"Crypt Ticks are HYSTERICAL. After feeding on the flesh of the dead they hunt the living. SUPER FUNNY."Â
Weâre very close to launch right now and the Character Team, the people who model and animate all the denizens of the Necropolis, are actually content complete. That means every character model and every animation is done and in the game. Thereâs still plenty to do, bugs come back and there are adjustments to enemy behaviors that require rework of animations (not to mention a new trailer!), but the pressure is off a bit. So I swung by to ask them a simple question, âWho is your favorite character in the Necropolis?â
Fiona Turner (Character Artist): The Gemeater is one of my favorite characters. It was really fun to create concept variants for him (below) because of his comical look. His large head, vacant stare, and reckless attacks contribute to his appeal. I imagine he has a peanut sized brain and has only survived the Necropolis long enough to meet you due to his brawn.
Marian Huber (Character Artist): My favorite critter from Necropolis would have to be the Chemist, our cowardly, bird-brained merchant. It's always funny when you open up a chest and finding him cowering in there, hiding from the horrors of the maze. He was a blast to work on; It was fun to work out how stylized feathers should look in the world of Necropolis. I love how his animation really sells his bird-like and flighty movements, as well as his salesman attitude.
Jakob Zoepfl (Animator): My favorite character would probably be the Changeling. Mostly because it's rarely seen and it was super fun to make. It moves very fluidly and it's long gangly limbs make  for some interesting shapes and poses.
Hollie Mengert (Animator): My favorite character is also the Gemeater! So many things in the Necropolis, are calculating, thoughtful and deadly. But the Gemeater survives by pure brute strength. I love seeing him thunder his way around the Necropolis.
(Hollie would also like to remind us all that, "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.")
Steven Rynders (Character Artist/Technical Artist): Shadowborn, they're creepy, they really cool, and we put a lot of work into them!
Brigittie Tijerina (Animator): My favorite thing in Necropolis is the Eel Trap. Animating it was so fun and its movement reminds me of a dog shaking prey in its mouth. Also, because the lair in which the Eel hides blends with the environment very well, it startles me every time it pops out. Brigittie divides her time between Animation and Quality Assurance, and testers are the unsung heroes of development.
And finally, hereâs what happens when you ask Doug Magruder, our Character Team Lead, which is his favorite character in the game:
Doug Magruder (Character Team Lead): Narrowing it down to one "favorite" is like picking a favorite child out of your multitude of available children. It is less that you don't have a favorite and much more due to the fact that at any given moment your favorite changes. I have moments of each that I love and cherish just as I have aspects of them all that I make me want to toss them screaming into a pit of fire as sacrifices to the god Ar. Every time I see them I not only see what is onscreen but I instantly re-live fragments of all the meetings and discussions surrounding their creation, all the artwork approved and rejected, all the models in their varying state of completion, the animation from scraggy and blocking to polished and gleaming in Maya, and from their broken and mindless ingame states to the final implementation where they finally become a fully realized work that is the sum of all their disparate parts and culmination of all the efforts of each artistâs effort to bring them into this world.
All characters in Necropolis are special to me, from the lowly Rat King and Scrounges whose skittering movement and simple designs are endearing and pleasant (or as pleasant as a 3 headed rat can be) to the Hollowman Brute whose fierce aspect of a monstrous mechanical gorilla is carried brilliantly through his movement and mesh in equal measure. The timid, happy Fade is as charming as the angry, slithering Changeling is to me.
All creatures in this game, even the ones that will never see the light of day, due to reason both inside and outside our realms of control, are at any given moment my favorite.The ability to pick just one is something that is simply not within my ability to do, simply because by the time I finish typing the characters name my favorite will have changed, and changed again once I deleted the texted and started to retype a new name. Don't ask me to pick a favorite child, it just isn't fair. All that being said I can say that the character that fills me with the strongest emotions is the Blackguard. It has gone through the most hands, had the most work done to it, the most joy and pain and heartache and triumph are present in that simple player avatar. I see each moment of the game through the eyes and actions of that little avatar. It is my window into Necropolis, and as such, if gun-to-head I had to chose it would be their name that would end up being blurted out. "Blackguard! Please don't shoot me, I have more characters to make..."
Thatâs it for now. Next week I want to share what it is like to sit in on a discussion about character polish and what kind of considerations we talk about when discussing how to make sure fighting our enemies is fun. Â
