The Making of SMITE's Janus

No one ever said game design was easy--or at least no one worth listening to--but Hi-Rez gives SMITE fans a glimpse of just how hard (and long) it can be by taking them through the creation of Janus from start to finish.

The newest addition to the SMITE roster, the Roman god of doorways and portals presented an interesting challenge for the studio, who focused on the idea of a god who could wreak havoc by teleporting himself across the field, or drop enemies from heights cartoon-style. Hi-Rez's process generally begins with a look at what the game is missing, both in terms of pantheon and class. The design crew then employs their certified god researcher to give them a picture of what their next deity--in this case Janus--was like in mythology, which is used as a jumping off point for character ideas.

The character then goes through all the usual design stages, from concept art to modeling to animation and effects, before going through several playtests designed to figure out how they could be used to "break" the game. After tweaks and a final round of playtests (a hard job, but someone's got to do it) Janus is released to the SMITE community, and Hi-Rez can begin the process all over again for their next god.