Nameless

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And the final sculpt.

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From the research, development can begin. I opted to make this asymmetrical in order to make it more interesting, as perfectly symmetrical designs tend to be bland and unnatural in that perfection. Pushing that concept also allowed me an interesting internal evolutionary logic as to why a creature like this would have a mass of tentacles/vines for arms and have such an exaggeration on one side, which ties in with a curve-ball the tutors thought to throw at us.

Halfway through the project, they said that the design has to reflect at least one of the seven virtues of Christian lore. For the unfamiliar, they are charity, temperance, chastity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.

My initial reaction to this was that perhaps that as a mushroom, it could be an inversion or play on Chasity, with the creature releasing spores for reproduction and with certain breeds of mushroom being narcotics. However I feel that Diligence would be a more appropriate concept to integrate into the lore of this creature, as it has to climb atop the tallest of trees in order to release it's spores.

I had also attempted a colour pass on the design, but I feel it might be better to experiment with that on the texturing stage, where the base colours can be interchangeable to see what works rather than paint experimentation in Photoshop.

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Probably cliche to use vines as limbs when every other plant anthropomorphism does so and I should be displaying legitimate creativity for the sake of a university grade...

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Some more mushrooms.

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Having decided to do the mushroom bipedal, I thought it would be appropriate to look at actual mushrooms to see that features that compose them, and to get some references for the texture (the tactile sensation) of them to replicate them in the sculpt.

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Developments for the silhouettes,

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The silhouettes for the sculpting project.

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Transmedia Storytelling

Transmedia storytelling is the practice of using multiple media to tell stories in a certain universe, with varying degrees of audience participation.

The more participation there is from the community, the greater enjoyment and understanding of the subject is likely to occur.

The varying elements of this synergies to bolster the narrative using the varying media's strengths to supplement the other media's story, an example being that a game adaptation of a film may have the players fight an off screen battle, with the game's interaction offering a greater perspective on the battle's events and effects on the story when the character fighting it re-appears and describes it to other people.

The elements use the strengths of their respective media to help tell the story in ways the others cannot, adding up to a stronger narrative and universe.

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The designs of the demons have to be surreal and abstracted versions of the human body, with extreme silhouettes based on simple shapes. The most human like one on the left has been the basis for the Vinayakas.

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Some moodboards for the design document. Hopefully in a professional context, it would inspire better designs than the products of my warped mind.

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http://martinbailly.deviantart.com/

This guy's got some very defined character silhouettes. A lot of personality comes through them and they have nice variations between then that make them seem very unique when they're following a common theme or concept, such as the petticoat and dress combinations.

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I'd thought I'd try a quick concept painting of the most well received one.

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Some demon concept sketches. The head guy seems to be rather popular.

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The stories so far

The story for the project has been modified several times until it has reached it's present incarnation. These modifications were done often to make sure that in it's own internal logic that the story's elements made sense.

The first one was that the empire You are from is decaying because there is no knowledge being learned, because the worms that had new information inscribed onto them had scattered. One of the twin empresses charged the character to gather them back in a peaceful manner, whilst the other more aggressive twin created an army to force them back.

This incarnation was changed because the people in this version, starved of knowledge, would not be able to take care of themselves in this version. The stagnation would be such that they would have logically died in a generation. There was also a problem with the concept that knowledge was not passed from the individuals who understood it to a new generation. If they were able to build houses, how come they were not able to replicate that without the presence of the worms?

Addressing these issues, the story was revised quite drastically. The worms are now vague creatures that are instead very long, and they spiral around the empire you live in to slow down time for the empire. The reason time is being slowed down is because demons are going to invade it, and being an isolated community, they have never had to deal with a threat like this before. However, they are scattered and cannot do so, leaving the empire exposed to threat. You are charged with getting them back so the Empire can ready itself. The inhabitants of the empire are also no longer dependent on the worms for knowledge. This version also allows less moral ambiguity for the red oni twin, as she is a more assertive half of a pair who's response is more practical due to their empire being antagonised.

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Investigating some Hindu mythology to influence some designs for the game.