Journey developer reveals how the iconic cape was created in 10th anniversary thread

gamesradar.com:

Journey art director Matt Nava shared a series of concept art and other tidbits from throughout the game's history, just in time for the game's 10th anniversary. 

Nava posted a lengthy Twitter thread jam-packed with commentary and imagery comparing "early dev images" and "how things shipped." Interestingly enough, Nava shared a few different iterations of the playable character clad in the iconic cape we know and love today, demonstrating how it came to life. 

"Every character here was playable at one point in an early version of the game," Nava wrote. "I went from humanoid to very detailed, and back to minimal as possible. Each iteration was an important step in finding the final design." 

Every character here was playable at one point in an early version of the game. I went from humanoid to very detailed, and back to as minimal as possible. Each iteration was an important step in finding the final design. #Journey pic.twitter.com/i8D8m2jL7UMarch 13, 2022

After working to get the character's cape just right, Nava noted how he saved brighter blue skies for the end of the game as a "reward", instead using a green sky in an earlier scene to temper that excitement. 

Here's the desert scene vs a painting and 3D prototype I made. I wanted to save bright blue skies for the ending of the game as a reward, so I put a green sky in this earlier scene. #Journey pic.twitter.com/MO9CkMrSzvMarch 13, 2022

Additionally, Nava revealed how the surfing level looked behind the scenes in the game's editor. He called it one of the "most complex levels to build," which seems quite obvious based onthe intricacies in the image shared from the editor. 

Here is how the surfing level looked in our editor. This was one of the most complex levels to