INITIAL RESEARCH
For inspiration I first looked into games like League of Legends, Dota 2 and Genshin Impact as well as TV shows like Arcane, Gen:Lock and RWBY for their art styles as well as character design.
I want my characters to symbolise the city they are from and a great example of that is RWBY which the 4 main characters are all from various countries around Remnant, RWBY's world. Each girl's design showcases their personality and the part of the world they are from. This also happens in League of Legends as a big part of a characters design is influenced by their home city which can be seen in their weapons, attack style and design.
The story for my game will have one over arching plot for the world and each characters will tie into that story in some way. League of Legends inspired this for me although they in recent years have scrapped their idea for a story as to why the characters fight in Summoners Rift. I want to create a story that gives each character a reason as to why they are fighting in the Tournament of Oldion.
INSPIRATIONS
My game is mostly inspired by League of Legends one of the oldest MOBA games currently out which has over 150 characters within it's 13 regions. Each characters backstory ties in with their region and their design usually reflects the area they are from.
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RWBY is another inspiration for my characters as visual aesthetics in its characters are important for the show. Rooster Teeth loosely base their designs and characters backgrounds on fairy tales which I can study to help myself pick out key features from designs to instantly show where a character is from.
MIND MAP
As my focus is on character design I focused mostly on visual aspects of the MOBA genre and games with a big emphasis on visual design. This allowed me to list a few key MOBA games which related to my project, however there aren't many MOBA games enabling me to go into more detail as most games of this genre have shut down.
During our first lesson of this unit we were split in groups of 3 and given a list of websites from some of the past students and had to determine what grade their achieved from what we saw on their websites and how that effected their overall grade.
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Allot of the students used their websites colours to influence their projects theme and genre further which I would like to do with my own simple background. I think this would make my site be more visually engaging and help convey my idea from the start.
GROUP WORK
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
For my audience research I've started by making a google form directed at MOBA players and what they want from the genre and what draws them to the characters they play. To most people visual aesthetics are an important aspect in the characters they choose to play so I want to make my characters design as visually appealing as possible and direct their designs at a wide audience.
Most of the people who replied to my google form play MOBA games fairly often which does help me aim my research towards an audience that already play MOBA games.
GAMES
I have played all the games I am taking inspiration from and am very familiar with them so I am aware of what players expect visually from these game genres and what the genre is lacking in terms of representation. So I would like each country to represent a culture from the world like Genshin Impact do.
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Mondstadt represents Germany.
Liyue represents China.
Inazuma represents Japan.
My main inspiration for the genre and story is League of Legends a game I personally find the most enjoyment from in the MOBA genre. For my characters design I am taking allot of inspiration from Genshin Impact, a game that visually keeps their characters similar in terms of where they are from and what colours are used in their pallets and how their clothes define their character. For example Amber is a fire based character so red pops up in her design allot and her hoodie shows off her childish nature and role in the group she is also from the city of Mondstadt which is based off Germany so her clothing has more western influences compared to characters from the Asian representing cities who wear traditional attire such as kimonos
CHARACTER LAYOUT
As I want to focus on character design for my final project I am planning on having my characters be displayed on reference sheets which gives the final design and an
in-depth look into the accessories I chose for the character. I am going to take reference from League of Legends and Overwatch.
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I would like to start with a black and white series of designs for the character which showcase them in different outfits and with different weapons and then have my final characters like Overwatch where its fully rendered facing the front and the black is just flat colour, however I would like to do close ups of weapons and accessories something Overwatch doesn't do on their concept arts.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
I am confident in my own work and am happy with the direction my art is going for this project, I have also been practising body proportions and poses with a big focus on anatomy using George. Bridgman books to teach myself. I am very familiar with several drawing apps I am going to use for this project such as Procreate and have experience in 3DS Max for the houses I want to digitally create and then paint in this project.
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Weakness
Although I have improved on it my time management is still an issue I struggle with. I also get distracted quite easily so big projects can be difficult for me to focus on. Another weakness is my anatomy which whilst I am actively working to improve is still not quite where I want it to be to start this project so focusing on that for the first few weeks whilst I research is important.
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Opportunities
I am hoping to develop my anatomy in this project as drawing bodies is still quite daunting as I have little experience in that area. I also want to improve my colour theory in this project so my characters can look visually appealing. The MOBA genre is very much lacking in terms of games on PC that play with using current clothing genres usually sticking to focus on fantasy characters that wear more medieval inspired outfits consisting of allot of metal armour and robes so this gives my game a unique and modern feel compared to other MOBA games.
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Threats
The current global pandemic is still a threat despite the government removing all restrictions however is much less of a threat than it was last year where we were always in self isolation. My biggest threat is the access to the college facilities as I am scheduled in 3 days a week which limits the time where I can get full use of Photoshop and other programs only accessible through the college. However there are sites like Photopea which I can use as an alternative which whilst is not as good as Photoshop it means I can keep working whilst not at college.
CODES AND CONVENTIONS
League of Legends otherwise known as LoL features a lot of visual codes and conventions common of the MOBA genre which makes the game easy to pick up for players familiar with that genre. The main one being the way the in-game maps are laid out; it is common in the MOBA genre to use a square map with 3 lanes which join up with the other teams’ lanes as well as lanes throughout the map for ‘junglers’ (a role in the game whose job is to complete map objectives as well as clean up lanes when enemies are low.). This makes the game very easy for those familiar with the genre to pick up and is easy for new players to pick up within a few games. Another visual code of the genre is to add lane ai known as minions in LoL and Smite or creeps in DotA 2 an in-game AI controlled unit that aid the players in the fight and are also an objective to kill as it’s a way for the player to gain money to spend in the shop and to control area. The top games of the genre (League, DotA 2, Smite) follow these codes of conventions mostly, Smite being the only notable game of the genre to move away from this format. Smite features a 3rd person view something very rare to the genre which usually focuses on a top-down view as well as oddly shaped maps whilst still following the 3-lane jungle format. Because of this Smite is a refreshing take on the genre keeping the same format but reinventing it in an original way.
HISTORY
The precursor to the MOBA genre came with the game Herzog Zwei by Sega for the Mega Drive Genesis in 1989, a real time strategy game. The influence of Herzog Zwei can seen across a few games such as Guilty Gear 2 and AirMech . In 1998 Blizzard released the game StarCraft with the tool StarEdit that allowed owners of the game to design and create custom maps.
Aeon 64 the creator of Aeon of Strife (AoS) used this to create AoS. In early versions of AoS hero units did not have special abilities, a staple of the genre, instead they spent gold on weapon and armour upgrades. In 2002 Blizzard released Warcraft 3, a real-time strategy computer game, which included a World Editor. The multiplayer online battle area and tower defence sub genres took shape with this editor and using this a modder name Eul began converting AoS into the Warcraft 3 engine calling it Defence of the Ancients (DotA). Eul improved upon Aeon 64’s original design making it more complex but shortly after Eul left the modding scene and other modders created their own variety of maps based on DotA.
INDUSTRY
The future of the MOBA genre is forever growing however LoL and DotA will always dominate the industry as no big companies are willing to move into making these games as long as they dominate. DC Comics attempted to break their way into the genre with their game Infinite Crisis otherwise known as the game with wacky alternate versions of popular superheroes. In August of 2015 the game shut down after only 4 months due to a lack of active players. Allot of MOBA follow this pattern of releasing and after less than a year shutting down even with big studio or commercial backing such as Square Enix failed MOBA game Lord of Vermillion Arena.
KEY PRACTITIONERS
Key practitioners of this genre come with the work of Ice Frog a pseudonymous lead developer for DotA 2 who popularised the multiplayer online battle arena genre and whose mod (DotA) inspires developers to this day.
Ice Frog used to take community feedback but has since withdrawn from the English speaking DotA community recently due to extreme criticism and abuse instead staying active with Chinese players on the Chinese social media app Weibo where he talks to players about the game. Being titled a few things by the community ‘The Master of Balance and ‘the Dota God’ IceFrog is loved by the MOBA community so much he’s become a people twitch emote OSfrog and the face of multiple memes such as ‘My Finest Creation’.
ISSUES AND DEBATES
Avoiding certain topics in MOBA games is needed, such as using religious figures in games. Smite has based its characters on gods from around the world and they eventually had to re-work a few characters after the Universal Society of Hinduism president, Rajan Zed, wanted Hi-Rez (Smite’s developer) to show responsibility, respect and maturity. Smite had used the religious figure featured in Hinduism and were criticized for ‘trivialising’ by putting them under players control. Catholics and Buddhists soon after joined the protests. Smite originally defended their stance but ended up remodelling her and re-kitting Kali.
COLOUR THEORY
Colour theory is based on 3 primary colours, blue, yellow, red and their secondary and tertiary colours.
Analogous colours are three colours side by side on the colour wheel.
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Complementary colours are the two colours directly opposite of each other.
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Split complementary colours are over the top and are used to create loud pieces.
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I am using an Analogous colour scheme which is common in the MOBA genre for characters usually only moving to a split-complementary colour pallet for loud characters such as Neeko from League Of Legends.
Dota released a character art guide explaining how they keep their heroes immediately indentifiable. Apart of this was their colour scheme in which they went through how they keep their characters from blending into the world. Avoiding the use of colours that make up the game map is an important thing to remember whilst making characters, allot of the game of MOBA's is collecting vision and if your having a hard time seeing the enemy they have the advantage. Starting with one primary colour and then splitting into into secondary and tertiary colours using complementary, split complementary, analogous or traid colour schemes helps to keep your charcter from having clashing colours and then blending them together to mute the tones of the colours and create more interesting shades that work with each other. The items the hero's carry should also follow their colour scheme, the more detailed area's of the weapons being higher up to maintain visual interest and how the shape works to keep the weapon unique to the characters silhouette.
ENVIRONMENTS
When making my characters I need to keep the environment of the game in mind and how the characters I create will stand against the games map.
Characters in league of legends need to stand out against three different things, the lanes themselves which are earthy toned, spawn which is grey and the river that cuts the map in half, which is blue.
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Samira stands out against the environment despite being made up of dark greys as the red accent and gold trims in her outfit help her stand out.
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Dota 2 also has the same map layout with the earthy toned lanes, stone spawn and the river cutting the map in half. The map however goes through a daylight cycle.
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Marci's clothes stand out well against the games environment due to her being made up of blues and her hair helps her stand out when the player enters the river.
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The characters also have a gradient on them of light to dark, so the darkest colours are at their feet and their colour palette lightens up the higher up you look.
FASHION SKETCHES
As a big part of designing characters is the clothing they wear and how that is influenced by their personality and background I decided to look at fashion sketches as the designer puts their own style on the clothes which is easily recognisable.
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Channel's runway outfits consist of mostly monochrome or monochromatic colours and are influenced by mixing women's and men's wear. The outfits are cut like outfits from the 60s and are made to look smart casual.
OTHER MEDIA
To familiarise myself with certain aesthetics I have decided to look at some films, TV shows or books within the genres I am focusing on for my characters. I looked at Wikipedia and got a list of media to look at and then decided to highlight the most accessible media for me to look at.
For Tortuga I am focusing on The Lost Pirate Kingdom a Netflix documentary focusing on Anne Bonny, an inspiration for one of my characters.
For Naours I am looking at Treasure Planet a steampunk Disney film
For Kerrowell I am looking at Lord of The Rings a film series as it features a race of Elf.
For Cinopex I am looking at Winx Club a TV series focused on fairies.
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For Memphis I am looking at Mad Max a film set in the desert.
Tortuga
Bodacious Space Pirates
One Piece
The Lost Pirate Kingdom
Black Sails
Death Grips
Fena
The Abrafaxe – Under The Black Flag
Naours
Lost World
Girl Genius
Amulet
Fullmetal Alchemist
Mortal Engines
Attack on titans
Clockwork Planet
Princess Principal
Treasure Planet
Kerrowell
LOTR
Restaurant to Another World
Different World Hospitality Meals
GATE
The Dark Crystal
Thor: The Dark World
So I'm a Spider, So What?
Cinopex
MHA
Fresh Pretty Cure!
Barbie Fairy Topia
Disney Fairies
Ariel (The Tempest)
Winx Club
Fairy Cube
Memphis
Dune
Daratt
Mad Max
Tank Girl
Holes
Kate
American Assasin
CINOPEX
Winx Club is the most popular show about fairies in the West, orignally starting in 2004 it has ran for 208 episodes and it's fashion in the show was the big factor to watch for most people. Allot of my research is about fashion trends so I chose this show as it shows a wide variety of genres of fashion. The live action remake - which would have been a good reference for the fashion, instead is critisied allot about how the characters dress and allot of the videos out there about them are how they would have styled them instead. I even made posts about how I would style the characters in line with their cartoon characters, so my main focus is going to be on the cartoon.
I looked at the show in terms of environment which is styled like a regular British forest which is what I had in mind when thinking of the environment of Cinopex.
The Fate: The Winx Saga is the older remake of the Winx Club cartoon and begins it's show with a murder to clearly show that this isn't the same cute show the audience watched 10 years ago.
The introduction of the main character Bloom introduces Fairies and Specialists to the audience and talks about a few various types of fairies. The faries in the live action remake unlike the cartoon are explicitely said to not have access to "transformation magic" which is just having wings.
The environment of Fate: The Winx Saga is supposed to be seen as another world like an alternative dimension that exists within Earth but it holds the exact same environment, laws and language as Earth. Most of the show takes place at the school and the forest surrounding it which is what I focused on when watching the show. This helped me when I envisioned Cinopex as it combined the usuals aesthetics of a forest with hints of magic and merged it perfectly to what I had thought of when creating Cinopex.
NAOURS
Treasure Planet is the 2002 Disney film adaptation of the 1883 novel Treasure Island. The film did not do well in the Box Office with a 109.5 million worldwide gross and the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. In recent years however the film is much more appreciated being nicknamed as an 'Under Appreciated Masterpiece'.
I chose this film as a focus for Naours as whenever I researched into steampunk it was a film that people recommended over and over again and after watching I agree that the film is a great showcase of the steampunk genre. The production and sound design for Treasure Planet followed a 70/30 law when creating the films artwork and the design of the sound effects and music that it should be 70% traditional and 30% sci-fi. This helped push the steampunk aesthetic for the film as the steampunk genre follows this same sort of rule.
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TORTUGA
The Lost Pirate Kingdom is a 2021 Netflix docuseries that portrays the rise and fall of the 18th centaury pirate republic based in Nassau, Bahamas. The series features Anne Bonny one of the few recorded female pirates and the inspiration for Bonny Fisc (my Tortuga based character).
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I decided to focus on this docuseries due to Anne Bonny being a main character. As I have focused on environment and fashion already I thought I would watch this to focus on characters personality and see how that influences their interactions and fashion. Anne is first introduced to the viewer as a tough character who loved adventure and was a hellcat. She is shown to be wearing clothes stereotypically associated with those higher up on the ship and it well reprosents her personality and the power she held over those around her.
SOFTWARE
In the previous unit's when I've made concept art I've stuck to using Sketchbook Pro or Medibang, two drawing software's I am very familiar with and have used for several years. For this project I have decided to use Procreate a software I have only recently started using but I prefer using it to the other drawing software's I have tried. I also have a larger set of brushes I am familiar with on Procreate.
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The advantage of using Procreate over other software like Medibang which I've been using for years is the fact Procreate was made for iPad which means it is portable so I can carry my work from college back to home very easily rather than having to send myself files each time I work. It also means I can work away from home and not fall behind on the project due to not having access to a computer.
As well as being more comfortable using Procreate the work I create is often a higher standard than when I draw on Medibang. This is due to the fact I am able to draw directly onto the screen rather than using a drawing tablet as I am able to be confident with the lines I am creating and I know exactly how they are going to appear when I place them down. Procreate also allows me to freely edit the brushes as I draw so I can add stabilisers to my brushes to make sure my lines are smooth, which I can't do on Medibang.
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Medibang
Procreate
Medibang
Procreate
TEXTURES
For my steampunk character I looked into leathers and metals the most prominent textures of the clothing genre. Leathers are used on allot of the accessory items rather than the base items which is normally denim and cloth. The leather is used for waistcoats, boots, belts and hats. Metal begins to play in on the smaller accessories such as jewellery and pocket watches.
Cotton is used allot in creating dress shirts. As formal wear is a big part of steampunk fashion I want to dress my character in dress shirts as they are male. From what I've seen online of the fashion almost every man is wearing a dress shirt.
I decided to look at gold and silver jewellery rather than bars as it fits more with how I am using it in my steampunk design. A big part of steampunk is the accessories so I need to make sure they look like they fit the steampunk theme and don't clash with my pre-existing darker neutral colours. Using small silver and gold chains to connect things helps not take away from my existing design but instead adds to it.
For my Lolita character I looked on a few reddit forums to see what the materials they make their clothes out of. The general answer was organic cotton sateen which whilst pricey is visually beautiful and poplin which is thin but however design prints work nicely with the fabric. Gold embroidery is also very popular within Lolita fashion so I would like to incorporate that into my final designs.
For my goblin core character I looked into the usual daily wear of the genre and sweaters, knit sweaters, popped up allot in most of the outfits I saw so I decided to have a focus on this. Sweaters with patterns like brown to cream gradient stripes are very popular and loud patterns and colours are ignored.
When looking into the goblin core I saw allot of outfits contained corduroy in their trousers, overalls and sometimes in blazers. Corduroy helps create an androgynous look and as allot of the people who follow the aesthetic are non-binary and demi gender this is the look they are going for. It also helps fit the nature aesthetic as it was worn by those in the country side.
STEAMPUNK
"Steam punk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retro-futuristic technology and aesthetics inspired by the 19th centaury industrial steam-powered machinery."
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Steampunk works are often set in the Victorian or wild west era where steam power was in the mainstream. Steampunk also often uses themes of horror, fantasy or speculative fiction which makes it a hybrid genre.
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The fashion of the steampunk genre is designed with a post-apocalypic era in mind and grew in popularity along with the goth and punk movements of the 80s and 90s. Cyberpunk and diesalpunk are variants of steampunk.
With the genre there are a number of archetypes to keep in mind such as the valiant explorer, the debonair aviator or the gentleman - each embodying a slightly different aesthetic.
Steampunk fashion is a mixture of fashion trends from historical periods, which adds the looks of 19th centaury explorers, soldiers, lords, countesses and harlots to the punk contemporary street fashion. The base of the fashion is primarily focused in the mid-19th centaury. In the 2010s steampunk started to include more jewellery into their aesthetics. Brass goggles have become a trademark of the genre and brass items are an official standard steampunk accessory.
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From what I can see of the genre browns, blacks, gold and white make up the main colour pallet for the characters and they usually wear dress shirts accompanied by a corset for women or a waistcoat for men. The character is also usually given a range of belts, scarfs and jewellery. Steampunk characters are usually over the top and allot of what they wear is just there for the aesthetic instead of being there for a specific purpose.
For the colour pallet for Lucian I first looked on art station to get an understanding of the colours, tones and materials used in the aesthetic, I then used the site Coolors.co to create art pallets as it automatically selects colours for u that look nice together. I settled on a darker neutral colour scheme with a few browns the main bright colours being blue and gold which will be used on the characters accessories to make sure he stands out and doesn't blend into his surroundings. As this is a steampunk aesthetic I decided leather and cotton would be my main materials in the design as steampunk is combined with Victorian fashion which consists of allot of posh dress wear such as dress shirts, waistcoats and corsets.
PIRATE LOLITA
Lolita fashion is a subculture from japan that is influenced by clothing styles from the Roccoco period. The clothing style can be categorized into three main substyles, gothic, classic and sweet. Many other substyles such as sailor, country and princess also exist.
The main feature of the Lolita fashion is the volume of the skirt which can be bell shaped or A-lined. Other components of the lolita wardrobe are a blouse.
Alice in Wonderland inspired brands such as Alice Deco to create Lolita fashion.
The lolita fashion is seen as a reaction against Japanese society in which young people are pressured to adhere to genre roles and responsiblites of these roles, wearing fashion inspired by childhood clothing is a reaction against this. This can be explained as an escape from adulthood and to go back to the eternal beauty of childhood.
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From what I have seen of the genre the clothing is modest, and includes dresses with triangular siluets. I am going to combine the Sailor Lolita and Gothic Lolita together for my character to full encompass the dead pirate theme I am going with.
For the colour pallet for Bonny I couldn't find much in the way of Pirate Lolita characters on ArtStation but from what I saw darker colours such as reds, blacks and purples were mostly used, gold trims on the clothes also popped up, this gave me some direction in the colour schemes I wanted to use. I used Coolors.co again to create a colour pallet I thought suitable for Bonny and settled on a dark colour pallet with a few varying shades of purple. For the materials I looked into Lolita subreddits in order to see which materials they personally liked to use the most when ordering fabrics online, poplin kept popping up as a material they liked to use as it prints nicely.
GOBLIN CORE
Goblin core is an aesthetic based on the appreciation of nature not typically seen as beautiful. This can range from animals such as frogs and snails to moss, mud and fungi such as mushrooms. Goblin's themselves are apart of the ugliness appreciation.
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Goblin core originated in the 1910's but recently had a boost of popularity on tiktok. Goblin core is popular in the LGBTQ+ community particularly among non-binary, transgender and demi gender people.
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A big part of the aesthetic is collecting shiny objects termed "shinies" to emulate the Goblin part of the aesthetic.
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Goblin core outfits consist of outfits with several clashing patterns/colours. Lots of the clothing is thrifted and worn-out for a more comfortable feel. Oversized sweaters, worn-out and customized jeans/overalls and unique socks are staples of the fashion. Earthy coloured clothes fit the genre best as well as mixing in dark green and brown clothes.
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From what I've seen of the genre I am going to pick out an earthy toned colour pallet for my character as well as keeping oversized patterned sweaters a running theme in my designs. Accessories are important in this so I'd like to add an alchemist bag and some crystals to the design to also mix it in with my fantasy theme I'm creating with Oldion. I feel it would also tie in well with them being a mage.
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As I am not well versed in this aesthetic I decided to message some people who follow goblin core and ask them if they thought my research was accurate. The answers I received were very helpful and I will be keeping in mind the colour pallets and clothing accessories they have pointed me towards. They also directed me to a clothing showcase chat where I was able to see hundreds of goblin inspired outfits.
For Allete I looked on ArtStation and found a few characters designed around goblin core. Allot of them were themed around mushrooms and wore the same clothing of overalls and a sweater which is a very popular outfit of the aesthetic. Allot of neutral colours were used again and again in the designs, mostly earthy tones such as browns and greens and the occasional pop of yellow was shown. I used Coolors.co again to create a neutral colour pallet mostly using earthy tones, the only colour that isn't earthy is the violet which I want to use as it's a more magical colour and Allete is a mage. For the materials I want to use knitted sweaters allot as they are a staple of the goblin core genre as well as overalls and trousers being made of corduroy as they remind me of nature themselves as the fabric looks sort of like tree bark.