Art, effects and gallery

Art, effects and interface articles#

• Art directionThe visual rules of Arborwake, set by the user directly - flat toon pixel art in the Threadway B08 style, cute slime-like 2D cells, and state changes that read at 1x.Approved
• Astro VFXThe astrocyte opening - a hole in the ground, one astrocyte process rising, sparkles - used for Link in turn rooms and for the calming visit at Hearth.In the alpha
• Build VFXThe construction and repair effects - built versus in use, a banked road stretch, "later" for one stretch per return, and a shortcut that opens only when it can really be walked.In the alpha
• Care VFXThe turn-room effects for Care, recovery Care, Tend, Engulf, Trim, Process and Settle - three results with three shapes, timed to the rope's contact frame.In the alpha
• Character spritesHow Arborwake's cell characters are drawn and animated, from the original Ranger sheets to the six named-cast production sheets installed in the alpha.In the alpha
• Encounter backgroundsThe painted room shells behind Arborwake's turn-based boards - sixteen approved "3D made 2D" rooms whose floor fits the 24×20 grid, with round obstacles and per-room ground passes.In the alpha
• Environment artHow Arborwake's places are made - concept studies, Meshy models and Blender renders finished as layered pixel art - and the history of the rejected first packages.In the alpha
• FlowThe Ranger's overworld travel look, version v002 "melt and move", in which the cell folds its processes in and flows forward on a membrane wave.In the alpha
• Hearth podiumThe outing podium by Hearth's exit - press it and squares float up in the world for the Imprint, the companions and the run records; it is not a shop and not a HUD panel.In the alpha
• Home artThe art of Hearth, the player's home - the H15 map with home layout A, the neurons' own axon lines, the buildings, podium, delivery tray and scorch marks, and the growth lines still under review.In the alpha
• Home VFXThe home effects - the Hearth podium's floating squares, Imprint equip at home, the companions board, departure and return, and rest at the Apothecary.In the alpha
• Icon labelsArborwake's rule for words in the interface - a short title on hover, focus or press-and-hold, and a click card with the details and an "in the brain" line.In the alpha
• Inventory HUDThe town and home interface - a Stardew-style parchment inventory, the 54-icon set, the themed shop menus and the Hearth strain bar - made on the claude/hud-inventory branch.In the alpha
• Movement VFXThe overworld movement effects - a short dot trail behind walking, a finer trail behind Flow, and a body shake when a walk is blocked.In the alpha
• Orders VFXThe turn-room effects for a companion's orders - Direct, Swap, Huddle and Call - where Call is drawn as a signal that residents choose to answer.In the alpha
• PalettesThe colour rules of Arborwake - the shared B08 palette, a distinct ramp per district, the lighter oligodendrocyte ramp and the fixed rope and outline colours.Approved
• Panels VFXThe menu and inventory effects - hover corners, a pressed button that sinks, tab and item markers, equip and unequip - with one shape for each state and no words.In the alpha
• PPlaces dialogThe map picker that lists Arborwake's places as picture buttons; in the alpha it walks the player toward the right exit instead of teleporting.In the alpha
• Pressure front VFXThe animated pressure front in turn rooms - coming, striking, resolving one at a time, lingering and held overload - restyled to the painted rooms and approved by the user.In the alpha
• Pull and Glide VFXThe turn-room effects for Pull, Glide and dragged debris - anchors and landings while aiming, a gripping diamond and clamps, a body that flows tile by tile, and a still trail under reduced motion.In the alpha
• QQuest scrollThe quest tracker - one narrow parchment scroll that winds open below a rolled header, with named rows, square progress pips and red and blue unread marks.In the alpha
• Quests VFXThe quest and pickup effects - tracking a quest, evidence found at its cell, a finished side story, the first permanent unlock, and taking something from a pickup source.In the alpha
• Run HUDThe interface for turn-based rooms - goal strip, action bar, unit cards, tutorial prompt, result screen and endurance chip - made by the Run HUDs session and approved piece by piece by the user.In the alpha
• Studios interiorThe lobby of the Skill Studios on Threadway, a sci-fi research-station room built from a concept, pixelised, cleaned and projected so cells can walk in depth.Approved
• Survey VFXThe turn-room effects for Survey - a scan tint over the exact area, two sweeping scan columns, an evidence frame and lens on each revealed front, and a hollow return when nothing is found.In the alpha
• TendrilsThe thin rope-like processes that microglia, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes extend only during actions, drawn under the body by one shared rope module.In the alpha
• Threadway 3D sceneThe art side of Threadway - the P24 Blender scene with frozen painted projections, a hazed back row and a glass tract, shown live in 3D with flat 2D cell sprites.In the alpha
• TypographyArborwake's two original pixel fonts - Canopy for titles and short labels, Fieldnotes for reading text - approved by the user and used across the game except in painted signs.In the alpha
• Vessel VFXThe Vessel Margins effects - a visible monocyte surge countdown along the vessel's centre line, and adhesion where a monocyte sticks to the wall.In the alpha
• VFXArborwake's visual effects - quiet, tactile pixel feedback with no words and no popups, built as eight turn groups and five overworld groups, all approved by the user.In the alpha
• Ward VFXThe turn-room effects for Ward and Stand Fast - five plates per tile, three solid and two empty, so a ward visibly shares 60% of a hit and never reads as immunity.In the alpha

Gallery#

Every article picture, grouped like the navigation boxes.

Characters#

Cells#

Places#

Encounters#

Art, effects and interface#

Builds and production#

Earlier art records#

These pictures come from the first art rounds (27–29 October). Several were later replaced.