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Art from unused Eternal Darkness endings and a (cancelled?) Silicon Knights GC game

One of my perusals around the net took me to the Behance profile of John Dobbie, who was an Environmental Artist at Silicon Knights during the gamecube era.

He has some impressive artwork for the three unused endings to Eternal Darkness, in which we would have shown the consequences of our defeat, as Pious Augustus' demon-God massacres humanity.

original_166232_SbQuZQkmdQP6ziq05u3QkdvsU.jpg


This concept piece was used as the blueprint for one of the 3 main endings of Eternal Darkness. The image shows what might happen to the planet if the Chattur'gha god took over the world. It was drawn in pencil and digitally painted in Photoshop.

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This is concept piece done for a potential ending of Eternal Darkness. It depicts a zombie apocalypse after the Ulyaoth god takes over the world. It was drawn in pencil, roughly rendered in marker, then digitally touched up in Photoshop.

original_166232_yQ48CXWcInLYY7OcyKkvHxMrN.jpg


This is concept piece done for a potential ending of Eternal Darkness. This is an environment idea if the Ulyaoth god took over the world and created bizarre landscapes from the bones and remains of earths inhabitants. It was a small thumbnail drawing done in pencil, then coloured and digitally touched up in Photoshop.

original_166232_HrVy1Rd7Gvo66PfnMd6OCYJ2g.jpg


This is concept piece done for a potential ending of Eternal Darkness. It shows what might happen to to a city street environment if the the Xel'lotath god ended up taking over earth. It was drawn in pencil, then coloured and digitally touched up in Photoshop.

I think they're awesome, especially the sickening Chattur'gha ending.

Next find are the following screenshots from an untitled Silicon Knights game. They're not Too Human (the artist has already labelled the screenshots from that project, and notes that the game was untitled). Its clearly not Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.

As John left Silicon Knights before they transitioned to the 360, it seems reasonable to assume they come from a Gamecube Silicon Knights game that never went anywhere.

original_166232_lFoV5Mcp12Vwi0e25KWZJIs2Z.jpg


original_166232_Xb7PHmia3vEIChLvooTRr4liu.jpg


original_166232_XTiXTatlgTrBmPf83YdEsqpwM.jpg


It certainy looks enticing. I like to think they could be early sketches for an Eternal Darkness 2, as good a guess as any.
 
The untitled art strongly suggests Eternal Darkness.

The teeth seen in some of the pieces would suggest Mantorok, to me.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
The untitled art strongly suggests Eternal Darkness.

The teeth seen in some of the pieces would suggest Mantorok, to me.

That's exactly what I thought! Maybe if its mass grew across the Earth or something along those lines.

It certainly would fit in with the final ending to ED1.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
EmCeeGramr said:
The untitled art strongly suggests Eternal Darkness.

The teeth seen in some of the pieces would suggest Mantorok, to me.
Exactly what I was thinking. I loved Eternal Darkness and these landscapes look fantastic. Thanks for posting.
 

Neiteio

Member
Mama Robotnik said:
That's exactly what I thought! Maybe if its mass grew across the Earth or something along those lines.

It certainly would fit in with the final ending to ED1.
If you played through ED all three times, it becomes clear that Mantorok played the other three gods against each other to kill them all, like spraying Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle with poke-nip and letting 'em at it. So with only Mantorok left, maybe its mass grew across the Earth, as you suggested.

Man, what an amazing game. My friends and I played through it from start to finish one summer and even in broad daylight it still made us jump when we checked the bathtub... Also, when Maximillian Roivas goes berserk and kills his servants, my friend would always yell "HE'S DRUNK AGAIN!" while one of us hummed Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. XD

Also, just realized it's fitting for me to chime in on a Lovecraftian game while sporting Shuma-Gorath for my avy. :)
 
That first picture is incredibly disturbing, and is quite possibly the most badass and unsettling concept I've ever seen for the idea of humanity ending

My friend and I rented Eternal Darkness once. As soon as we put it in the Gamecube said it couldn't create a save file because the memory card wasn't being read properly

"OH BADASS!" I said to my friend. "I read about this shit online! It screws with your head and makes you think the game is glitching and stuff! I had no idea they would start as soon as you put the game in!"

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally we realized my friend really did have a problem with his memory card
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Neiteio said:
Roivas is "savior" spelled backwards.
Mind. Blown.

God, I would love a game with bleak, surrealist settings like this. It would be extremely compelling, unsettling, and unique.
 

Kalnos

Banned
Was an awesome game. Main character who wasn't a horrible stereotyped female lead, the sweet sanity system, some moody environments and just was fucking awesome overall.

I always wondered if anyone survived the events of the game besides Alex, though, meaning someone that you physically played. I thought that maybe the black firefighter did, but I honestly forgot.

EDIT: When I say survived the events, I mean that they just lived a full life afterwards and died an old age in their time period.
 

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Kalnos said:
I always wondered if anyone survived the events of the game besides Alex, though, meaning someone that you physically played. I thought that maybe the black firefighter did, but I honestly forgot.

EDIT: When I say survived the events, I mean that they just lived a full life afterwards and died an old age in their time period.

I think only Edwin Lindsey came out unscathed. Pretty sure Michael Edwards was killed soon after he dropped of Mantorok's heart (I think?) at Edward Roivas' place.

I know the game is old but I'd hate to spoil such a good one.
 

Kalnos

Banned
Ysiadmihi said:
I think only Edwin Lindsey came out unscathed. Pretty sure Michael Edwards was killed soon after he dropped of Mantorok's heart (I think?) at Edward Roivas' place.

I know the game is old but I'd hate to spoil such a good one.

Yeah, I went ahead and spoiler-proofed mine too.

There's some fucked up shit in the wikia that I forgot too:

It is implied that he was committed to an insane asylum for that, but later revealed that he killed four of his servants, suspecting they were possessed by Bonethieves. *Talking about Maximillian Rovias*.

I forgot all about those, but they were annoying enemies.
 

Yousefb

Member
Man such fond memories of playing ED, even though I don't remember a lot of the details from the story and the characters, I remember enough it was the shit. The first i got the mute screen, and 'you have completed the game' I was just so confused lol.
 

Jinfash

needs 2 extra inches
This game has been met with polarized opinions in my group of friends, something that regretfully made me skip it at the day. But regardless of those opinions, the concepts and underlying themes have always piqued my interest, and these screens (especially the first) really do validate that.
 

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Jinfash said:
This game has been met with polarized opinions in my group of friends, something that regretfully made me skip it at the day. But regardless of those opinions, the concepts and underlying themes have always piqued my interest, and these screens (especially the first) really do validate that.

One thing I've found about Eternal Darkness is that everyone seems to love watching someone play it but don't want to play it themselves. There are definitely some very boring parts (
the tower section beneath the mansion, which you have to do twice per playthrough, for example
) that would chase a lot of people away.

Something I really love about this game is how the areas change over hundreds or thousands of years. My mind was blown when
I realized the church you play as Anthony in is now just a small part of a larger one when you play Brother Luther.
 

Jive Turkey

Unconfirmed Member
Jinfash said:
This game has been met with polarized opinions in my group of friends, something that regretfully made me skip it at the day. But regardless of those opinions, the concepts and underlying themes have always piqued my interest, and these screens (especially the first) really do validate that.
Eternal Darkness is one of those rare games where both sides of the argument are correct. The game mechanics technically flawed, the story isn't the most well-written Lovecraft fanfiction, and the sanity effects (while cool) lose their impact fairly quickly and can become more of a bother later on.

That said I found the game to be quite entertaining and atmospheric with some genuinely creepy/scary moments. If you're expecting Resident Evil type gameplay you'll probably be disappointed but if you go in expecting it to be more of an adventure game with some slight combat mechanics you might find quite a bit of fun to be had.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Wow, what a find!

I think the environmental art is from that horror game called The Crucible which was being worked on with Sega. I believe it was canned.
 

JDSN

Banned
Kalnos said:
Was an awesome game. Main character who wasn't a horrible stereotyped female lead, the sweet sanity system, some moody environments and just was fucking awesome overall.

I always wondered if anyone survived the events of the game besides Alex, though, meaning someone that you physically played. I thought that maybe the black firefighter did, but I honestly forgot.

EDIT: When I say survived the events, I mean that they just lived a full life afterwards and died an old age in their time period.

I might have this wrong but one of the devs said that when the black firefighter mentioned he had something important to do he meant
offing himself
 

IrishNinja

Member
Witchfinder General said:
Silicon Knights and Atlus should really collaborate on a game. They would complement each other so well.

this'd be interesting, but yeah, now i really want to play a game with those environments. damn.

didnt catch the savior/roivas thing before either.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Another SK thread, another chance for me to chime in and say "MAKE ETERNAL DARKNESS 2 YOU FUCKS".
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
oracrest said:
Such a good game, for so many reasons. Aren't they doing a Wii adaptation of this?

Not as far as I'm aware.
 
This must be Sanity's Redemption (the sequel alluded to in some of the insanity flashes of ED). It makes me deeply sad in my pants that this game never saw the light of day, and never will.
 

Dascu

Member
GAF-user Shiggy has some more info on those last three pieces of art. I don't think it was for a new Eternal Darkness game, but rather a new survival/horror game named The Box (?).
 

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Infinite Justice said:
That damn
Bathtub :/
Yep. Up there as one of the best fright-induced scenes, for some ridiculous reason. I made sure to watch my younger brother play through it and his reaction was hilarious, though I understood his reasons why.
 
Rocket Punch said:
Mediocre art for an equally mediocre game.

Harsh. I think the first piece in particular is amazing, seems like the product of a madman.

Eternal Darkness has a number of issues, certainly, but I find its considerable strengths elevate the game above them.
 

Shiggy

Member
Pretty old images, don't tell me I have never posted them before ;)

Dascu said:
GAF-user Shiggy has some more info on those last three pieces of art. I don't think it was for a new Eternal Darkness game, but rather a new survival/horror game named The Box (?).

Right, I'd say it was for Sega's The Box as Dobbie left in 2005 or 2006. During that time they worked on The Box and Too Human.


While we're at it:
ED+boards+1a.jpg

ED+boards+1b.jpg

ED+boards+2.jpg

ED+boards+3b.jpg

ED+concept+design_0001.jpg

ED+Vampire.jpg

ED+Uly.jpg
 

Vitten

Member
Nice find. I really liked this game.

I still think the Oublié cathedral levels are some of the best , most athmospheric levels ever created in a game.
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
When I first played the game, I sat on the remote (specifically, the volume button...) as I walked into the bathroom scene. Figured I'd get the remote after pausing the game in the room.

I walked alex up to the bathtub, with the volume still near full blast on my TV. Yeah.... I was wide awake the rest of the night O_O
 
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