Time Temple Sketching

So, in order to get things going with the Time-Travel Temple/Village I've spent some time gathering photos to serve as inspiration for the area graphics-wise. For some of you, particularly those who work with game design, this process will probably be well known to you.

Basically, I Google around for images that suit the themes of the area, in this case various things associated with ancient Asia. I then throw them all into a folder where I can browse them easily, or make one or a few "moodboards" to set the tone for the area. Below you can see one of those that I made for this blog post:  

So when I actually start sketching ideas for the game's props, I can browse this folder/these moodboards and stay on track in terms of what aesthetics would be associated with this particular area. 

Here I've started doodling around some ideas, mostly for houses, but I also strayed into the area of statues and the like: 

Since the village will be inside or very close to the mountain, we wanted to incorporate stone in some of the architecture. This will partly serve as a lore-thing (it makes sense that they would use stone since they live in an area surrounded by rocks), but also as a way of telling how much of a house will be left in the present, ruined version of the town. 

A house mainly built from stone would be pretty much intact, albeit worn down, while only the foundation might be left of the houses where more wood is used. At least, that's some of the things we're considering at this point!

Stay tuned as this area/temple thingy keeps evolving! :D