Source: Echo Night Perfect Guide, page 132-135
Echo Night: Rough Sketches
Rough Sketches
Here, we will introduce a small portion of the huge number of sketches drawn to breathe life into Echo Night. They are presented with comments to show just how much energy the creators expended to build their world.
Ship's chandlery item proposals
These are from right at the very beginning, back when we had combat. We thought of things like having flares from the signal flare not flying in a straight line even if you shot them right at the enemy. (Nabeshima)
Casino dartboard proposal
We planned to have a number with a dart stuck into it be the key to solving a puzzle, and we'd even created a model for it. It ended up being scrapped, and now there's a jukebox where the dartboard was supposed to be. (Kaneko)
Switch types
The second switch from the right was a design I came up with when trying really hard to come up with the sort of thing no one would ever have seen the like of before. I think it turned out pretty well. (Watanabe)
Library
We did at first talk about creating a CG cutscene for the building you see when you're flung into the past, but its atmosphere would be different from that of the main game. We put an emphasis on the flow of the game, and created it using real-time polygons. (Kaneko)
Below public cemetery
Unlike the flat one we actually ended up using, we also considered a map resembling an underground sewer like this one. They were supposed to combine into a huge dungeon, but it was cut due to a variety of issues. (Nabeshima)
Engine room
In our initial idea, the engine room was going to be made up of two storeys with a mezzanine. We had things like looking down from above and using the pattern you saw on the floor as a hint for solving a puzzle. (Nabeshima)
William
From the left: on the steam engine, below public cemetery, inside the owner's room
He is drawn in by the power of the red stone more and more as time passes, so aside from age-related changes, I asked for him to be made to look more and more scary. (Nabeshima)
He is my absolute favourite, to the point where I have colour illustrations of him I drew according to my own tastes. (Watanabe)
Henry
Left: on the steam engine
Right: on the Orpheus
In his youth, he is the picture of justice. Later on, you can see that he has been through a lot of hardships. (Nabeshima)
Medium
This is the first character who came out as pictured, and therefore my favourite. (Nabeshima)
Although his design was based on me being told to "make him look sort of suspicious" (laughs). (Watanabe)
Crea
Left: on the steam engine
Right: in the cathedral
As she went through a lot of sad events during her growth, she appears sad and mysterious. I modified things like her hair colour to make it clear that she is still the same person as her younger self after she grows up. (Watanabe)