Sprint 2 Character Design
This is the document detailing the new character design added in by Team3 during Sprint 2.
The previous player designed was too human-like and was redesigned to make it look more threatening and have more of a 'sci-fi' aesthetic. I experiment with different styles of design in order to find a suitable character for the computer virus. First of all, in order to make it look more sci-fi style, I decide to use the appearance of a robot as the main body, and the design style tends to be as close as possible to the impression given by a virus or a plague. The cold and smooth metal shell makes the character more like in the digital world. In parallel, the most difficult problem encountered is how to correlate the characters with the viral image. In the first design attempt, I chose to design it based on the appearance of a mini-robot so as to make it avoid being too human-like. With regards to computer viruses, I was inspired by the artificial intelligence HAL2000 in the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. Therefore, I determine to use the eye core to indicate that the virus escapes from human control and develops an autonomous mind. After reviewing information on the typical structure of viruses, I added a number of protuberances on the spherical shell of the head, which resembles the surface of a virus. I also design several versions.
However, the first version of the character style is not very effective in creating a horrible post-apocalyptic atmosphere, so I have to change the style. I determine to maintain the previous design of using the eye core as the head shape and focus mainly on changing the body shape. Therefore, I designed six different images of the characters and chose the image with the most votes for refinement based on the poll in the studio. Additionally, I shift my thinking. If we just want to maintain the impression of the virus, we do not necessarily need to directly replicate the real shape of the virus. I identify the keywords of the design: technology, biochemical horror, infection. Specifically, it can be represented as a cell controlled by a viral infection, a horrible mechanical creature, and the like. Therefore, I chose a dark crimson color as blood solidified as the main tone, and grey is the bare metal color. I also add some tubes to connect different body parts to make it more similar to the feeling of the creature. Furthermore, the shape of the limbs derives from the microorganism's motor structure: flagella, synapses, or spike protein. In addition, there were many ideas that could not be experimented with due to the limited time available for this design. Moreover, considering the subsequent necessity to create animations, I have to simplify the design as much as possible. If I have the opportunity, I will attempt to add more textures and experiment with different color schemes.
(Placeholder put inspiration here)
Here are some of the mockups ideas for the new player model.
The idea was to have a character with no legs and its arm will signify its movement(inspired by EVE from Wall-E). The idea is quickly scrapped since having a model with no legs in a game call RunTime seems unfitting. The lack of legs also limits the range of animation that can be created.
Then later on it was decided to take inspiration from the real-life virus to make the model more monster-like.
(Placeholder - Iris put description of character design here)
The design of the player is animated along with different power-up icons. There are sprite sheets for the basic movement of the character with no icons above its head. Icons have been added to the basic movement sprite sheet to account for all the different buff/debuffs the player gets. More details regarding the character power ups can be found here.
The following images show some of the animation stills implemented, specifically for when the player is running.
