Hello everyone, we are Aluba Studio, and it has been a while since the official version of The Bad Kids went live. During this time, we have seen many discussions on the game's art style from our players, so today we would like to share with you the development process of the character art in The Bad Kids.
I. How were the characters in The Bad Kids created?
At the beginning of the game development, we carefully read the novel and watched the TV series many times, and then assigned descriptive tags to each character, such as "a studious but bullied student," "an outwardly gentle but inwardly cold teacher," "a mother who gave up her dreams for her family," etc. We used these tags to roughly depict the characters and referred to the images in the TV series. Based on the characters' age, temperament, and characteristics, we completed the initial design of the characters in the game.
II. How were the character designs finalized?
After the rough sketches of the characters were finished, we felt that the visual expression was still insufficient. In order to emphasize the design sense of the characters and align with their settings, our art team started an intense working mode, iterating and optimizing more than ten versions before finalizing the current portraits. Looking back, it was a tough and bitter period.
Take Zhang Dongsheng as an example. As a substitute teacher, he is humble, wears a watch and gold-rimmed glasses, and appears gentle and refined. However, his unhappy marriage and life pressures gradually twisted his psychology, arousing his murderous thoughts. The initial character design was too simplistic, so we improved and refined the character's body posture and facial expressions based on the original image, emphasizing the contrast and recognition between his "teacher" and "murderer" identities.
III. How were the characters' dynamic images designed in the game?
As a suspenseful story-driven game, immersion is crucial in The Bad Kids. To better fit the plot background and make the gameplay more smooth and immersive, we optimized the characters' movements based on their personalities and stories.
For example, the protagonist Zhu Chaoyang needed to be shown walking and running throughout the game. Initially, several designs were not ideal, as the character's movements were stiff and did not reflect the intensity and pressure we wanted in the chasing scenes.
Zhu Chaoyang should have been growing up happily and establishing a correct set of core values. However, due to his mother's control and father's indifference, he developed a withdrawn and unsociable personality, losing his autonomy and becoming a puppet of his mother. He is meticulous and good at disguising himself. After digging deep into the character, finding references, and identifying details, we designed characteristics such as his hunched posture when waiting, inward shoulders, and walking style. These dynamic images reflect his psychological flaws and give him an age-inappropriate gloomy temperament.
We also made minor designs to the dynamic images of other characters, such as Zhou Chunhong, Yan Liang, Wang Yao, and Zhu Jingjing, based on their personalities and stories.
Wang Yao is Zhu Yongping's second wife, and she is arrogant. Even when she sees her daughter bullying Zhu Chaoyang, she walks away with her head held high and a disdainful expression. Meanwhile, Zhu Jingjing is Zhu Chaoyang's half-sister, a proud little princess. She walks with a bounce, embodying a spoiled, arrogant six-year-old girl who has been pampered by her parents.
This concludes our sharing on the character art of The Bad Kids. Did you notice any of these small designs mentioned above? We would like to thank you once again for your support of The Bad Kids! We will continue to optimize and update the game to enhance your gaming experience. Please feel free to contact us by email if you encounter any problems or have suggestions during gameplay!