Treasure hunts and high seas in Toy Tactics
Hello again, Commanders! We are back today with more amazing info and illustrations of one of our favorite bosses: Bonney and Read. Hoist your sails and grab your parrots, because these Pirates take no prisoners!
Aye, Captain! As with our Kitsune Boss, we began by searching for inspiration in Pirate history, to be very precise. The Age of Piracy lasted around 200 years, so there are many cool legends to choose from.
However, since we wanted to make a dual boss, we decided on two historical female pirates: Anne Bonney and Mary Read.
These two were actual pirates! So we thought it would be really cool to fight both of them at once, as they were seen together a lot of the time. They even sailed on the same ship. Also, we think they are cool.
From Concept to Gameplay and Back
Once the initial ideas were settled, our amazing concept artist Ana first drafted a few different designs to see what could be done with Bonney and Read. Look at this:
Ana tried out different looks for Bonney, ranging from very ragged to formal to more feminine. In the beginning, you want to try out a lot of different things to see what could work and what doesn't. It’s not uncommon to draw dozens and dozens of concepts to arrive at the single perfect one.
But as much as you can work on the overall look, you need to know a few gameplay things before finalizing it. For example, what kind of weapons will they carry? How big will they be?
The concept artist must work together with our game designer to hammer out some of these details; only then can we get to the final concept.
The Devil is in the Details
Ana, a huge fan of pirates, said: “I’ve been in love with pirates since I was twelve or thirteen. I just love the freedom and authenticity they exude.” So it was no surprise that she was careful with her pirate designs.
The Age of Piracy lasted about 200 years all over the Caribbean, so when designing Bonney and Read, she had to ensure the clothing, weapons, and look were not separated by decades. For their clothing and weapons, we focused mostly on the last 50 to 80 years of the Age. “You try to be as authentic as possible,” she says, and avoid anachronisms. At least the too-obvious ones. It’s still a fantasy toy boss, though, so some latitude is good.
The Final Character
In the end, they look like this:
Fear them, for they have the power of the sea on their side! I personally love their weapons: jewelry swords and a shark cannon. Whatever you do, do it with style, argh!
If you want to be a Pirate, you can control them or play against them right now in the Early Access of Toy Tactics! 😁
Follow us on Steam for more in-depth content about our strategy puzzle RTS Toy Tactics. Once again, thanks for reading, Commanders!