The Trees of Salt and Sanctuary
Time for another trip down game development memory lane and concept art dump. Trees! edition.
This may be a bit spoilery with the description of the trees so: spoiler warning!
Sort of last minute, and by last minute I mean January of this year, I was struck with the idea that the end scene needed a different tree in the background depending on what creed you were following and ending you chose at the end of the game. We launched on PS4 in March so this was veryyyy last minute but weāre not the kind of game studio that has what other studios call ācontent lockdownā. If we want to do it, we bloody well do it because we have no boss MWAHAHAHHA!
Ahem, anyway here are some trees I put probably too much time into considering you donāt even see them until the end of the game (avg. 20 hours to beat the game the first time) and you only see it for maybe 30 seconds. Even then, you only see the one that corresponds to your creed/ending choice and itās faded into the background. Probably a very small percentage of people even noticed this so A++, you are seriously the best if you did notice it.
A lot of research went into this 30 seconds of background visual! I picked the brain of friend and colleague, @murderblonde, about trees. I have some base knowledge of some tree species and had a general idea of what I wanted but she was able to help confirm some ideas and suggest other great ideas.
To get a better idea of the words that helped discover a tree to represent each creed with each ending type, you can refer to the ending poems if you arenāt bothered by spoilers or have already seen the endings you wish to: http://saltandsanctuary.wiki.fextralife.com/Endings
The Iron Ones - public const int CREED_IRON = 1; They get the Bristlecone Pine. I wanted a harsh looking tree with sparse leaves and started by searching trees that lived on mountains. They are great in surviving harsh conditions, a quality which the Iron Ones need being a creed that rejects the use of magic.
Devaraās Light - public const int CREED_CLERIC = 2; The silver birch was immediately my first thought, being a gorgeous silver-white tree. This choice was confirmed by the shape, standing tall with thin branches which seems to indicate the single goddess worship of Devaraās Light.
The Three - public const int CREED_THREE = 3; The oak was pre-chosen, being the tree seen in the game logo, most representative of the game. The Three is a creed most common in this world and it made the most sense that their tree be the sturdy, majestic oak. The art for this tree is the most symbolic and flat because it was derived from a medieval mural of an oak tree. I thought about filling it out to match the other ending trees but wanted it to be recognizable as the silhouette of the tree you see the most in Salt and Sanctuary.
Stone Roots - public const int CREED_WOODS = 4; We honeymooned in Maui in 2012 and while hiking, saw magnificent trees known as the banyan tree. Interestingly, that is also when the first building blocks of Salt and Sanctuary were programmed on Jamesā laptop. With support roots that shoot up from the ground all around and connect with the branches and even the way its seeds are spread, there is no better tree, to me, that represents the sprawling, interconnected nature of forests than the banyan.
Order of the Betrayer - public const int CREED_DARK = 5; I had seen manzanitas in southern California before, but I didnāt know at the time what these smooth, red barked trees were called. Annie immediately knew what they were called and all about them. The way they seem to peel and bleed with bright red flesh, the manzanita was perfect for the Order of the Betrayer.Ā
House of Splendor - public const int CREED_SPLENDOR = 6; This was a little tricky at first but I remembered seeing a tree in my parentsā back yard with yellow gold blossoms during a very specific time of year. Sure enough, the laburnum is sometimes called golden chain. The domination ending will show a flowerless tree, choked by golden vines.
Keepers of Fire and Sky - public const int CREED_FIRE = 8; Searching for trees that appear as though made by magic, I came across the jacaranda. I hadnāt heard of it before and the photos of it seemed color enhanced but after some research found they really are that vibrant. I added a bit of gold to the flowers to be just a little more magical.
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