An Emerald City underwater: BioShock concept art for Rapture

Creating really good designs of a really flourishing and lively place is one thing. But creating designs of that same place, but make it look really ruined and positively devoid of life (but all the same making it look really good) is another thing altogether. This place is called Rapture – the backdrop set for Bioshock on the PC and Xbox 360.

So what process did the designers of 2K Games undergo to recreate the underwater haven-turned-ruin? You’ve seen screenshots and videos of the final product. But the only way you’d realize the effort and skill put into designing the environment is through the concept art and sketches that were penned during the creative process.

The city being underwater, there’s bound to be lots of blues, greens, and blacks to capture that submerged-city look. It kind of looks like a dilapidated Emerald City, only underwater. That and instead of Munchkins happily bobbing about, there are psycho zombie-girls wearing pinafore dresses. Click on the thumbnails for a closer look, and we promise, it’s anything but a ruin:

Creating really good designs of a really flourishing and lively place is one thing. But creating designs of that same place, but make it look really ruined and positively devoid of life (but all the same making it look really good) is another thing altogether. This place is called Rapture – the backdrop set for Bioshock on the PC and Xbox 360.

So what process did the designers of 2K Games undergo to recreate the underwater haven-turned-ruin? You’ve seen screenshots and videos of the final product. But the only way you’d realize the effort and skill put into designing the environment is through the concept art and sketches that were penned during the creative process.

The city being underwater, there’s bound to be lots of blues, greens, and blacks to capture that submerged-city look. It kind of looks like a dilapidated Emerald City, only underwater. That and instead of Munchkins happily bobbing about, there are psycho zombie-girls wearing pinafore dresses. Click on the thumbnails for a closer look, and we promise, it’s anything but a ruin: