Sword Design

For my game, I wanted to create a unique sword design for the protagonist. I didn’t want o simply copy real-world existing swords from the mediaeval world or use common depictions of “arab” swords. Instead I wanted to examine these weapons both real and fictional, in order to create my own sword design.

Preparations

I first decided to create a sword and not any other weapon (like spears or axes) because I personally find swords to be the most appealing weapons aesthetically. I also found the curved sword designs of the Islamic mediaeval world to be appealing and befitting of my character. Though its worth noting that the people of this region did not only use curved swords.

Real-world Inspirations

I researched many real swords for inspiration and I created a mood board of various swords from the mediaeval period that were used in the Islamic world.

Some of these swords are legendary swords belonging to the prophet Muhammad (straight sword far left), his companion Ali (forked sword), and the famed Muslim general Saladin (middle top alongside the red scabbard). The rest are real historical swords. The middle golden sword on the right-hand side is a mamluk noble’s sword from Egypt, which is a fitting design to study due to the fact that the protagonist of my game is a former mamluk himself.

Recreations and Designs

After looking over various swords I recreated several of them as well as my own design as seen below.

All the swords surrounding the middle and largest sword are based on real sword designs. The middle right-hand sword is based on the ancient Egyptian khopesh, which I decided to draw to add some more variation to my inspirations rather than only relying on mediaeval Islamic weaponry. Drawing these weapons taught me how to draw a curved sword and the common design elements within Arab swords. This includes how the blade curves and the way the hilt and cross-guard are arranged. I combined these elements in the middle sword that I captioned “Saif al-sihr” which is Arabic for “sword of magic” as a general idea for what the weapon may be called if it were to be used in the game as a design. This design was steeped in trying to be realistic by looking at older swords used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad as well as the designs I had already recreated and studied.

Fictional Inspirations

After studying and drawing real swords I decided to look into fictional curved swords, specifically from other video games. This was to expand my thinking by looking at more unorthodox, and potentially less realistic, designs. Considering my game will be about magic, platforming, and fighting all kinds of mythological figures, it felt appropriate that I may take inspiration from equally fictitious sources. I created a moodboard of various curved sword designs I found appealing.

These are all curved swords from various games which I selected for several reasons. I found the shape of the sword on the far left-hand side to be interesting, as well as the design of the cross-guard and handle to be interesting. I found the design of the upper middle-most sword to be interesting as well because of the unique shape of the blade, as it curves twice, giving it a very distinct appearance. The design on the far right has an interesting hilt, or lack thereof as it only has wrappings, presumably so it can be grasped in some way. The last two swords (the lower middle and the vertically posed one between the stacked images and the far right-hand sword) I chose to examine because of their relative normalcy. They look like swords that, opposed to the others, may have been used in reality and are clearly steeped into appearing realistic rather than fantastical.

Recreations and Designs

Overall, I found these designs and several more appealing, thus I decided to recreate them, the same way I had recreated the real-world designs earlier.

All the swords surrounding the middle and largest sword are designs from video games. I found the main difference between video game swords and real swords is their exaggeration in certain aspects. In real curved swords the curve is subtle, it isn’t unnoticeable, but it is subtle. Video game designs however, generally seem to exentuate the curve either by making the curve itself larger or by designing the sword in a way to make the curve very obvious at first glance. They also tend to be more decorated and intricate which makes sense, these are designed by artists for games, not by weapon smiths for real-world usage. My own design was thus influenced by these ideas, I exentuated the curve quite a bit, to give my own design an interesting shape, as it begins as a straight sword before making a large curve. I also made a distinct cross-guard where the guards go in different directions, to give an intriguing design. I also added wrappings and some other minor details to really make it distinct. This design was steeped the in fictional and fantastical aesthetic.

Further Designs

After completing two original designs and recreating several other real-world and fictional designs, I decided to focus on my won original ideas. I drew a page of original sword designs that the protagonist (or maybe even NPCs) may use in the game.

The largest and middlemost design was the one I put most care into and is the one I liked best. The other designs were more of several brainstorms for differing ideas rather than anything concrete, while the one I put most care into was finished after them. I tried a myriad of designs, some where I exentuated the curve, others with less of a curve, and even one with no curve at all. I also tried out designing serrated blades, although I found these designs a bit too distracting and not something befitting the protagonist I had envisioned.

After drawing so many swords I decided to make a few final designs based on the three large swords I had created on each page as those were the ones I liked best. I of course made changes to them with the knowledge and skills I had acquired in drawing and studying all the aforementioned swords. I decided to draw four designs. Each design would be based off a different skill tree the player had invested in as well as one design being the starter sword, before the player has invested a lot into any one skill tree.

1. Starter Sword:

This design was meant to strike a balance between realism and fantasy as I wanted it to be more tame and less striking than other designs while still maintaining its own unique aesthetic. I believe I achieved it as the cross-guard looks unique while the blade and hilt look like something one may see at a museum. I was quite satisifed with this design.

2. Sword of Humanity

This design was made to be similar to the original design with minor changes. As this design is steeped in humanity I wanted a sword that looked functional with several extra usages. I curved the cross-guard as this may provide the advantage of trapping an opponents blade, or at least, inconveniencing them. I also made the cruve slightly more accentuated to provide a sharper blade and a sword that may be able to curve around another opponent’s blade.

3. Sword of Magic

This design was based off one of the earlier original designs but with several changes. I changed the shading to make the material one unified material instead of the strange appearance the other one had. I also made the blade sharper overall, to give it a deadlier look. I maintaiend the unique handle and the blade’s overall shape as this sword was meant to be the magical sword, as such it makes sense for it to have a strange and mystical appearance.

4. Sword of holiness

I based this sword more off the initial original design as that design was based on real swords including the sword of Muhammad and his companion Ali. As a result, I felt it appropriate, being that this is supposed to be a holy sword, to base it off real swords used by supposed holy men. I made this sword not as curved as the others to exemplify its more realistic aspect and I kept the hilt and cross-guard relatively simple, as I rationalized that a pious person may design a more simple and practical weapon that relies more on God’s protection, rather than human countermeasures. Essentially, the simplicity of the weapon is that way as God provides all the other advantages.

Peer Feedback

I asked my peers which sword they believed belonged to which skill tree in order to gauge how others would perceive them at first glance.

These comments were useful and allowed me to gaze on my designs from differing perspectives and approach the final designs with more clarity. I believe these comments aided the final designs looking as good as they did.

Overall I was happy with the designs I made and decided to make some finalized, pixel art designs that may be used in the game or that may simply be used as inspiration for the final in-game designs.

Starter Sword

I retained the basic design but accentuated the curved blade a bit more and thinned out the cross-guard to make it appear more “dexterous” like its a light weapon that can inflict quick strikes. I made the material a gray-metal color to have a neutral point between light and dark. The material of the cross-guard is supposed to be a kind of brass, not quite the prestige of gold, but still maintaining a look of prestige.

Sword of Humanity

For this design I altered the blade’s color to appear lighter, as if its a newer and shinier upgrade over the starter weapon. I also changed the handle, as per the initial drawing, and lightened the handle slightly to add to this sort of upgraded aesthetic. I also changed the gem at the pommel of the handle to accentuate a difference.

Sword of Magic

This design is relatively the same as the drawing, but color was introduced. I decided to have a two-tone color scheme as I had envisioned at the very beginning of this sword, to make it look like some sort of alchemical occult weapon, blending two distinct metals together. The cross-guard has a lapis gem and is made of a darker gold-like material. These aspects are meant to exemplify the mysteriousness of the occult sciences and their (to the layman) strange practices.

Sword of Holiness

This design is relatively the same as the initial design. The metal of the blade is bright to exemplify it as a holy weapon and the black inscription on it is meant to signify some sort of prayer or holy verse. The guard of the sword is meant to be gold with inlaid holy inscriptions and the handle itself is a simple wooden handle to accentuate a reliance on the power of God rather than anything else.

Conclusion

Overall I am satisfied with my designs as I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do in creating a host of weapons that fit the protagonist and aesthetic of the game. I am also pleased with how the weapons unique to each skill tree turned out.