Hello!! What would you say are the inspirations on Clockworks' designs as a megastructure? I'm doing some studies in that very field so I would be very glad to hear your opinions on it!
Would you consider bare-bones Clockworks (like the tunnels and compounds) as being influenced by sci-fi megastructures, as hostile/brutal in nature? How presence of more alien and high-tech environments like inside of the Core with consideration of its architectural and plot relevance would effect this impression?
And then, how would Clockworks' themes and vibe be shifted or deepened by introducing *far more whimsical* and standout locations like Starlight Cradle, Owlite Academy, Wildwoods, or Scarlet Fortress with all of their fantasy theming while existing *inside* the megastructure?
What would you label to be the themes of Clockworks and Cradle? TY!
As comfy and cozy the graphics of the game is played out, the impression of the world in this game is moreso fantastical than hostile/brutal. It plays more like we're exploring the world from a researcher, a scientist, an adventurer, or a diver's perspective.
Sure we fight through and there's inclusion of semi-realistic tones of portrayed danger and loss from the storyline, but it's meant to be more-so an exciting thrill of practically a whole world in a condensed, mechanized construction full of unknowns. The Clockworks is a mysterious, clearly artificial environment of massive proportions. But that's all it is; the actual presence of entities within it seemed to have naturally created their own sub-environments and that's why despite being an artificially-made world, it's laid out both with both harmony and discord like actual nature is. I guess really what I'm trying to say here is that both the Clockworks, and the entities, exist together rather than one affecting another.
As third-party gamers not directly involved in this fictional setting, we experience these sub-environments as "levels", but it's really meant to be a portrayal of things that supposedly existed long before knights, and would've continued to exist naturally had we never arrived. In that sense I've personally never found other locations to be particularly whimsical or hostile/brutal or serious, since it's an overall experience that are not separate from one another. I think that's what makes the Clockworks a unique experience.
So: More on the fantasy. Some on the mecha. Primarily on the adventure. Always on unfamiliar territory except for the safe space that is Haven.