Six years ago, Soma Games launched a Kickstarter for what would eventually become the The Lost Legends of Redwall video game series. Redwall AbbeyCraft: The Corsair's Last Treasure, The Scout Act I, and Escape the Gloomer are out, and The Scout Act II is forthcoming.
One of the rewards for the 2013 crowdfunding campaign was described as "a printed and bound copy of The Beauty of Redwall concept art book." On December 2018, Soma posted an update, stating "We wanted to give you an update on the concept art book. We are finishing up the design and will have something very soon."
While I can't speak for other Kickstarter backers, I can say that this book, now titled "The Art of The Lost Legends of Redwall," has officially arrived at our headquarters.
It's an approximately 31-page publication that features a look at conceptual designs, sketches, and artwork for the video games series, in an 8 1/2 x 11 format.
The book begins with an introduction from Soma CEO Chris Skaggs, who shares that they've "closed the third major expansion and extension to [their] Redwall video game license with Penguin Random House" - which I believe is a reference to The Scout Act II. He adds they're "really only getting started."
Two of the artists, Erin Marantette and Jeremy Adams, then share some notes on their creative process.
The book then breaks out into three chapters.
"Chapter 1: Characters" features designs for mice, moles, and rats.
"Chapter 2: World Building" features blueprints, as well as the interiors and exteriors of various buildings and scenes.
"Chapter 3: Props" features environmental props (bridges), structures, and items.
And while I would like to share a few more pages from this, I feel it's best to respect the Kickstarter backers who provided funding to Soma Games to make this happen in the first place - it is their exclusive reward after all.
My only question is I thought Jared Shear was a contributing/concept artist for the game, and I was under the impression we might see some of his work too. Maybe in the future?
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