It is not so easy to design an alien-looking set of decorations. The years of observing the nature here on Earth have left all of us with pretty solid images in our heads. We all know what features we should expect from a tree, a flower, a mushroom. Luckily, the nature has a few tricks up its sleeves. A little imagination combined with some more exotic references can lead up to pretty interesting results. Let’s take a look at some space mushrooms!

There are several approaches you can take here. The first is to take some ordinarily looking Earth mushrooms and give them a fresh paint job.

These already look more interesting than an ordinary deathcap, but adding some more vibrant colors, together with bioluminance can work wonders here!

Another way of going about creating such a model is looking for references in places the most of us do not usually get to visit everyday. This way you can adapt an Earthly species into a completely otherworldly prop.

This winding mushroom is essentially a mix of 3 different species found in various places on Earth. We do not have a 3D model for this one just yet, but you can already see how many variations you can get from just one concept.

It is, of course, possible to let your imagination loose and design something completely out of the ordinary. In that case, our graphics designers usually draw a concept art first in relation to Mr. Riggs. This way we can get the sense of scale of the prop. Once it’s done, a simple 3D model is prepared, this time to show us what it may look like in game. After receiving feedback and implementing changes (if necessary), the designer creates textures for the model, so that it can finally become a part of Galatea 37 ecosystem. Here’s a couple of examples of this process:

We start with a hand-drawn concept.

Then, each size from that concept is modeled and presented in scale.

With each stage the mushroom starts to differ from what we see on Earth...

...up to the point where you wouldn't say it's a mushroom at all!

This is another fun concept.

We can hide the bulbous bottom part underground. Who knows, perhaps you'll be able to rip them out?

The tentacles expand even further.

Here we are - a mixture of a cactus and an octopus in a mushroom form. I'm not even going to try and name that thing.

Once the model is ready, the level designers are free to use them in whatever context they like. Additionally, they can easily change the scale and orientation of the models, which changes the look and feel by a lot!

Which concept do you like the best? What other alien-looking species of plants, animals or mushrooms do you think we should incorporate in The Riftbreaker? Let us know here and on our Discord server - www.discord.gg/exorstudios.

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