In this devblog, we’re stepping away from the table and into the workshop to talk about how
we’re bringing characters—like the mighty Grimgeir—to life in Beast Awakening. What starts as
a finely detailed board game miniature has to become a fully playable, stylized, and animated
hero in the game. And well... that road wasn’t always smooth.
Same Start, New Path
We kicked things off the same way we did with Bolgin: by converting the 3D-printable miniature
model into a game-ready version. Simple enough, right?
But as with Bolgin, design updates hit us like a charging Beast. The board game version was
great for physical minis, but not quite suited for a real-time game engine. So, we did what any
rational dev would do...
Scrap it. Start over.
We rebuilt Grimgeir from the ground up—with clean topology, modular parts, and a fresh focus
on silhouette and animation potential. It was the better choice long-term, especially since we
want Beast Awakening’s cast to stand apart from their board game counterparts.
Enter: The New Grimgeir
New Grimgeir dropped! And Aron at Studio Midhall came through with some absolutely epic
new concept art:
With that as our north star, we jumped into development—adding fur, tweaking textures, and
experimenting with a few different workflows to keep everything aligned with Beast’s hand-
painted art style.
One approach we tested was taking a screenshot of Grimgeir’s face, painting over it like an
illustration, and projecting that painting directly onto the 3D model.
Shaping the Giant
By round two, we noticed a bigger problem: our character roster was starting to look a little too
uniform. The proportions weren’t distinct enough, especially for someone like Grimgeir.
Time for iteration three!
We reworked his silhouette, bulked up his features, and dialed in proportions that made him feel
like a proper half-giant. Not just “scaled-up guy”—but a character built with size in mind.
Size Matters
To really lock down the lineup, we did a little height test. Everyone on the EB Studio and Studio
Midhall teams got to rank all the characters from tallest to shortest. The result?
We were shockingly in sync.
It helped us solidify how different characters should stand next to one another—and gave us a
better idea of how to push their shape language even further.
Painting the Beast
Stylization is at the core of Beast Awakening, and we needed Grimgeir to look good even
without lighting. So we leaned into baked textures—Curvature, AO, hand-painted passes, and
tileables—to make sure every surface popped.
Unofficial “how tall is everyone?” chart.
Color-wise? We wanted variation. Grimgeir got a rich mix of purples, browns, and cool greys.
For materials, we paid extra attention to the roughness map. It’s the unsung hero of stylized
PBR. Without it, your model falls flat. With it? You get life, depth, grit.
Even hair was handled with care. Instead of chasing realism, we hand-painted the textures
using brushes that mimicked traditional strokes—keeping that painterly vibe across the whole
model.
Final Thoughts
From mini to monster, Grimgeir’s journey into the game was a blend of experimentation,
iteration, and lots of brushstrokes. We’re still tuning, testing, and refining, but the character is
finally starting to feel like the ferocious half-giant we always imagined.
Got thoughts? Feedback? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord. We’re always up
for a good art nerd-out.
Until next time—stay stylized. 🎨🪓
