Ahh, the characters.  :) 

When designing characters for videogames, it’s important to not only make a visually appealing design, but make sure it works within your technical limitations.  Sure you could make this super sweet illustration showing off your mad 2D skills, but you’re really shooting yourself in the foot.  Before picking up that pencil, you need to think long and hard about the bigger picture at hand.

So to kick off my first art post, I’d like to share a small glimpse into the world of the thinglefin art mentality.  Below is a picture of a simple concept for a generic dog and cat design.  Besides sharing strong sihlloutes (which is extremely important in our games), they are fairly simple in design.  However, if you look at the bigger picture you will begin to see why they were designed this way.

One word: “Customization“.

Imagine picking one of these base designs, then having the option to switch out the ears, nose, tail, etc.  What if you could add custom graphics or designs?  Switch a cat head with a dog head? The possibilities are endless.  With these options in mind, the player could really make some interesting combinations.  After all, who wants to use the same ol’ design that 50 other players are already using?

Before I go, please make sure to leave any comments you have about these sketches below.  We would love to hear your feedback as these characters evolve and will continue to keep you in the loop here on the thingleblog.

-Alan

Cat and Dog concepts