Visual Workflow – From Pencil to Final CG

Creating visuals for a story-heavy game like Locked Up with Them isn’t just about appearance — it’s about storytelling, tone, and atmosphere. Every CG we create is part of the narrative, often marking a key moment in the player’s relationship with a character or the tension of the setting itself.

In this devlog, we want to share how we approach that process — and how we combine traditional drawing, digital painting, and AI-assisted rendering to bring each scene to life.

Our Three-Step Visual Pipeline

Each CG illustration goes through the following phases:

1. Sketch (Traditional)
   We start with a pencil sketch on paper. This is where we establish the pose, body language, framing, and emotional intent. It's the rawest and most creative part of the process — and yes, it's drawn by hand.
2. Flat Color (Krita)
   The sketch is scanned or photographed, then we clean it up and add flat colors in Krita. No shading or lighting yet — just clear color separation to define characters and background elements.
3. Final CG (AI-assisted + Paintover)
   We use AI tools to generate lighting and shading based on the flat colors. Then we bring it back into Krita for manual paintover, adjustments, and final polish. The goal is always to keep control over the mood and character integrity, using AI to speed up — not replace — the artistic process.

Why Use AI in a Visual Novel?

We know AI-assisted art can raise questions — and that’s fair.

For us, AI is a tool. It helps us save time during complex shading and rendering phases so we can focus more on storytelling, scripting, and scene design. It also allows us to create more CGs per character and per route, without having to raise the cost of the game.

Every image still involves traditional sketching, hand-painted color work, and human refinement. Nothing is fully automated — we treat AI like any other tool: powerful when used well, meaningless without direction.

Here is an example that went through this process:

What’s Next?

We’re applying this process to every major story beat in Act 1 and beyond. Some CGs are already fully rendered, others are in sketch or flat color stages.

We’ll continue to share behind-the-scenes updates as we go — and perhaps even include some time-lapse progress in the future.

Let Us Know

Would you like to see more breakdowns like this? Is there a specific scene or character you’d like featured in a future devlog?

We’re building this game with a focus on mood, character, and tone — and it all starts with pencil on paper.

Thanks for reading — and stay alert. In this prison, someone is always watching.