Hello again, denizens of Cairn! It’s that time of the year again for a Grim Misadventure. This one is full of pretty images for your ocular organs to peruse, prefaced by many words describing how those pretty images came to be.
Grim Dawn has many unique items for you to discover, and their power must be equally matched by their visual presentation. You may have noticed that some of our 1-30 level-range epics still use placeholder art (Blackwood Wand, I’m looking at you). That is all about to change. Our artists have returned to itemization to bring these stragglers to release-ready state. You can expect this effort to extend into the 30-50 range as well now that many of you are collecting those epics for the first time.
The creation of an item’s visuals is a multi-step process. It usually begins with the designer deciding upon an item’s name and stats, then providing the artists with a rough idea of what the item should look like. Sometimes, this step is reversed, where an artist has an idea for an item visually and the designer than wraps stats and a name around this description.
The artists then take the description to create a concept. This serves as a frame of reference when the item is modeled. Once drafted, the concept art goes through a brief review where it may be adjusted based on how it will present within the game. We have to consider things such as the angle at which you view an item as well as the camera distance. Sometimes details that look great in concept turn out muddy within the game. This is the point where we predict such issues and fix them, before the item even goes into the modeling step.
Once the concept has been approved, the item is modeled and textured. The modeling step attempts to replicate the concept art, but sometimes changes are necessary to avoid clipping into the character model or to enhance details that would otherwise not show up very clearly in the game engine.
Finally, if applicable, the item has special effects applied. This can be anything from a roaring flame to trapped spirits escaping from a blade’s edge. The product of this chain is what you see in the game!
Below are some examples of the before and after of our process. You may recognize these items from your collection, though by name only!
Blood Carver
Bloodreaper’s Claw
Curse of Burrwitch
The Eye
That wraps up today’s update! You can look forward to our next grim misadventure on 03/31/2014!
Attachment: Blood Carver.jpg
Attachment: Bloodreaper’s Claw.jpg
Attachment: Curse of Burrwitch.jpg
Attachment: The Eye.jpg
And welcome too, as I just found one for myself. 
In all seriousness, another fantastic update,