#2 Theme - Insects/Shrunken Kids
The second theme idea was to use insects and shrunken (small) kids.
The main reason for the characters to be insects was their resemblance to some medieval creatures e.g a beetle as a knight due to his heavy armour and a queen bee as a queen/king as well as a praying mantis as a ninja etc.
I started my research by watching “A Bugs Life” a 1998 Disney/Pixar animated movie and “Bee Movie” by DreamWorks. What I found interesting was - how both those movies took unique features of the bugs and amplified them to fit the character they were representing.
For example:
-A ladybug that hates being called a lady and tries his best to be as manly as possible.
-Fireflies used as lamps
- Those little pillbugs have the ability to roll and turn themselves to a ball - just like acrobats
In 'Bee Movie':
A queen bee is impersonated by a man in who dresses up as a woman. (drag)
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I especially liked this one so I decided to make my own version of a bee character mixed with a drag queen.
While doing research on drag and bees I came across this image of an inflatable bee costume - which was perfect for the character I was going for.
Character Design
This character is clearly a man but by adding an ostrich feathered shoulder piece and high heel boots it gave him more feminine features.
Taking inspiration from the inflatable costume he also has a big bee-butt behind him.
He would be one of the queen’s knights fighting for her honour.
Since I made more high polished versions I had to also make a Chibi version - which is what the player would see during the gameplay.
Our game will have multiple characters and all of them will have to be fully animated // idle animation, attack animation, walking animation, taking damage animation, dying animation// and for one animator it would be impossible to make all of them if we go with the more defined versions.
Instead, we will have two different art styles
- Small and silly for the gameplay, meaning, less detailed characters.
- High detailed for the special attacks.
I had created a bee mood board and then went out to find myself bees so I could take a closer look at the creature. The one I found was super fluffy and friendly. It allowed me to take photos without any struggling. Below you can see the photos that I had taken to get a more in-depth feel of what I was trying to create.
After I was done playing with my new friend it was time to create a colour palette. ->
It consists of various shades of yellow and brown.
Character Design
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List
When I was done with the bee character I made a list of insects that would fit the profile of the main cast the best and then made a couple of sketches of the possible characters.
To conclude, there were initially 7 character designs to create, each resembling a different insect. The warrior is either a bee or wasp, the wizard a moth, the ninja a mantis or spider, the cleric a moth, the bard a mosquito, the necromancer a firefly or ladybug and the berserker an ant or stinkbug. Each character could be chosen at the beginning of the game with a total of 4 each play-through. I had decided to use these specific bugs as they best resemble the character type given their biological features.
Warrior
The warrior, as seen below, would resemble a beetle. This was ideal in creating a strong and formidable character design that would reinforce the image that a warrior is trying to be. The broadness and shortness of the character give it more of a warrior-like body type. After conducting further research, I had realised that beetles have very strong outer shells which help them protect themselves from predators. The armour that their shells provide was an ideal base to construct further defence on top of. The addition of the large greatsword as well as the shield fit perfectly in this character design and makes the character look like a typical warrior. The colour scheme also fits alongside the mood board seen below, as there are really dark purples as well as other dark colours.
Warrior
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Moodboard
Necromancer
The necromancer, as seen below, would resemble the insect moth. This design I had created included the addition of a lamp that the Necromancer would be carrying. This lamp provides heat and light for the moth to survive. The lamp also can be used as a wand/staff for magical attacks. The moth was chosen to be the necromancer as the lamp plays both the part of keeping the moth alive as well as a source of damage as a necromancer. The speed paint of the character can be seen below which takes you through the design decisions.
Mood Board
For the moth mood board, I focused mainly on the fluffy part of the moth - which itself looks like a cape.
Sketches
Sketches made for possible characters as well as an alternative female version of the moth character.
Kids
After not being sure about having a bug cast fighting other bugs we decided that the main cast could be made out of shrunken kids fighting the bug enemies. The plot of a story was simple. Group of kids magically shrunken to the size of a bug thring to undo the magic spell, fighting bugs in the process.
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Warrior - I was instructed to try to use normal sized everyday items as weapons - since the kids were small even the tiny needle could be a weapon.
Here I used a lollipop as a weapon but the girl ended up looking too nice - which wasn’t the main goal. The kids were supposed to look fierce and brave - ready to fight whatever comes at them.
Warrior
In this design, I used a pin and a button as a sword and shield. As previously mentioned I was supposed to use small everyday items as weapons. The pose of this character hows his confidence and readiness to fight. Moreover, the war paint on his face gives the character a fierce look.
Mage
Mage The mage character was inspired by one of the characters form Kipo - the skin of dead animal worn as a cape. In our case, the character would have a cape made out of a dead rat/mouse - since it fits sizewise. The hood gives him a more mysterious look as the wizard never reveals his secrets. He would carry a staff as his weapon and deal magic attacks to the enemies.
Healer
Cleric This character would help other party members by healing them and restoring their mana. Moss is already used in herbal medicine. Sphagnum moss has been used since ancient times as a dressing for wounds. Learning that I decided to implement it in my character design. She would use moos as her cape.
Inspiration
What I took from it was the body type and size. Also, I aimed for a similar level of detail in my design.
