Otherside Entertainment has opted for a pictorial approach for its upcoming immersive simulator, Thick As Thieves. Moving away from the saturation of photorealism, the studio draws inspiration from the style of Dishonored to create a magical-punk aesthetic. Art director Matt Moore notes that the Scottish baronial architecture of Edinburgh was the creative spark, with its turrets and alleyways seemingly designed for parkour and aerial heists.
A fictional city created with Unreal Engine 5 🎨
Although Edinburgh was the initial inspiration, the team decided to create the fictional city of Kilcairn to gain narrative freedom. The action takes place in an alternate timeline of 1910, where ancient magic coexists with old-world technology. Unreal Engine 5 proved key to cohesively bringing these disparate elements together. The engine allows for integrating dynamic lighting and detailed geometry without sacrificing performance, resulting in a vibrant world that respects pictorial exaggeration without falling into visual chaos.
From Edinburgh to Kilcairn: why moving cities 🏰
In the end, creating a city from scratch has its advantages. Not only do you avoid complaints from Scottish tourists about painting Edinburgh Castle purple, but you can justify any impossible architecture. If a roof floats over an alley in Kilcairn, it's because magic holds it up, not because the city council approved a bad budget. Plus, no one can complain about placing gas lamps where they don't belong. Creative freedom, as they say.