Character- Snake

Snake was the first character that I started to model because I wanted to have a slim figure as the base and then to work up from there. 

For her base I wanted to have the curves as the prominent aspect but at the same time to stay away from the stereotypical female gaming character which is just based around sexualisation.

The above images show that I tried to keep the base of her very simple to start with and merely looking at the overall look of her where it will be obvious from far away but also make sense biologically if she's seen from closer up. I found it interesting trying to find the balance between dramatising it so its visible but also staying realistic.

From there I then went to something more curved and slowly building out her muscles. This was something that I had to be really careful with as I didn't want it to be ridiculously muscled but at the same time she needed to look strong. 

This was the end result for the snake girl- with a few tweaks added later. Her clothing was quite interesting as I tried to make it as if there were a snake wrapping around her body and going down her leg. This was something that subtly brings back the relevance to the snake but without being really intense or cheesy with it. 

It was the same with the head dress. I wanted it to be a reminder of the snake but to not look like she had a snake skull fully on her head. So instead I took reference from the cobra and the wing like flaps that come out the side of the head and tried to mimic this for her head. This also creates a really interesting silhouette which is really distinctive from the other 2 players. 

Weapon- venom ball

For the snake, because she is long range with the controller we wanted her to have freedom to shoot quickly and with accuracy. For this I create a ball type item which she throws at the approaching enemies. To make it more visible in the game I added a short tail which may have to get a little longer but for the moment gives enough identification for it. 

It also has relevance to the snake itself which is why I have the tail wrap around the ball, crossing over to give reference to the unity of their tribe

Weapon- Axe

For the axe I wanted it to be as primitive as possible. Because of this I used a thick piece for the sharpened blade but had it relate to stone and had it quite chunky.

For holding it onto the wood I've modelled it with a tight binding of rope which is relative to the style of the wolves. 

For the texturing I'll look at dark wood colours and quite a light granity stone with a rough rope for the binding. 

Weapons- Bow and Arrow

For the eagle we decided on having a bow and arrow as he is seen as the more intelligent and calculating player. He is therefore better for long range attack.

I didn't want to have it as just a basic curved piece of wood as the eagles are into craftsmanship and also beautiful simplicity. So I've added the extra curves and the widening at the edges to portray this. 

The arrow, I tried to keep simple as I wanted the silhouette to be easily noted when the players were playing the game. However I also tried to keep the head of the arrow as if it were made of stone and would texture it accordingly. The god of war (feathers of the back) would be textured as though actual eagle feathers. 

A precedent I used as inspiration

Environment- rocks and trees

For the surrounding environment the basis was to keep it quite uncluttered but to also have things like trees and rocks to both keep the environment realistic but also to have things that we could use to force the players to use different tactics and to work together,

For instance if we wanted the red to have to go a different way than the blue player we would use enemies to lure the red player a certain way and then use things like rocks to block off the path so the blue couldn't save him if blue enemies arrived. 

A precedent I used for inspiration

Here I tried different types of rocks to create layered effects and see what type of atmosphere I would be creating with them. The stacked ones look better I feel as they have more complexity and would fit well with the totem poles and cultural aspects we plan to bring in throughout the game. 

For the trees I wanted them to stay as if they had died slightly and were spindly with no greenery or life to them. 

Environment- cliffs

To start off with I have made up some environmental aspects to go in the game. We are trying to keep the aesthetic focused on very untouched environments as the players are quite tribal and we wanted this to be as nature related as possible especially as they are based on animals.

I created some base cliffs for them to walk through which allows them to be introduced slowly as characters for the tutorial level. There are separations in the chasms where enemies can come in from the side to attack but the player will have time to learn how to use their controllers. 

Precedents

While starting to think about the aesthetic for the game I've used some of the below precedents for inspiration.

A lot of the inspiration is about ruins and temples that I think would help the feeling of desolation and ruined remains. However because of the high angle of the camera we plan on using we may not be able to design for interior angles a lot.