/ 23.09.19
New project - aeronautica imperialis
The galaxy spanning Imperium of Man is the greatest empire in human history, but it must battle for its very existence. Wars rage across every planet in the Imperium, by land and now - in the skies!
Aeronautica Imperialis incorporates creative visual animations that take visitors on an airborne ‘dogfight’ as they navigate through the website’s clouds and lightning skyscape.
The first flight-based game for Games Workshop, Soak Digital worked in a 3D environment, plotting coordinates enabling the camera to move through the cloud objects around a ‘sky sphere’ – the overall effect? A user experience of a 3D battlefield, fast travel and ground defences.
Tapping into these dimensions Soak Digital have brought the board game to life; captivating audiences and reviving a game retired in 2013. What better way to launch a revamp than with a show-stopping website, taking you on an aerial journey through the sky as you scroll.
Using such technology brought with it a set of difficult challenges to overcome. The intense level of details and assets created several memory issues - meaning we had to incorporate ‘garbage collection’ and performance handling to ensure the smooth working of the site. In initial stages of build, we were looking at over 2,000 objects within our sky sphere, but the high production of memory ‘trash’ meant we had to reduce these objects to approx. 400 to allow a smooth, tight flightpath with optimal views.
Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, the significance of this site sets a new, unparalleled standard for how the world engages with Games Workshop’s online presence.
Soak Digital see this project as an exciting leap forward in building audience anticipation for new products.
Click here to see Aeronautica Imperialis.