NPC Designs and Uniform Concepts [WEEK 8]

 Dr Raspberry Biko -

For this project i created an NPC that you can find within the game, most likely she would be found either around the City area or in the weather outpost. I featured her in one of the UI concept sketches i did and wanted to flesh her out a bit more by giving her a reference sheet containing some information about her personality, job, and role within the game. I also imagine that the NPCs would be drawn in a similar way to how the animals and plants are drawn within the journal, very sketchy as if the player character had sat and drawn her. We discussed as a group how we could include an NPC section to the journal, this would be similar to the other journal mechanics and contains flavour text and useful information about any NPCs that you meet. We also thought that story wise it would be very funny if Cedric drew people differently depending on the npcs relationship to them, if a character was nice to Cedric, they would draw them very detailed and with a lot of effort, however if Cedric doesnt like an NPC, their sketch of the character would be very rushed. All of the dialogue within the characters are fixed and linear so his relationship to these npcs would be something we set beforehand in the lore of the game.

Uniform Concepts -

Alongside my NPC sketch i also created some uniform concepts for people working for the company that was responsible for the greening of the Sahara, which i have nicknamed Verdancy Corporation. I wanted each uniform to look somewhat related to one another, yet distinct enough in silhouette and colour pallet that you would be able to identify workers and their division very easily. I also thought about practicality and what each job requires from its workers. Finally i wanted to combine African motifs with a somewhat sci-fi or corporate feel.

Meteorologist -

Here are the designs for the Meteorology department of Verdancy corp, Looking into the role of a meteorologist i saw that there are generally two types of work styles of people in this field, those who work from an office, and those who go out into the field with equipment to monitor weather. In our project we would likely have people working in the outpost monitoring the climate of the new sahara, and people who head out into the Sahara to tend to the weather apparatus or get readings from precise areas. With this in mind i designed the outpost workers to have a more corporate and office attire look to them, meanwhile the field scientists have outfits suitable for all weather such as raincoats, loosely fitting clothing and layers. For all of these designs i stuck with a general silhouette for each of the uniforms, only really changing the fit of the clothes to be more masculine or feminine.

Zoologist -

Similarly to the Meteorologist, the Zoologists will have two positions, those working at the outpost, perhaps as rehabilitation workers or conservationists, and those who work in the field, tagging and overseeing local wildlife. For the outpost workers i chose outfits that are similar to what zoo keepers might wear, very practical and loose so that they can tend to the animals in a much more efficient manner. Those working out in the field will have more protective clothing and are equipped with tools for their own safety. Colour was also an important factor to consider, i wanted the uniforms to blend in with the jungle environment, so i colour picked hues from my artist research guide that corresponds to the darker jungle pallet. I think these designs fit best with the role they are assigned to and i especially like design 1 and 3 for both the male and female uniforms.

Botanist -

Finally i created designs for the botanist roles stationed at the flora outpost, these are a mixture of farmers and cultivators, and more field scientists tasked with finding and researching rare flora. The farmer and cultivator role have very practical clothing that would be comfortable to wear when bending to water and tend to plants as well as operating farm material, there is minimal loose clothing that would run the risk of getting caught in machinery. For the field scientists i decided to mix a scientist aesthetic with someone who might explore hotter climates, so a lot of flowing clothes, gloves to protect from poisonous plants and bags containing tools for the job. I chose this colour pallet to match the vibrant flora of the New Sahara and to differentiate them from the other roles. I especially like design 1 and 4 as i think they show this role the best.

Gantt Chart -

This week i also had another look at the Gantt chart and updated it with everything i have done so far, i feel i am at a very good position and have given myself adequate time for more difficult tasks by getting the quicker tasks out of the way first. The next thing i will be focusing on is taking some of the drawings the researcher and 3D lead have done for the fauna designs, and drawing them in the style of the journal entries. I predict this will take me 6 days in total, i have gotten 4/6 designs finished for the plant entries, this taking me 4 days in total so far, so i predict the fauna designs will be similar to this. There havent been any major setbacks yet, though i have made sure to give myself time to allow for changes to be made for my 3D models, as we don't have a solid 3D guide yet. Without a 3D guide, i am unsure if all of my models will be suitable to fit the aesthetic we are going for, so with this extra time i can make sure i make the right edits to stay in line with our games overall look.