Arena. Finding a right way
After straightening the towers I continued working on a whole composition. I found very fascinating photos of trees looking like they are viciously absorbing themselves. All images inspired me to draw a similar tree. It will be a tree with some disease that has infected everything and everyone around. In the game, it will be controlled by my boss. This all seems like a very powerful couple- the tree that gives strength to the boss. However, this scheme will have its weakness. The tree and the boss depend on each other, and therefore if the tree receives damage, then the boss receives it too, and vice versa. And from a more realistic point, the tree should receive less damage or have more health than the boss, so the player immediately knows with whom he needs to fight in priority.
I chose one of the images and utilized it as a starting base for overgrowth. I have drawn some damage and destroyed bricks. I tried to be cautious about placing white disease as it could create a big visual attraction for the players. Therefore, I have decided to place them only on the important areas, where presumably the boss will be. It will be four towers and the middle platform.
I thought adding point lights will be a good idea, so I added some fire torches mounted to the towers' walls and some standing ones in the middle. Furthermore, I made the background darker, so it creates a delightful atmosphere of a dark evening. Then I added some spikes on the tree, so it is more dangerous. I thought it will give the tree a sharp and more distinguished look.
In addition, as I looked at my perspective and looked at the towers I always saw some weird perspective. It happens often as I am tweaking shapes without checking on the perspective lines. After this realization I drew lines straight to the vanishing points and tried to not repeat that mistake again.
The foreground and the background had a very subtle difference in values. I looked up in my drawing to black&white which helped me to validate this opinion. Moreover, I saw that the tree is too light as well. That is why I have decided to darken everything that is downstairs. In addition, I started polishing the tree and adding more branches. However, it still needs more attention to details.
There have been significant changes in the whole picture. Generally speaking, I worked on every part of it. I added more outgrows, changed the castle construction so it is more consistent, polished the tree and added lighting. For the background now I have a more naturalistic environment and more realistic water.
I wanted to have fun with colours and see what is the best colour theme for my arena, that is why I applied several colour lookups and adjusted the hue.
To sum up all of these variations, the warm colour does not really work in order to create an apprehensive creepy atmosphere. On other hand, too blue colours make the image hard to read and remove attention from interesting parts. Also, the green glow in the last picture would fit if only it was the only one important part of the arena. I wanted to have viewers' eyes right on the tree and the towers, therefore I had to make sure that the light are not distracting that much.
Eventually, I chose something in the middle. It is a night with a more cold temperature. Also, I left the lights at the same saturation value and added a bit more warm colour around them.
To sum up all of these variations, the warm colour does not really work in order to create an apprehensive creepy atmosphere. On the other hand, more blue tones make the image hard to read and reduce attention from interesting parts. Also, the green glow in the last picture would fit my arena if only the midde platform was the only important part of the arena. I wanted to have viewers' eyes right on the tree and the castle, therefore I had to make sure that the lights are not distracting that much.
Eventually, I chose the theme thaat is somewhere in the middle. It is a night with a more cold temperature. Also, I left the lights at the same saturation level and even added a bit more warm colour around them.
I have been working on another view which is the 1st floor of the arena.
The perspective was a little odd, so I decided to take another screenshot and start it over. Regardless that I have not changed my perspective drastically, it still helped me get my thoughts together and develop some more ideas.
The tree needed a greater accent, so I made the roots bigger. I thought some of the roots have to be underwater that is why I played with opacity. I wanted to create a realistic look at the water, therefore I added some seaweed and other amusing vegetation. I have got the idea of glossy gems inside the tree as I came back to my initial story. I remebered about the greedy man lost in the mystical forest and lead towards this place because of the shiny treasures he has always dreamed of. Also, I believed that it is a more acceptable idea to have something shiny in the huge object which will draw your attention.
Regarding lighting, I did not add any more lights since my arena already contained plenty of light sources and this floor is not an exception.
I duplicated the merged layer and created a gradient map for it, then I switched mode to Darken mode. It brought the image together and created a similar atmosphere as the previous render.
Final render&embellishment
This character needed more features and a frightening look. The entrails became more natural which helped to build a horrid look for the creature. It seems to me that all of the changes turned the character's appearance in a much more advantageous way. Now the boss had bigger horns which shows his power and strength. In addition, I appended some more rotten holes on the body and some nasty worms around some body parts.
For the backside of the boss, I had to take more effort. It is always challenging for me to draw a back view of a character especially when I have to draw something from my imagination, something I could not look up at the references. Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a visible spine with worms and other entrails around it. My initial opinion was that I could draw another glowing eye, although I quickly dismissed this idea since there were too many disadvantages.
I placed my two drawings along and created some tree roots for the background. It consolidates the drawings and basically is better than just a grey background. At the end I applied a gradient map to create a nice swamp tint for the overall look.
To conclude, I am very satisfied with the result. The look is turned as scary as I wanted and it has some attractive points. I managed to use all of my rendering and drawing knowledge which helped me to create a much more compelling view than was intended at first. By using the photobashing technique I could easily create body parts with texture. Frankly speaking, I am not in love with the back view although it is only related to perspective understanding. Regardless of my encountered issues, I feel that I am growing and what is the most important my journey pitfalls motivate me to learn more rather than make me upset and give up.
Boss. Iteration and reconsideration
I tried to play with values and contrast in the head silhouette. Finally, I came up with this type of head and I pretty much liked it. Although the horse looked a bit wonky and incoherent, therefore it will be the next thing I am going to fix after I'm all done with shape language.
After that, I switched to body iteration. It does not take much time since I already had an idea of what the body looks like due to my recent sculpt. Though, I still have tried to experiment and come up with another good idea. In addition, I tried to try on the head on those different bodies.
gorilla like
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Changed the arms,
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Added some muscle outlines,
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Drew bird feet
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Decided to create an accent on the eyes, so I made them a toxic yellow colour.
I used the lasso tool for creating arms shapes. Surprisingly, I rarely used the lasso tool for creating solid shapes but it is definitely a must-have tool.
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Made the distance between arms wider, as they were pretty narrow.
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I gave it a crocodile tale in order to implement one more animal in this chimaera creature.
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Added ribs
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Changed feet to eagle feet
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Started photo bashing by adding fur on arms
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Adjusted the mouth. Made it more curved.
After a little break, I have decided that the shape I have here is too round and did not convey the intimidating look I wanted, therefore I have decided to drastically change the face and the shape language. After receiving useful feedback I could look at my mistakes and compare my work. I have realized I need an easier approach, so I utilized again the lasso tool in order to add spikes and alter the body.
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Removed ribs and Added gorilla's torso instead
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Simplified horns. I made them more recognizable because the previous horns were too overwhelmed and they did not have the sharpness which would give the creature a daunting look.
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I added spiked fur on almost every part of the body.
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Changed the hands colour to light cream colour in order to diversify the look
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Made the neck wider and taller so it looks more humpbacked
After finding the right silhouette, I started adding details and making every single part more consistent and relevant to each other.
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As it has a wendigo story behind it, I came up with a decision of inserting some rot and rotten holes all over the body.
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While researching I came across some interesting photos of plant roots which gave me a hint of human entrails.
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I added some white veins on the face and eyes. It links my arena and the boss together as my arena contains a tree with some sort of disease that controls this place. The boss can control the tree but as the power grows the boss's body becomes more rotten and damaged.
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I drew some blood on the hand and mouth.
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Coloured the feet
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Pulled the claws higher, so it is more realistic.
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Added glow effect for eyes
Before going further I wanted to try on different colour palettes for my character. I did several combinations and eventually, I came up with the opinion that the one I chose at first was the most successful. The colours create the feeling of emotions that I wanted which are fear and fury.
Looking for another perspective
After finding the right base to start I started making a modular kit for photo bashing. I wanted to facilitate my work as much as I can and use all the skills I have learned so far. The objects in the asset atlas were constantly changing as I tried to pick up a suitable atmosphere within the design that I like. It is just an assembly of used textures and created samples for the project. The tower on the right has been created with Zbrush, substance painter and overpaint.
I wanted to have an overgrown cobblestone castle with turned on 45-degree towers. The colours are supposed to be pretty dark with a greenish tone. Although soon I understand that it need to be darkened in order to achieve the effect I want, which is to create an abandoned hidden place with hint of mystery.
I was relying on my blockout rather than perspective at first. Though it was a mistake as I stuck myself into frames. I still liked that it had two floors so I wanted to implement my ideas for the first floor too.
From the first floor, I wanted to create a pointing up view. The tree with multiply leading weeds also points up and it gives the player a clear idea of where to go. The tilted tree should symbolize the whole control of this place. The tree became a solid foundation of this place however it does not have its rights as it has been controlled by the vicious disease and the disease controls it instead of otherwise. The same story is shown in my boss's backstory. He was so greedy that he chose material values over his family and something more valuable.
The rectangular shape towers were too simple, so I decided to add some geometry. I face very annoying issues which was bad perspective and tilted towers. After a while, of working on towers, I have figured out that It has a very strange perspective although I was coping lines from my blockout. I quickly set my own perspective that more or less matched the previous one and started fixing it.
The idea of tilted towers was unrealistic. After some research, I reconsidered the construction of the place and I decided to place the towers straight.
Boss arena. Developing, developing...developing
After sketches, I decided to switch to 3d. I did my first block out in 3ds max and took some screenshots in Unreal Engine.
This was my first idea that I initially liked but there was not much of a level design. The idea was that the player runs through this long road, after climbs upstairs and fights with the boss. The pointing up vertical platforms would have enemies that had to be fought in order to go further. Although, at the end of feedback and long thinking, this concept seemed too simple and dull. In addition, it contains too much verticality and less horizontality.
You can see In this first screenshot that my map has too many vertical figures. It is comprised of 3 levels that do not have much coherence in their connection.
My first step in order to reduce verticality was to remove an extra floor that was not really useful in terms of boss fights.
I wanted to make the first floor like a warm-up place, where the player is going to come across some water enemies. It will give a player a hint that soon he will face something scarier.
Before realizing that my arena needs a bit of improvement, I started throwing ideas out and using photo bashing techniques. The things that I like here are branches entwining the whole area, massive columns with mushrooms as stairs and the colour palette I choose.
I adjusted my blockout. Instead of the round columns, I placed wide cobblestone towers. They connect the 2nd floor, so you can quickly move through these bridges. Also, I made the second floor enclosed and ceilingless so the player can hide from the boss and meanwhile be quickly caught if he is staying still at the same place. Thinking rationally, the player could hide from the boss in these towers and the game will be stuck. I imagined that the boss could affect these towers, for example, penetrating sharp branches into towers or shaking the towers so it start falling apart on the player's head.
I started sketching on top of my blockout.
Project Boss arena. Sketching
First thing first I googled just different arenas and tried to find the concepts and level design I liked. I found these interesting screenshots of rotten scarry forest which instantly made me think about my monster. When I saw the brief for the boss project I got an idea about forest creatures. I guess it will not be a unique decision, however, it depends on the approach you are taking to it. I wanted to have a combination of water and ground, verticality and horizontality. I could not figure out what exactly I see in my head but I started sketching and throwing different ideas.
Initially, I intended to draw this arena with 2 point perspective, although it somehow locked me into a small space.
I tried to experiment and make up some props for the scene. Here is a throne with lots of eyes and a tongue.
I very much liked these shapes for spikes, so I decided to use them as the main shape. I wanted to have a focal point where is the boss going to seat and literally wait for the player as a portal to a secret room.
Then wanted to exaggerate the idea about the forest and I drew this a bit abstract 2 ground arena, where is the boss going to seat on top of a tree.
Boss
Meanwhile, I started doing iteration for the head of the boss. After I found references, I got this idea of a spirit of the forest, who is half a demon and half of a swamp creature resembling a crocodile and deer. I found this mythological creature called Wendigo that instantly caught my attention and I straight away wanted to produce something very similar to it.
The iteration of the head:
Then I wanted to determine the body as the head I already liked. I loved a few references and the poses of the monsters, so I tried to recreate some of them and try it with the head.
I had an urge to create a stooped, a hunchbacked silhouette that standing on his legs but more than animal-like. Here a few references that was my initial inspiration.
Moreover, I decided to switch to 3d and create the monster in Zbrush, as I believe I have enough skills and it will be much easier to sketch over it than drawing from scratch as I already tried before.
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The thing I did not like is that my monster did not look scary. It might be because of the strange position of the body, however, the overall look and the head was not what I expected to create. Mid-through my development, I have been advised to change the pose and look and establish this creature's anatomy.
I started adjusting the limbs and kept in mind Wendigo images. In most of his representations, you can see how creepy and mystical he is. In order to make him more daunting, I pulled the arms further, made the overall body skinnier and slender. Also, I got rid of all the unnecessary details that were distracting and restricting me from the main silhouette.
Story developement/Research
Wendigo is a mythological creature/evil spirit that originates from the folklore of First Nations (Native Americans) based in and around the East Coast forests of Canada. It was once a lost hunter that during brutal cold winter turned into an insane cannibal. After eating another human’s flesh, he steps into a road of solid cannibalism. This man-beast, walking down the forest in search of more people to eat and to quench your insatiable thirst.
According to the old legends, a Wendigo is created when people get lost in the woods. Wandering Wendigos absorb lost people and turn them into one of them. In the past, this occurred more often when Indians and settlers found themselves in unpleasant living conditions in North American forests. Other versions of the legend claim that humans who were extremely greedy or showed excessive gluttony might also be possessed by a Wendigo. As a concept, the wendigo myth can be applied to any person, infected by a caustic urge toward self-aggrandizing greed, excessive consumption of something, disharmony and destruction.
There has been also discovered Wendigo psychosis, which lends its name from myth. Some psychiatrists reckon it a syndrome that creates an intense craving for human flesh and he starts perceiving other people around as an edible material. This psychosis usually develops in individuals who are isolated for long periods in winter.
Some of the resources state that Wendigos are hundreds of years old, and they also have hibernation behaviour during the long, cold winters they must survive. Due to scarcity of food, these creatures must stash food and keep their victims in isolated places, such as caves or abandoned mines.
After research, I came across such compelling story that takes place in the winter of 1878-79, in Canada, where the whole family were eaten due to the evolved Wendigo psychosis of one of the family members. Swift Runner and his family were starving, along with other families staying there. His eldest son was the first to die of starvation. However, emergency food supplies were available at Hudson’s Bay Company, which was some 25 miles away, Swift did not attempt to travel there. Instead, Swift Runner succumbed to Wendigo psychosis and killed the whole remaining members of his family and consumed them afterwards.
These all concepts and stories provide me with an idea of the story of my boss monster. I would like to make my monster an evil spirit of a lonely place, an abandoned forest, that devours mankind. He is used to holding back his craving, although if someone will step on his territory, he will not hesitate in his attempts to catch another prey and fulfil his stomach. He lives in an abandoned flooded forest, where he set his traps and is visually hidden from everyone. The place is surrounded by a multitude of tall trees and other obstacles so you could not even get out of this place if wanted. The only solution to pass this territory is fighting the boss.
Therefore, I would like to base on this story and alter it for the lore of my character boss. The person, that became a Wendigo, was a normal guy but with greedy character traits, he put money and any other material things above family and spiritual values. The guy was on a family trip somewhere outside the country, which he did not really like. He truly did not like nature, he was obsessed with a posh and show-off lifestyle. While every family member, including him, was searching for natural resources, like mushrooms and berries, something very shiny caught his eyes. He saw a precious diamond somewhere deep in the grove and instantly started approaching it. He forgot about everything besides these shiny reflections he saw coming further. The closer he is, the wider the smile on his face becomes. The magic crystals were hanging above the swamp but pretty close to the ground. So my character decided to give it a try. He misjudged his strength and fell down into a swamp where was a cage that immediately closed him. He was traped by an old Wendigo, who lived nearby. All Wendigos always easily feel someone resembling them, in terms of traits. Afterwards, the Wendigo consumed him and turned him into the same human-eater monster.
Talking about appearance, I want to make my boss a combination of chimaera and wendigo. The body is linked with chimaera as it is a mix of animals, and the storytelling will come from Wendigo mythology. The Chimaera is essentially a single organism that's made up of two or more animals and contains two or more sets of DNA. For now, I am thinking about two animals- deer and a crocodile. I would like to make a massive crocodile tail and a deer-like skull.
Swift Runner
(Glenbown Museum archives)
You can see the same stories about greedinness in other ethnicity mythologies as well. For instance, Driven by intense hunger, Erysichthon, cannibal, famous for devouring himself. He sold all of his possessions, including his own daughter, to acquire food.
Illustration Erysichthon
Another creature similar to Wendigo are Brahmarakshasas, described as hulking demon spirits that originated from evil deeds. They are a karmic consequence of ill-lived lives
They possess all of the knowledge of one's life and it is craving people.
One more creature that inspired me is Vodianoy. It is a water spirit, which takes its place in Slavic mythology. The vodyanoy is an evil soul whose favourite activity is drowning lost humans. He is usually settled in swamps or rivers. Anyone bathing after sunset risks being taken into the water by the vodyanoy.
Brahmarakshasa sculpture from Maharashtra
Another day, I have been wondering what else animals could be part of my monster, so I started another research. I found satisfying animals which I could use as parts of the body. Here is my moldboard:
V. Malyshev. Vodyanoy, 1910
