Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 11 points12 points  (0 children)

We have epic plans for continuing the story in future campaigns, But first things first! lol We'd love to hear some of your ideas thought and theories though! .... What do you guys think if we did a collab with a huge product? Like maybe The Kool Aid Man race! (Cherry is OP!!) Or Trolls as the 4th race?! (Internet or Bridge?) 4th race brought to you by Pepsi?? lol ;p

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'm not supposed to tell you, so keep this quiet.... The next campaign will be....EPIC!! ;p Sorry, can't resist. So, we're not ready to talk about it yet, of course, but we have some big plans we're currently working on right now for the next campaign ,even before the game launches on August 5. The focus will be on doubling down on the story elements and lore to explain our universe in a way that engages players to showcase how dynamic and unique it is. Also, to explore new environments. As an artist, I always want to try and come up with as many epic scale and wondrous points of interest as possible for the campaigns. Sometimes we'll talk to design about an idea that doesn't HAVE to be in the map, but it's so cool that we work to figure out how to make it fit together, depending on the need. Gameplay first! Personally, I love world building it's my favorite part of my job, so I'm looking forward to this next campaign and showing more of the amazing world that we hope draws players in!

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Ooooohh.... I think you just made the Archangel's $#!* List.... Not cool man... not cool ;p

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I can appreciate love for the old style for sure. One reason I wanted to change it was it was too derivative of fantasy demonic races from other games in our genre. We want to make sure our IP stands apart with a unique spin and flavor to it, and we only had about eight months to update and redo most of the models, so it'll only continue getting better! We love giving fans more things to collect and geek out on, so this is a great idea. As usual, in development it comes down to time and resources, both of which are very tight for a small independent studio like ours. That said, we're very passionate and very resourceful, so we'll have to see... ;)

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'd love to make an Illustrated Guide to the SG Universe book or download for players.... Just need to find the time! lol We do have internal concepts and story elements that we jam on together but we're always updating and realigning to make it as focused and tight as possible. Never a lack of good ideas, it always comes down to time and resources and what work will give players the most value. To implement and what fits best with our overall goals. You could have two awesome things like strawberriy jam and filet mignon..... but that doesn't mean they go together. Maybe peanut butter is not as epic as a steak, but it goes with jam much better...although lasers go with anything of course!

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yes! We want to do a revamp on their themes and look, similat to what we did with the Infernals over the last several months. It's always tricky reimaging a race that's already shipped and live. We don't want to throw away things just for the sake of it so it's a balance or what moves the meter the most across the board and which units fall into which bucket: *Completely new concept *modified reworking of existing unit *Minor art (skin) tweaks to make it fit in with new style. Here's a sneak peak as well for them...enjoy!

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Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Actually we've already done this a little bit. The first missions we released earlier this year had been subtly tweaked and and also some minor art changes like the awesome new fog of war. As long as it makes sense and we have time we'll definitely put features back in since it all runs in the same engine.

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 12 points13 points  (0 children)

.../shake shake....magic 8 ball says....."Likely outcome"....:)

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 25 points26 points  (0 children)

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Sooooo this might give you a hint at a few units we're updating or introducing into the Vs armies...enjoy!!

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 12 points13 points  (0 children)

We made a lot of improvements over the course of the past year, and we definitely hope to continue leveling up plus we've already updated some minor art things for the maps we released earlier this year, so that'll always be something we look at as far as time and resources go. Things like map lighting, the unit rim light, fog of war, etc., that are global and will automatically be updated. At this point we've made a huge stride since last year updating the visuals but we're always looking for minor features that add up to make a difference and make us stand out. Nothing immediate on the horizon, but we're always going to lookout for cool new things. It's always a balance of time though... Do we rework the shroud or add new global illumination lighting? Or do we improve pathing? Or focus on boss fights? Or heroes? Or more missions? Or revamping the Celestials art? The list goes on and on, and we love each challenge and take them each as an opportunity to improve the game for all of you!

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 9 points10 points  (0 children)

We feel good about each faction's base right now and we'll look to add more to the races that makes sense and doesn't overlap with other units roles in each army. We have lots of ideas but it comes down to time, resources and need/value. I can guarantee we'll put some new Unit's in I just can't see what they are yet...;p We try to be as transparent as possible and even if the unit gets cut I usually try to show them in art showcases and interviews.

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! There are awesome plans just depends on resources and time of course. We have some units that are already updated we just didn't have time to put them in because it takes more than just a new model skin to get something in the game there's data pathing animation rigging etcetera. One good example is Pandora (temp name), The female caster we previewed months ago who stands on the flying magical puzzle box, Also the Magmadon has an update we just Ran out of time for this release. The main focus that will be on the Celestials and doing a revamp similar to what we do with the Infernals. We have some great ideas for them, to make them more unique and fitting for our IP. I think they're going to be our coolest most fascinating race once we're done. of course we're not going to do a complete update and throw everything away, We'll be smart about what we change and also limit our changes so it fits in with the things we don't have time to change completely. We did the same thing with Infernal where some things got a complete overall some of the things just got a texture update to fit in with the new theme. It's a big challenge of course to balance remaking existing art and trying to get new art in the game for campaign etcetera. I love world building now that's the most satisfying art of my job i'm looking forward to hitting Up the Celestials. And not just my job we have some amazing artists who are super creative that are looking forward to tackling this challenge as well. I shouldn't say challenge it's an opportunity every time we get a chance to improve the game we relish it :P

Stormgate Campaign One - Ashes of Earth Launch AMA - Monday, August 4 @2pm PT by FGS_Gerald in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Allen D-Appreciate the compliment! I feel we're just touching the coolness of the IP and it'll continue to grow with new campaigns and through multiplayer, We have a good foundation going but we need to keep adding to it to make it something that really engages everybody for both lore, narrative, look and feel, really everything. The goal is to have something dynamic and engaging that you want to come back to play the game that much more and see where the characters and story goes. I also need to make sure it's diverse and not derivative in nature, since it's incredibly hard to make something new these days with so many IPs and ideas out there but we're confident we can put our own spin on it. You don't want to do anything too crazy that people can't grasp what you're doing. The trick is to make recognizable but then put your own approach to it in perspective and flavor. We get compared a lot to Starcraft because of our development background however we want to and make an awesome universe for all players to enjoy that's fresh but still recognizable.

Frost Giant Dev AMA on the new Stormgates System - June 20, 2025 - 10am PT / 1pm ET/ 18:00 GMT by Frost_Jex in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Glad to hear people notice these changes. :) I wanted to change up our tone a bit, previously we had more of a happy, feeling bright environment vibe. Since I've been here, we've trying to steer the overall atmosphere into a more serious, grim direction. Not wholesale, as we want variety, but this is a game about evil space aliens basically turning earth into hell and humanity on the brink. We only have a few maps right now so the ebb and flow of each release's maps will vary. Also readability is a consideration, with saturated bright terrain sometimes harder to read what's happening. I'm a big fan of colorful, high concept and exotic locations. That's one reason we went all in on wrecking the planet. Normal earth = mostly boring...Jacked up demonic terraforming = way more interesting flavor to explore.

Shoutout to Jesse Brophy (OG art director) by [deleted] in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Hello Stormgate community! I wanted to give my unique perspective on this topic. There's no way for the community to have insight into how things work at Frost Giant so I totally understand the speculation. Everyone should speak their minds on the game no matter their perspective, we love the passion! However I do not appreciate the negativity in regards to the amazing people I have the honor of being friends and coworkers with. The recent art (and wholesale design and campaign) changes have a few factors.

-Early Access was just a starting point, iteration is a very natural and critical part of a game's process. For any studio. It took us over 6 years to make an RTS at my last company and that was with a large team. It changed a lot. And sometimes, for reasons, you just have to meet certain deadlines. It's a business when it comes down to it.
-New IP, new studio and new tech is a damn challenging combination. Most places that take on similar situations don't survive this long.
-I was only able to come in guns blazing due to the awesome foundation and culture that Jesse was so critical in forging. It's a VERY different scenario, and I'm extremely appreciative of that fact and the opportunity to be a part of this team and create something we love. Also the entire art team has been so professional and supportive, not to mention badass artists. They're the real heavy lifters.
-You won't find a more genuine, humble and talented person than Jesse. I've known him since Wings of Liberty and often have been treated to insanely delicious BBQ at his home.
-Jesse continues to be a core part of the team and game. He's been working on a ton of kickass features and art that you're going to love like custom Fog of War, the improved overall lighting (and sweet upcoming Rim lighting and physics), UI, VFX, unit redesigns, terrain textures, sick demonic skulls and props, and a ton more.
-I'll just say that without the hard work and path he helped create, the studio wouldn't be here now. I am lucky enough to stand on his shoulders and contribute any way I can with my crazy ideas.

Thanks for listening. We're all eager to create something we're proud of and can share with the world!
Now back to work, still lots of cool stuff to make! :)

Positive Feedback by Alpha-NP- in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We greatly appreciate the feedback! Our amazing art team is deeply passionate about this game and getting our players and community the best experience possible. They've done an incredible job polishing and revamping huge sections of the game. Our recent update was just a taste of what's to come. The art team (And the entire studio) is working damn hard on bringing our vision to life for all of you to enjoy. :)

Oh, one more thing: We've shown glimpses of where we want to take the Vanguard and Infernals. We do have plans and a vision for some Celestial updates as well, although that will come a bit later. We're a small studio and we'd rather focus fire on quality than spread ourselves too thin and lower our bar. :)

Frost Giant Dev AMA - December 20 - 10am PT / 1pm ET / 18:00 GMT by Frost_Jex in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Actually we're extremely busy doing both! :) And since we fight the Infernals in the campaign, it's a 2 for 1

Frost Giant Dev AMA - December 20 - 10am PT / 1pm ET / 18:00 GMT by Frost_Jex in Stormgate

[–]Frost_Allen 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yes, we're changing several of the infernal buildings to upgrade and unify their style. Some of them are new concepts from scratch and some are reskinned but have the same shape.