Sprint 2 Character Design
This is the document detailing the new character design added in by Team 3 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 experimented 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, I decided to use the appearance of a robot as the main body, and the design style 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 seem like it belongs in a digital world. In parallel, the most difficult problem encountered was how to correlate the character with the virus-like design. In the first design attempt, I chose to base it 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. I was determined 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 post-apocalyptic atmosphere, so I had to change the style. I was determined 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 shifted 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 colour (like solidified blood) as the main tone, and grey as the bare metal colour. 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. 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 colour schemes.
Regarding the animation of the character, it had to of course match the basic mechanics that powers the players character. The player we have designed has the ability to jump move sideways, and slide. Knowing this animations for each were created for both the left and right directions. Furthermore, with the design and purpose of the game, it was necessary to include a falling animation, for when the player is jumping down from a platform. All these animations also come designed with a powerup icon displaying whatever perk that the player currently has applied.
There are partial inspirations about design style and image design, which is mainly about the design of the body shape.
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.
This is the final design, a construct that integrates both mechanical and biological elements.
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.
Below is an animation of the character sliding and how it would be perceived by the player (given it wasn't looping). Each frame is controlled in-game to be displayed for as long as necessary. For example, if the player is sliding, then it will do so for however long it may need. This does not necessarily match up with the below animation.
