I've had the immense pleasure to provide illustrations of Vena (proto-Garuda) and Ryoku (proto-Ash) for four Atragraph augment mods!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok here's the individual illustrations below smile
Dread Ward
Seeking Shuriken
Blood Forge
Smoke Shadow
Huge huge HUGE thank you to Digital Extremes for letting me put more funny scribbles in their game, especially in this fashion. This has been such an incredibly cool project to work on between this new(-ish) feature and these characters! Can't wait to see them in-game on June 17th <3
Sketch wips and other stuff under the cut!
Carrd | Ko-fi | Inprnt
And huge thanks to the team and community for all the kind words!!! It seriously means so so much after such an incredibly busy two months split between this and an unfortunately-timed new day job (that I left just last week lol lmao). Lots and lots of things I wish I had had more time and energy for and things I would have done differently, so it's an incredible feeling to see such immediate positive reception in spite of those doubts. Love you guys <3
(I'll try to reblog this post with a timelapse vid and in-game implementation whenever that stuff becomes available! In the meantime you can check it out over on ArtStation (which does have timelapses!))
Today is the initial release of the chapter 1 demo for Diorama Break! It's a story-driven tactics RPG with an unusual narrative framing and a unique combat system! I'm the lead character artist for it, focusing mainly on the (pixel art) dialogue portraits and CGs, but I also helped with character designs and guided the overall art direction early on!
Check it out here!
There's still more work for us to do on it, so this initial release is also being treated as an open beta. Even so, I think the demo in its current state is something our team is happy to present! We all put a ton of effort into it and we hope people enjoy it! (also, if you end up playing the demo, please give us your honest feedback afterwards via the feedback form!)
On a personal note, this is the most ambitious project I've ever been a part of. I began to pursue working on games 10 years ago(!), and I've done pixel art for longer… finally having something I worked this long on actually get released is a big milestone for me! (a demo counts as something! It's been nearly three years of me being on this project...)
My favorite thing about Halsin is that he unabashedly CARES and refuses to stop caring. No matter what he goes through. No matter how hopeless he feels. He refuses to stop caring, to the point that it causes him pain more often than not.
He refuses to stop caring about refugees. He refuses to accept Baldur's Gate's status quo. He refuses to stop fighting the Shadow Curse that everyone else wrote off as unbreakable. Even when captured by goblins, he tried to cure them of their tadpoles and only gave up on them when they started torturing him and threatening his Grove instead.
He refuses to stop caring about the state of the world, and the struggle between his duties as a Druid and his own desire for a family (because he also refuses to stop caring for the then-hypothetical children he dreamed of). He refuses to stop caring about the balance between humanity and nature. He refuses to stop caring about his devotion to Silvanus and he refuses to stop caring about his friends, even when one of them, as an undead, is the embodiment of everything Druids are supposed to hate as the summation of everything "unnatural."
He refuses to stop caring about the family he lost years ago. He refuses to stop caring about those under his watch, to the point that if the Druids die in the Druid vs Tiefling fight, Halsin blames himself instead of them.
He CARES. In a world that- very similar to ours- tries to punish and beat down people who care, that tries to wear them into a state of numb apathy, Halsin continues to love, and care, and want better for those who need it. He refuses to stop being the voice for the voiceless.
Every world needs a Halsin, or ideally many Halsins.
I've reanalyzed the Roathe x Drifter scene far too much, but...I think Drifter actually looks down at Roathe's mouth before he goes in for the kiss. I've watched this in 4k on a 50" tv, frame-by-frame and I've lost my mind in the middle of the night dissecting but more under the cut:
After Roathe pulls her in, I studied their expressions out of curiosity. Now, this could be game animations/lighting effects so take all of this with a grain of salt, but as Roathe's smile widens, so does Drifter's. If this isn't a play on in-game lighting & bloom effects, her gaze falls from his eyes and it's almost like that's the permission he needs to go in full force. Drifter's eyes then widen in surprise but she remains locked on his mouth as he makes his move. Idk...it's kind of sweet with all the subtle details?
Below: first pic, Drifter's looking up, second - she's looking down right as he's about to kiss her:
Another fun find:
At the beginning when Roathe places the tome on the table, Drifter is constantly glancing at him. I have no idea if this is to check his mood, stealing looks because they're newly in love, or both. (Could reinforce soemthing being taught here by Roathe.)
(Using last week's acreenshots as they're higher quality) ♡
I like that there's a playful mischievousness to their dynamic below: she looks at him placing the tome, both enjoying each other's company. (It reminds me of that book scene with Gale in BG3)
Below: She looks back at him, almost expectantly? Or following his lead. (I wish we knew what their 'time alone' was about. Is it a search for information? Is Roathe teaching a lesson, maybe about the Empire's history? Orokin culture? Helminth creation?)
Drifter looks back at the tome, Roathe placing his hand on its open page. She steals a glance again before placing her own hand next to his...seriously, what is that look? It's so loving 😫 it's really giving off young-love vibes despite them both being centuries old. There seems to be an air of innocence happening here. A calm, steady presence before the storm.
Then Uriel overpowers Roathe. Momentarily. Ensue the infamous hand yank.
Now, I know everyone has their own headcanons or perceptions about the entire cinematic & I'm not discrediting any of it. Personally, I like to base my own understandings of characters off of lore and how interactions play out, especially in the KIM chats. Hence the MMO/RPG elements.
In the convo where he asks Drifter what their favourite way to kill is, it's mentioned near the end how his own preferences have changed since being turned into a protoframe. He also mentions that the tail has a mind of its own (somewhat? I assume he has some control over it as time goes on.) And it bothers him.
His tail slowly comes into view as Drifter tries to pull her hand from his steel grasp. This is honestly a great show of power dynamic between a proto & Drifter. (Arthur's KIM chats during Isleweaver about not trusting Entrati was hilariously realistic if you chose the option that said Drifter didn't trust Entrati as far as they could throw him and without a warframe, their throwing arm was shit.)
[Complete sidenote headcanon that if these two ever got into an argument, all Drifter would need to do is use transference to imobilize Roathe. Aside from that, she'd be at his mercy without a warframe.] 😄
But my point with the last 2 images is to show how Roathe appears remorseful about his actions. What began as a peaceful, loving moment, suddenly turned into distrust likely caused by centuries of always being on guard. The Orokin created a society where no one could be trusted, and I do believe (based on his backstory from KIMs) is that his need to constantly be on guard was a momentary reflex to remain in control. It was never his intention in that moment. As Drifter was forced to look at him regardless, shock was quickly replaced with concern, and that to me, snapped Roathe out of whatever trance or instinct he'd been forced to use for survival for so long. Yes, he's still Orokin, but he's also human.
They're learning to place trust in each other, and I find it so wholesome. I'm not entirely sure about ulterior motives or superiority issues Roathe may possess as an Orokin, but in my case, he's redeemed and I think it adds more depth to his reactions in this cinematic. It isn't just about romance. It's trust.
Roathe gave Drifter the option to turn away from him after releasing her hand and yet she still chose to stay. Whether it was intended or not near the end, it does seem like he's continuously looking for approval before taking action. Much like Roathe's love confession in the Rank6Convo1, he gave Drifter the choice to back out of the relationship before he made a fool of himself. He mentioned earlier on how deeply his people loved when they fell in love, and if what the devs said how his kiss was intentionally inspired by a famous painting and meant to make players feel as though his kiss was supposed to appear uncomfortable, then it makes sense as to why. Everything happened so fast, but I also believe Roathe is all in when it comes to their relationship by this point. Drifter had to deal with a lot of his BS during Descendia, and he admits he didn't make it easy, but the level of conditioning he as a character had to unravel with our help to accept his past, seek atonement through forgiveness, etc...it's showing how he's choosing to be better. The villain path is unknown to me, but I enjoy helping people, and reflect that in gaming. 😅
Hex romances aside, neither of them have been in proper, healthy relationships. Survival outweighed all else. Entrati had a line somewhere telling Roathe that he was needed in this new world/future. If redeemed, Roathe's purpose might be to regain his humanity before he could truly prove useful to whatever plans we'll face in the story after Tau.
Roathe's romance may appear obsessive at times but putting aside public displays of exaggerations and performances (mainly his jabs at the triad about committing sins or giving Lyon new nightmares), it's a stark contrast to what he says in the gemini emote lines and KIM chats. The warrior within may never slow down, but he's also a romantic. I think their relationship could be a perfect balance of 'fun' destroying furniture across Duviri and elsewhere, but more heavily laced with calmer nights in one's company. Roathe admits after redemption, how he wants to be better in this world but he'll likely wear the Vice Regent Orokin mask for a long while because letting go of your past takes time. Healing takes time and he's honest about it but likely won't show the others this softer side of him. Not yet, anyway. I have no doubt he'll continue making mistakes like any other normal person, and the hand yank is a prime example of conditioning momentarily overlapsing judgment.
As always, this is purely subjective but thought I'd share a different take after completing Roathe's redemption amd getting week 2 of date scenes.
