Main Character

2.2, 5.1

Moodboards

I will start out this production process by designing the main character, aka the one you play as.

I first began by gathering together some inspiration — I specifically don't want too many extreme sci-fi elements in this game, as it is supposed to emulate a realistic alien ecosystem rather than an advanced civilization. However, I want the player character to be a human; or rather, an evolved human. Cyborg elements are a must, as well as inspiration from what people think humans will look like once we've evolved for outer space travel and other new needs.

I would like to implement all the research I did regarding worldbuilding, and make this character take inspiration from something familiar. The idea of an ant, wasp, or beetle I think goes quite well with the type of hardy, hive mind organism I would like the humans of this game to be. I grabbed some more inspirations, and thought about how a human might evolve to look more bug-like. After all this, I began on the initial concepts.

Initial Concepts/Experimentation

2024-04-11 10-16-45.mp4

Through some initial sketches, I begin to explore the themes I brought up in my moodboards — the shape language of ants (specifically their heads), and how humans might evolve in the distant future.

Final Concept 1

After exploring these themes through moodboards, I tried to do a more finalised sketch of this character. I liked the toned down oranges and browns found in ants and other small insects, and putting mandibles on the helmet was a very affective way of getting the more ant bug-like features across.

Despite all the themes I had that carried over from my moodboards and concepts, I really don't like this first “final” concept — looking at it, there's something slightly uncanny about it that I can't put my finger on. Upon further consideration, as well as some feedback from my peers (who all agreed) I believe it is a mixture of the unrealistic proportions, and the fact this character has no hair. I decided I would try again, with different ideas.

Maur Final1.mp4

Final Concept 2

I decided that because the proportions looked off in my initial concept, I would take a photo of one of my friends and use it as a reference. I sketched over it, making the eyes larger and the ears the same size as my friend's headphones. Despite the fact that this sketch looks a lot more like a real human than I intended, I think it was worth it to prevent it from looking too cartoonish.

After making the sketch, I decided to take a picture of a fire ant and colour pick directly from it. I used some new brushes that I installed online to create a nice, blended effect.

Maurconcept2.mp4

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