Raiders and Beasts!
Gameplay and concept art usually come alongside. Cases when developers think of their game as "gray boxes" are pretty rare, since the story and characters one wants to play spontaneously appear in the mind.
Parkour knights
The very first idea for Beast Hour was a gothic castle, where knights should run away from beasts. So we chose medieval setting and put armor on all Raiders. Since from the beginning parkour was the key idea for the game, we quickly dropped the idea about knights as it would be impossible to run fast and deftly in heavy armor.
So a new Raider concept, which can be described as the mix of medieval age and steampunk, appeared. This visual was simplified, we left only greaves, helmet, and bracers. But even this seemed to be too much. Plus there was a problem with the weapon - what a knight without a sword - it wasn't clear what it should be and how the character would run with it during the parkour.
Steampunk ninja-wizards
We started experimenting a lot, trying to create something unique and averaged between ninjas, Dishonored characters and steampunk. After a while we've finally chosen the time epoch - World War I and the Industrial Revolution - and the Raiders became wizards.
So, the character wore a high collar cape (Doctor Strange-like), but we've noticed that Raider didn't look like a fighter and wasn't brutal enough.
WWI aesthetics
Collecting all the ideas, we began to combine them into something unusual and appropriate. The main references for inspiration were the already mentioned World War I, the game Order 1886, and stylized knightly elements. The weapons were integrated into the gauntlets, which looked like bracers. You may have already seen this Raider, because for quite a long time we used him as a cover for the game and social media.
Zelus, the first Raider
In one of the previous articles we've told about our decision to make each Raider unique. The helmet was taken off from the Raider and cape laps were lengthened (like Neo from "The Matrix" wore). And that's how the main Zelus' concept art was created. Later, while creating the 3d model, his appearance has changed just a little. For example, the hair had to be shortened, so that the indicator on the back was visible, and it would be easier to notice him in the dark.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading till the end. Creating a character is a big, challenging, but very interesting journey! We were happy to share our experience with you. Share your opinion in the comments!
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The Beast will come!