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Creature Design

Creature Design

The Five Questions for Creature Design - YouTube

  • Before starting, gather reference of real creatures and create copies, and gain an understanding of their form and how they function

  •  When creating original creatures, what are the characteristics that will make it familiar, believable and unique?

    •  Personality:

      •  What emotional impact will the creature have on the audience?

      •  People look to faces to build social relationships, they are expressive

      •  What will make the player want to learn more?

    • Silhouette

      •  Make silhouettes distinct from each other

      •  Silhouettes can show what abilities and characteristics the creature has

      •  Shape language (round, asymmetrical, sharp, blunt etc.) - pick 2 or 3 to base the design on

    • Animal Reference:

      • Examine the animal more closely​

        • Can the texture of it be recreated to make a design more believable?​

        • What about the way it behaves (e.g. swarming behaviour?)

    • Colour and Pattern:

      • Make sure you know your values​

      • Limit colour palettes

      • Create simple patterns/textures which easily identify a subset of creature

      • Colour can also convey different feelings

    • Iconic Elements:

      • Pick one aspect about your creature design and emphasise it​

      • Unique and memorable

      • Consolidates the feel the creature evokes

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How to Create Strong Creature Designs - YouTube

  • Define the intent for the creature

    • The role the creature will play​

    • How you want the audience to interpret the creature

  • Must fit the context of your universe

  • Colours

  • Texture

  • Body

  • Expression

  • Reference to create believability

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How To Make A Monster: Monster Hunter Edition (Demo + Commentary) - YouTube

  • Monsters designed to convey feelings of danger and exoticness

  • Monster designs are immersive, they correspond to the environment you can find them in

  • Referenced real animals (particularly predators), prehistoric creatures, and combined them with mythical elements to make them feel alive and equipped to kill

  • Mythology opens up room for elemental and more magical mechanics

  • Features give away function of said feature

  • Start with a concept

    • Reference​

    • Focus on 2 or 3 elements you want to portray

    • Design for functionality

  • Start adding more details​

    • Bring other reference images​

    • Emphasise elements

    • Think about colour

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So I wanna talk about Pokemon Design | JoCat - YouTube

  • Hypothetical design rules of Pokémon:

    • Pick a creature or object (real or imagined)​

    • Give it a type (this can potentially determine colour scheme for at-a-glance identification)

    • Add some facial features (doesn't have to be a full face)

    • Add 1 or 2 features not usually seen on that creature or object

      • If fully evolved, can have 3 or even 4 distinguishing features, but NO more​

  • Example: Torchic

    • Pick a creature/object: Chick​

    • Give it a type: Fire

    • Add facial features: Cute and round

    • Features: Giant tuft of feathers on the head, tufts at the arms

  • Example: Magnemite

    • Pick a creature/object: Magnet

    • Give it a type: Electric/Steel

    • Add facial features: Round body, Giant eye

    • Features: Screws around the body

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Here's How Game Freak Designs Pokémon Creatures - Game Informer

  • Ideas can come from anyone in the studio

  • Treat them like living creatures

    • Where do they live?​

    • How do they function?

    • Why does it look the way it does?

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How Do You Design a Cast of Enemies? ~ Design Doc - YouTube

  • Keep the player adapting and learning

  • Novelty over time

    • Each monster design should be new and exciting​

      • Visual design​

        • NO palette swaps​

      • Behaviour

      • Character Design

        • Can allude to lore about a game​

    • Mechanical design

      • Unique abilities​

      • Creatures should be changing through different environments​

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Review:

All the sources I looked at brought up similar points when designing creatures. Above all:

  • The intent of the creature must be defined

Every creature designed in my game should have some sort of purpose or uniqueness that sets them apart from the rest. This also goes into Design Doc's point about each creature being new and exciting. There are different ways to ensure this, such as through:

  • Visuals

  • Personality

  • Silhouette

  • Behaviour

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Pinterest Moodboards:

https://pin.it/5Z8HaTq Fauna

https://pin.it/3t3dlxS Flora

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