Mid-project designing has always seemed a 'necessary evil' to me.
Don't get me wrong, as an artist, it feels really good to be fighting
for the best possible idea then finally stumble across something acceptable, or,
if I'm lucky, marginaly impressive. But when the clock is ticking, it's
hard to be as creative as you'd prefer.
However, despite the constant nagging form my brain's 'left side' to settle
with 'good enough', I plowed through this week and (In my opinion) whipped up
some solid designs (but feel free to tell me otherwise). 
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The first concept I did was for "The Tempest", for which I'll give some
back-story.
At various times through the plot, focus shifts to a Zeppelin used by the villainous Old Man Winter
and his 'Abominable Army'. One of the reasons they attack the Northpole is to
ransack Santa's coal reserves to power the vehicle at full capacity.
I was looking for an end design that was ice themed, since it was piloted by
the Abonimable Army, felt quite evil, and had some sort of magical feel to it.
The final version had to also work from a level-design standpoint, since one of
the final episodes would take the player through the twisted flying machine.
So, we needed an evil, ice themed magic zeplin that is tailored for
adventuring.
Were these goals accomplished? Let's take a gander....
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First Attempt
Using magical chucks of ice instead
of a balloon to keep afloat, this version of the Tempest felt OK,
but in the end it just didn't fit.
Perhaps the ice-chunks were too much. I did,
however, like
the spiked harness and the basic shape of the cabin area. |
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Second Attempt
Working off of the harnesses and
cabin shape mentioned above, this zeppelin resorted to using an
actual stitched and patched balloon to keep it afloat.
The left side of my
brain kept complaining about the dangers of huge spikes so close to
a material so easily popped.
Also added were some pipes in the
rear. And they were good. |
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Third Attempt
No, it's not supposed to be an ice cream cone.
I went for a snowman shaped balloon
and an icicle shaped cabin, hoping to subtly make the Zeppelin feel
'Cold' and 'Icy'.
Unfortunately it just ended up
looking like soft-serve, which IS cold, but not-quite-evil enough. |
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Fourth Attempt
It must have been hungry or something when I made these, cause
this one looks like a flying sausage.
Anyways, not bad, I still didn't
like the cloth balloon though, and the wild octopus look of the
pipes wasn't quite right, but I was almost there. |
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Final Design!
Revisiting the cabin shape that I
liked so much, I worked a bit of the Abominable Army's logo into in
with the skull-inspired bridge.
I also turned down the number of
exhaust pipes sticking out the rear, and abandoned the idea of
having propellers, instead sticking some more spikes onto a few
rotating cogs on the zeppelins bum.
For the balloon part, I figured we
can tie in the whole 'magic' feel by saying Old Man Winter conjures
up a storm cloud to keep the ship airborne. This way I can keep the
icy theme (the storm could can make snow) and I can keep the spiky
harnesses without complaints about popping hazzards.
There are also some platforms on
the side that the heroes can explore, and nice hefty spot on the top
of the cabin area for a boss showdown.
All done....now to actually get it
into the game!
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* * * * *
The next item on my list had me designing a level or two (or however
many I could get done). As tends to happen lately, I spent too much time coding,
and could only get one level concept done. I am happy with the result, and hope
future level concepts go as smoothly as this one did (though more is always
better).
The chocolaty insides of "Wigglebee's Hot-Coco
Factory" (which is level 4 in the current game's episode breakdown) will
have players dodging the steaming pool of hot coco, turning off broken pipes,
and dismantling coco-making robots. If that doesn't get people in the holiday
spirit, I don't know what will.
Color concept of Wigglebee's Hot-Coco Factory Level...don't
fall in,
Augustus!
* * * * *
As stated above, a lot of time was spent this week on the
programming side. My plan, at the moment, is to have the finished working engine
done in 3 weeks....which probably isn't going to happen....but a boy can dream!
For now, enjoy the new ladder-climbing abilities and the
blockable-yet-destroyable environment objects!