Welcome back to Ripstone's ArtStation Blog! This week we’re zooming in on the extravagant Mariposa Hotel in Vegas, and how Rockwater’s Art Team recreated it for The Queen’s Gambit Chess.
How Rockwater's Artists Rebuilt the Mariposa Hotel
This Vegas hotel lobby hosts Beth’s first major tournament and is a true standout location from The Queen’s Gambit miniseries. Though Beth triumphs to eventually become the joint winner of the tournament, it is here that she experiences a first character-building defeat to Benny Watts. Here’s our Art team to explain how we did it!
“The Mariposa Hotel lobby really is spectacular in the show. It’s probably the largest set in the series and really gets across that grandeur of Vegas in the 1960s. Our interpretation of that in the game had to be just as impactful.
With this space, our team put extra emphasis on capturing the scale of the lobby. In the finished environment, players experience not only the glamour of the Art Deco components but also the feeling of being dwarfed by the sheer size of the space. It’s the feeling we imagine Beth would have felt attending her first major tournament.” - Jake Parrott, Rockwater 3D Artist
The Details: Vegas
It’s all in the detail! Here are some of the things our Rockwater art team put strong emphasis on in the game version of Mariposa Hotel in order to match how it is represented in the TV series.
The Chess Board
Like many other boards in the game, the ornate Hotel Mariposa chessboard is one that we caringly adapted from the show.
“The glitz and glamour of Vegas can be found everywhere in the show’s Mariposa Hotel Scenes. Even the chessboard is extravagant. We knew we had to recreate this board in the game, and even made sure to feature the glimmering copper tabletops. Its subtle details like this that - when combined with the sheer size of the environment - should make the player feel like they’re playing in the same space that Beth did.” - Matt Beech, Rockwater Artist
Art Deco Features
The satisfying geometric lines and mix of man-made materials found in the Mariposa Hotel lobby come together to create an impressive Art Deco space.
“We only had a single shot from the show to work from as a reference for this balcony view, so we took extra influence from famous Art Deco architecture such as the lobby of the Chrysler Building. In-game, the enormously high ceilings paired with those gold dice in the distance give a sense of the scale.” - Jake Parrott, Rockwater 3D Artist
At The Table Details
Iconic Gold Dice
Up Next on Ripstone’s ArtStation
Thanks for joining us on this whistlestop tour of one of The Queen’s Gambit Chess' iconic environments. Enjoyed it? You may also enjoy some of our previous articles including more behind-the-scenes insights:
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The Queen’s Gambit Chess: Character Overview
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The Queen’s Gambit Chess: Environment Overview
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The Queen’s Gambit Chess: Dan Eder Q&A
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The Queen's Gambit Chess: Methuen Home Environment Deep Dive
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The Queen’s Gambit Chess: Crafting Beth Harmon - A Character Production Deep Dive
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The Queen's Gambit Chess: Alma's House Environment Deep Dive
- The Queen's Gambit Chess: How We Created The Game's Chess Sets
Coming up: we'll be talking to Paul Hughes, Rockwater Head of Technology, to explore the relationship between Art and Programming and why we chose Unreal Engine to develop our game!