Heroes of Might and Magic V Interviews

Both Boomtown and Strategy Informer have published interviews with Heroes of Might and Magic V designer Olivier Ledroit. Apparently they’re both identical, so here’s just a snip from the Q&A at Boomtown:

Q: Could you describe the process of creating a new design?

A: I always start by picturing the different factions, how they are related to each other, what differentiate them etc. Then for each side I come up with some basic shapes and silhouettes that remind of places, eras etc. So I give graphical codes to each one of them. Then I use this basis to create all the characters and places. On Might & Magic, one constraint was to look different from the usual fantasy universe. Factions like the undeads or the elves have very strong and established visual codes and Ubisoft wanted to move away from this single vision. This is why the elves in Might&Magic do not only refer to a Celtic imagery but also to American Indians. The Dark elves on the other hand will remind you of the Italian Renaissance.