characters of Stormforge

For the characters of Stormforge, we wanted to create a roster of enemies and heroes that are varied and appealing to play yet are low cost to create. This is achieved by using a combination of asset pack models, modular components, and handcrafted characters. Our approach changed over time from elemental bespoke characters to modular and customizable avatars. With limited man power and timeline, we leaned heavily on asset packs and outsource vendors. With our internal art team and our external partners, we tried to create an enticing cast of characters that fit the tone of our game, meet mechanical needs for gameplay, and are fast to produce.

Stormforge is an open-world survival crafting game I co-art directed at Roboto Games. The game has a 2D graphic novel visual style though it’s fully built in 3D. Some of the challenges with Stormforged involved finding the right visual style that appeals to the survival crafting gamer, balancing the graphic nature of the visual style while keeping the world feeling fully developed and visually sophisticated, and giving the game a darker tone so it’s not mistaken as a game for a younger audience. With the character and environment page, I tried to capture a sample of the thinking and process that went into their development. And of course, none of this is possible without the talented art team that made our artistic vision a reality. You can also learn more about Stormforge on Steam!

character line-up of goblin, mage, and warrior

Style Setting

Before arriving at our graphic novel look, we explored multiple style options for the environment and characters. The tricky question here was how to balance player expectations and innovate characters that feel fresh but are not too crazy looking to turn players off our game. We explored seven different options, ranging from mobile casual to realistic cell shaded character designs. Surveys and interviews were conducted on similar compositions in different styles to explore which option was the most favorable to the survival crafting audience. The result was that the graphic novel style felt the more interesting to the player and did not break any survival crafting expectations.

Multiple visual styles with different character proportions were tested with the survival crafting audience to see which one was the most appealing yet did not break player expectations for the genre of the game

Kadira style lineup with different render styles and tone

Kadira style testing variations exploring different styles and body proportios

Body proportions exploration from exaggerated cartoony (1) to realistic (4), We had many discussions here about what would make the characters unique and memorable vs. turn the player off our style if our design is too wacky or out there

Game references for the realistic character proportions we decided on

References the look and feel that the team felt most excited about, features a graphic novel and toon shaded rendering style

Early lineup of character proportions we were considering, the primary goal was to have characters with interesting silhouettes that’s readable in game.

Final Stormforge base bodies for female & male

Troll Design Process

Kickoff Notes:

Troll should similar to the goblin, but uglier, should have some similar anatomy features. These similarities don’t have to be super obvious, just that troll and goblin should feel like they are of the same world
goblin were semi based off of monkeys/apes, maybe the troll can be somewhat orangutan-like
Want the troll to feel heavy and big, but still mobile. Don’t want it to feel so chunky that you feel like you can easily outrun them but we do want mass on them. They should feel intimidating

Iteration 1 Feedback:

Go with B
Add rhino folds to the limbs
Reduce horn size closer to his head, so the biggest one are on his shoulder and back
The war paint for the fire guys have a triangular/spikey motif, we are thinking the patterns are crudely smeared onto the bodies of the trolls and goblins so they are not very intricate. We don’t need the streak over his eye; it may be too similar to the goblin.
Go with club shape similar to A, single large bone piece (Like the femur or some other bone from an ancient/giant creature), with leather wrap around the handle. Don’t need the individual spikes; can keep the spikes for the troll’s body only. The club overall should feel heavy and big. It will be used to deal blunt force.
Maybe add some armpit hair like the fire goblin
Color we can tweak more later but for now, please make sure the face stands out.

Reference images for clubs and rhino skin

Iteration 2 Feedback:

Trolls need to feel in the same family as the goblins, but should still have slightly different colors or patterns
Reduced area with bumps so we have a contrast between busy areas and open areas on his body
The bumps/horns in your version were getting a little too sharp and directions. We want a little bit of that feeling but they should feel blunt, like tough rhino skin/horns
Adjusted the value and color temperature on his wraps, weapon, teeth to give more contrast and pop to certain areas, desaturated his tattoo so it doesn’t conflict with the skin color
Kept his face the same color just to it’s more of a focal point and clear to read his various facial features such as teeth, eyes, and hair
overall tried to simplify his read so areas of interest are not spread out evenly over him. Tried to keep the highest concentration of detail/contrast to his face
Oh also gave his a mohawk because it felt like the top of his head was getting a little too flat
Simplified his weapon, again to help improve read, the spines were a bit too busy

Final Design:

Nature Archer Design Process

Early archer exploration, silhouettes felt too busy and lacking focal point

Another exploration, getting closer with the braid and materials used, tone of the character feels a bit too young

Early archer exploration that felt like it has the right amount of maturity and complexity, used as kickoff reference for more explorations

Late stage exploration fine tuning the facial expressions, hair, and perceived value and protectiveness of her armor

Final Design:

Water Mage Design Process

Water mage design brief, click to enlarge

Water Warrior I drew from an early aesthetics exploration, a visual example of the flowy and streamlined design language to follow for all water classes.

Early outfit explorations, rejected because we wanted to move away from long robes and skirts where the geometry could clip when the character is in motion.

Explorations simplifying the look while incorporating a tight fitting wetsuit theme

Early outfit explorations, rejected due to the long robes but also these outfits felt too busy in silhouette and surface detail. These designs lacked a focal point and didn’t have an iconic & simple to read silhouette.

Outfit explorations in lineup with fire warrior and nature archer, didn’t feel like the right tone since we wanted the mage to be an older, wiser, and more stoic character.

Iterations and Feedback:

Ultimately we went with an older and more stoic looking mage
The clothing has a streamlined silhouettes that’s more form fitting while incorporating the continuous and flowy aesthetic of water.
We removed long robes to reducing clipping issues with the geometry and decided against a hood since it felt too contemporary and casual

Iteration with a wizard hood, felt too modern and casual

Some visual language adjustment, the curly cue felt generic and breaks the linear flow of the design. It’s a minor adjustment to creating design language that felt a little more intentional and sophisticated

Notes to making the silhouette more clear and iconic by reducing the curvature variations in the design as well as continuing the linear flow from the upper body to the lower body

Final design:

Developing Cultures

Before we decided on a modular and customizable approach for scaling and gameplay purposes, we planned on bespoke characters that belonged to specific elemental factions. I spent some time developing thecultures of each elemental faction. We thought about how their environment, cultural beliefs, and elemental affinity, could influence the way they dress, behave, and view the world. The following explorations are draw on top of Tim McBurnie’s base human designs.

Example brief for the water factions

Modular Design & Resource Savings

To save time and resources, we leaned heavily onto asset packs and modular designs. Due to the small team size and time restrictions at Roboto Games, we created unique looking outfits by assembling components from different asset packs. First we search for packs that matches the visual requirement of a costume, then we collage together bits and pieces from different asset packs that gives us a bespoke outfit. We divided the human characters into one male rig and one female rig. This allowed us to reduce the number of variations needed. The asset pack approach significantly sped up our production timeline. Being able to mix and match the head gear, upper body, lower body, and cape also allowed the player to have more variety and control.

Male starting rag variations base off of asset packs assets

Female starting rag variations, base off of asset packs assets

Weapon concept adaptations from asset pack finds

Experimenting with facial expressions on different geometry sharing one rig

Exploration on geometry variation sharing one single facial rig

Facial feature and skin tone exploration using the same facial rig

Credits:

Yezi Xue - Art Director Stephan Royer - Art Director Michael Dickinson - Concept Artist Alexei Gil - 3D Environment Artist Ian Jacob - 3D Character Artist Robert Tighe - Lead Animator Curt Bereton - CEO Mathilde Pignol - CCO Monica Ion - Freelance Concept Artist Régis Torres - Freelance Concept Artist