It’s time to look west. Or at least west of the islands of Arleon, and take another look at Yulan, our upcoming faction. We’ve been busy building things, and from now until release, there will be more regular updates coming your way.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4341060/Songs_of_Conquest__Yulan/Have you wishlisted? You should, that bearded guy with a bow wants you to!

So what is this devlog about? We usually stick to a theme. This one is a bit broader, but we’ll spend some extra time on a few areas.

The Yulan campaign, for example, is well into its copy stage, which means gathering dialogue and lore for translation. We’ll also use this devlog to introduce a few more Wielders, or Seekers as they are called in Yulan, and take a closer look at their respective Houses.

And since I can’t help myself, there will be more pixel art.

So this one has a bit of everything.

It's a very passionate bunch

The Houses of Yulan are tied to different Essences, sometimes to the point where that Essence begins to take over. That’s the case with the transcendants. All Houses have their examples of this.

For House Sheng, that example is Yubo the Howler, who has let Creation do quite a number on him. More force of nature than man at this point.

Shun and Lord Sheng are far more human in their appearance, but they all have their quirks. As mentioned in the first devlog, Shun is the life-embracing Wielder who takes centre stage in the three-map Yulan campaign. It is through her, and at times somewhat drink-blurred perspective, that we experience Yulan and the dangers threatening it.

A group to be trusted to be sure

House Xuan has a particular connection to Arcana, and a reputation among the other Houses for careful planning and well-chosen words. In a land like Yulan, shaped by conflict and intrigue, that is not necessarily a bad thing, and there is a reason House Xuan holds the position it does. But there is a measure of distrust towards Xuan.

Many of those careful plans are currently devised by Minister Xuan Quioming, a man with a very reassuring smile.

Meilin is a different case. The Essence of Arcana is tearing her apart from within, and holding it together is a constant struggle.

Strict, ordered and totally in charge, at least of their own provinces

House Li seeks to bring structure and order to its part of Yulan. Plans are more often than not followed, rigorous discipline is expected, and the Wielders of the House tend to lead by example.

Lady Li leads the House, and under her strict guidance, it has strengthened its position in Yulan. House Sheng would likely say they spend too much time thinking instead of acting, but that depends on who you ask.

Shan the Unbroken stands as an unmoving pillar within House Li’s ranks. The Essence has shaped him into something closer to a walking fortress, naturally resistant to magic, something that tends to be useful in the war between the Houses.

The fortified camp of House Xuan guards the river

And did I say war? Yes, as the campaign starts, the Houses of Yulan are at war with each other; this is far from uncommon. Schemes and both open and covert conflict are a part of everyday life for the citizens of Great Yulan. 

Since this is a campaign, we needed a new "world" map, something to show you the scale of the conflict and give you, as a player, an idea of where the story unfolds, so we put together something new, and it was awesome working with something a little different from our regular maps that you have seen in our earlier campaigns. 

And by the time we release Yulan, there will also be texts!

With that, there is just one small pixelated detail left, and that is to show off some, but not all of our new map entities, just to show off our pixel artists, really, showing the Yulan version of some beloved map entities, after all, a ton of the originals wouldn’t work on the fields of Yulan.  

Check out all those Yulan variants.There will be more news next week. Until then, Wishlist Yulan, and keep your eyes open for the next update!
Anders, and the rest of the team at Lavapotion.

We are hard at work with Yulan, and while some of us focus on the story part of our faction DLC, building campaign maps and shaping the lore and stories, others are working on that all-important art. This Steam post is mostly about that. We’ll give you a look at the work so far, showing both finished pieces and a ton of concept art.

But before that, we want to thank you. We’re a couple of weeks past the release of Rise Eternal, and your feedback, your praise, and your bug reports all mean a lot to us. It’s been great reading your war stories and seeing your experiences with Kastus Maal and his Tale.

But as we said, this post is about the art of Yulan.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4341060/Songs_of_Conquest__Yulan/It has been a lot of work for the art team to figure out how Yulan should look and be represented in our world. Challenging work, but very enjoyable. There is plenty of inspiration out there, and that’s always valuable, but as with all our factions, we want it to feel like our own.

That process starts with a lot of concept art. First sketches, then more refined versions. From there, it goes through our Art Director and our Game Design Lead, followed by further iteration before finally reaching our pixel artists. It’s quite the journey. Now, to be fair, in comparison to big studios, our team is tiny, but still!

An insight into some of the process

We want Yulan to feel magical, but also distinct §from the other factions. The three Essences play a central role, and that should be visible, especially in the buildings tied to them.

As mentioned in a previous devlog, you’ll be able to develop buildings and troops around Arcana, Order, or Creation, and those choices will be clearly shown on the adventure map, making your upgraded buildings, in some cases, glow in the colour of your chosen Essences.

This is not always easy. We only have so many pixels to work with, and sometimes a well-liked concept simply doesn’t make it into the game. But let’s give you some examples, like the humble bomb-maker building, both concept art and a more finished in-game version.

From rough concept to finished (although not animated) art piece.The Yulan biome really stands out, and because of its isolation from lands like Arleon and the Bleak East, we can’t rely on many of the existing map assets when creating maps for Yulan. Some still work, but far from all of them. For example, we can’t place Aurelian statues here. The Empress Aurelia never reached these lands, even if she might have wanted to.

So as we’ve started building new maps, we’ve also been asking for more and more dedicated assets from our art team. And with that comes some truly beautiful concept art.

Can you spot what they replace?

In short, Yulan is shaping up to be, in our humble opinion, a stunning faction to view. We’re having a great time creating art for it, while our design team and coders make sure the gameplay is just as amazing as the visuals.

What would you like us to show in the next devlog? And what do you think of the art so far? Let us know in the comments. /Anders and the rest of the Lavapotion team And to excuse the fact that I have her in the cover image, Meet Meilin, an Arcana "Touched" Seeker Concept art has been made by our art intern: https://x.com/3inart/media