Rise of the Eagle Princess

[Rise of the Eagle Princess]

So, here’s a cool thing that came up while doing art direction for Eagle Princess. While looking for references for historical Mongol army camps, I found a set of pictures of Qing dynasty hunting and war camps. Which is cool enough by itself, but even better, there were two paintings of the same scene.

This one by Chinese artist Ding Guanpeng 丁觀鵬: 

and this one by Jesuit artist Giuseppe Castiglione 郎世寧:

It’s really interesting to compare them! The top painting comes from a series of paintings commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor to commemorate his military victories in Xinjiang. According to the Baidu entry, the original drafts were by Castiglione and other painters, and then Deng Guanpeng and his assistants made paintings based on these drafts. A lot of the examples of Castiglione art I see are portraits and other things that emphasize him as an individual artist. Here we get to see him as part of a big government art project. And not even the final part! 

(There’s also some pretty terrible history here: the military victories being celebrated in these pictures is the conquest and mass killing of the Dzungar Mongols.) 

[Rise of the Eagle Princess]

Welcome to the peak of Snake Mountain, drawn by @naomiyaki, Alaqai sprite by Whitney Delaglio.

[Rise of the Eagle Princess]

[briandanielwolf]

Some of my work on @riseoftheeagleprincess! If you haven’t heard of the game yet, it’s a JRPG about a Mongolian princess named Alaqai (the woman in the red dress), and it’s gonna be awesome. I’ve been hired to do battle animations for all nine (!!) of the game’s party members. 

[ododongames]

Our animator, Brian Wolf, shows off some of the work he’s doing for our encounter animations.

From left to right, top to bottom, we have:
Zaan using her special intimidate action.
Shadow Moon casting a spell.
Hassan attacking.
Alaqai using her special action to demand surrender.

[Rise of the Eagle Princess]

Since we got a little bit of story and art in the last post, I thought I’d show off some of the amazing music for the game. Our composer, Matt Weber, is extremely talented, and I think that this piece – the theme for our main character Alaqai – shows off his abilities really well.

It can be tricky to write a theme for a protagonist. It has to both encompass their personality and also tell some of the main story of the game. I think that this piece does both of these things really well: it captures Alaqai’s enthusiasm, command, and martial skill, while at the same time giving space for the introspection and growth she’ll need over the course of her adventures.

Also, I think it just sounds fantastic. Enjoy!

[Rise of the Eagle Princess]

Rise of the Eagle Princess

Sixty years ago, under the light of the red comet, your grandfather conquered the world.
Now, a new comet is rising in the sky, but I do not know if it will bring triumph or ruin.
I have read it in the earth; I have heard it in the wind: the new comet is your destiny. It is on you, child, that the fate of the world depends…

So What’s the Game?

(Burkit, Alaqai’s Hunting Eagle)

Rise of the Eagle Princess is going to be the first game from the Ododon Games Company, an RPG in the style of 90s classics like Final Fantasy 6 and Phantasy Star 4. It is story driven and character focused and has a really bunch of talented people working on it, plus me.

So What’s the Story?

(Alaqai, not impressed)

Rise of the Eagle Princess tells the story of Alaqai, a princess of the Musoolian Empire, a world-spanning, fractious, and multicultural empire governed by her five brothers: Koyor, Gurban, Dorov, Tabun and the Emperor Zurgaa. While on a simple mission to collect tribute, she discovers schemes and plots that could plunge the empire into a civil war. Fighting to save her family’s legacy, she will travel to all five khanates of the empire, gathering a party companions from all over the world, and learn secrets not only about her world’s history but her own family!

While the setting and cultures of Rise of the Eagle Princess are inspired by the history of Central Asia and particularly the Mongolian Empire, it is a fantasy story in a world with prophecy, monsters, and ancient technologies buried in remote ruins.

So What’s this Blog?

(A slime. Who doesn’t love slimes?)

On this blog, the contributors to the game will be posting semi-regular updates with game design, music, comic panels, background, and so on, until the game comes out. We also might signal boost some of the other great projects our contributors are working on.