Toodles, y'all o/
After a mind-bendingly long time, I'm finally done with my second multiplayer online game, which I'll make a post about when (if) it gets released by the "designer". This means that I'll be able to upgrade to a proper IMac, so development of Omnimyth should speed up a lot. In the meantime, here's a short history of the creation of the Auto-Sapiens:
After a mind-bendingly long time, I'm finally done with my second multiplayer online game, which I'll make a post about when (if) it gets released by the "designer". This means that I'll be able to upgrade to a proper IMac, so development of Omnimyth should speed up a lot. In the meantime, here's a short history of the creation of the Auto-Sapiens:
I'm not particularly sure how the idea of a one-eyed robot species came to me. It just happened, as though they had always been sitting around in the back of my mind, waiting for a game such as Omnimyth to populate. I certainly remember coming up with the name, but at the time "Auto" stood for Automatic, not Automaton.
In the image above, you can see how simple the original version was. Inspired by films such as Star Wars and Wall-E, I opted for a globular, somewhat innocent eye to be the centre of the head, with no other facial features. While this somewhat limited the amount of expression and emotion they could portray, it captured the peaceful and inquisitive nature I imagined them having.
In the image above, you can see how simple the original version was. Inspired by films such as Star Wars and Wall-E, I opted for a globular, somewhat innocent eye to be the centre of the head, with no other facial features. While this somewhat limited the amount of expression and emotion they could portray, it captured the peaceful and inquisitive nature I imagined them having.
While Omnimyth was still in it's 3D phase, I created a test model for the villagers to use until I could find time to model something better. The above image is the second take, as the first had an awkward torso which I discarded. The design was similar to a Battle Droid (Again from Star Wars), almost bone-like. In fact a bloke I know called Omada Nerato a "Village of Skeletons" when shown the Pre-Pre-Alpha video.
The "Comb" had become fully integrated into the design by now. Based loosely on a chicken's comb (which acts a a blood-coolant: I know, weird [:P]), the ones used by Auto-Sapiens function as a way of telling which purpose (or Class, for the RPG-savvy) the villager has chosen. Again, I'm not particularly sure how I came up with this, it just seemed to happen.
But even though this was a pretty good example of how I imagined the little 'bots, there was still something missing from the design: They weren't relatable. They didn't soften the heart. Their appearance, apart from the cyclops-like eye, didn't invoke the feeling that I needed these characters to convey.
The "Comb" had become fully integrated into the design by now. Based loosely on a chicken's comb (which acts a a blood-coolant: I know, weird [:P]), the ones used by Auto-Sapiens function as a way of telling which purpose (or Class, for the RPG-savvy) the villager has chosen. Again, I'm not particularly sure how I came up with this, it just seemed to happen.
But even though this was a pretty good example of how I imagined the little 'bots, there was still something missing from the design: They weren't relatable. They didn't soften the heart. Their appearance, apart from the cyclops-like eye, didn't invoke the feeling that I needed these characters to convey.
And then Omnimyth went 2.5D, and I literally went back to the drawing board. The goal was creating a design that would help people care about their character, and I decided that the answer was to make them "cute". No one truly cares if a level 10 Death Knight falls under a skeleton's blade, but it's heart-wrenching if a button-eyed, colorful little octopus doesn't make the jump over a shark.
As you can see in the pic above, I toyed around with the idea of keeping the cylindrical head shape, but it didn't fit with the new "chibi" feel, so I discarded it for the rounded helmet design. It somewhat reminded me of a Minicon from Transformers, but I'm sure it will look much more tribal once I add the combs.
As you can see in the pic above, I toyed around with the idea of keeping the cylindrical head shape, but it didn't fit with the new "chibi" feel, so I discarded it for the rounded helmet design. It somewhat reminded me of a Minicon from Transformers, but I'm sure it will look much more tribal once I add the combs.
The result is a much simpler, cuter, and cartoonish version that fits well with the new art style. The only problem is, I have to create sprite sheets and animations for every one of the eight angles the player can turn, which is a tall order for someone who can't draw a straight line to save his life. [:P]
So what do you think of the newest design of the Auto-Sapiens? Post your comments below, or tweet @fanatic_studios.
Until next DevBlog o/
Remember to follow us on Twitter for more updates!
#NothingWillEverBeTheSame
So what do you think of the newest design of the Auto-Sapiens? Post your comments below, or tweet @fanatic_studios.
Until next DevBlog o/
Remember to follow us on Twitter for more updates!
#NothingWillEverBeTheSame