-99 symbol and propaganda would be wasted if we used modern “fire” and “caution” signs on the island. Our Russian signs are translated and authentic, they use in-house developed fonts, and their compositions are based on period specific info-graphics.
An example of our in-house Cyrillic fonts.
Examples of our Katorga-12 info graphics.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this spotlight on our various posters, signage, and films. Now go play the game and find them all!
Dave Curd
Senior Artist
Raven Software