A deeper look into character design...
In a ragdoll heavy game, it is important to put some deep thought into the characters' designs. Thoughtful decisions must be taken when progressing through the many phases of character development to enhance and clarify the gameplay experience to the player.
Concept
The dragons and different types of goblins went through an extensive research process to hone in on what makes them stand out. Since this is a ragdoll game, it is important to make the characters not look realistic because that would be unsettling to the players. To reinforce the silly nature of the game, it is important to create all characters with a stylized round look. The characters will appear more like a toy or a stuffed animal with their soft rounded features. With the concepts drawn, it is also important to give the character a personality. For these characters, the team envisions them having child -like personalities. Personalities can support the development of the characters and can help determine how the characters would act in the game environment.
Modeling
Now that we have created our silly dragons and gobs, it is time to bring them to life! This does not mean we stop making careful decisions about the characters. When modeling characters for a ragdoll game, we need to make sure that characters have enough polygons to help them flop around properly. Polygons, or faces, are what make up 3D models. The more polys a character has, the more detailed the model can be. Image having a dragon with the bare minimum polygons needed to create the 3D model. When the ragdoll is acting on the model, the character can only bend and flop around where these faces meet. A minimal polygon model will not have a smooth or dramatic bend compared to a model with more polygons. Having more polygons on characters in a ragdoll game is extremely important to keep the player in the immersion of the game.
Texturing
Our characters have been brought to life! All that needs to happen is to give these characters some color. Again, since we are going for that stylized look, a lot of detail is not needed for these characters. After cutting UVs to best work with each model, these models can be put into Substance Painter (or you can export the UVs as an image and hand draw the textures). I prefer using Substance Painter because it allows me to physically see the textures on the models as I work. When creating the textures for the dragon, it is easy to forget that every scale does not need to be drawn on them. I try to turn on my abstract painter brain and throw splashes of color all around the models. Since these characters have child-like personalities, the textures should portray those personalities. My goal in texturing them is to make it look like a child colored them or that they might be a child's imaginary friend. These playful aspects help reinforce the idea that Wobble Warriors is supposed to be silly and goofy.
As you can see, each step within the character's development is carefully planned. The emotions and experiences from the game should also be portrayed in the characters to reinforce the game's core values. By diving deep into every characteristic the characters have; in the end, the characters will be more cohesive to the game. Even with careful planning and decision making, it is up to the player to finalize the character's design by putting a little bit of themselves into the characters during their gameplay journey.
- Adrianna Thiele | Character Developer
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