Insectoids

Major plot point of the game is that the seemingly barren planet that acts as the premise was inf act previously inhabited. Through an unknown act of self assured the destruction, almost all of the population was wiped out save for a small pockets that survived. Even then the pockets that survived never stayed the same, instead mutating or undergoing drastic changes as a result of the planets now decaying condition.

One such pocket of survivors ended up becoming drastically mutated beyond recognition, slowly gaining insect like properties and attributes.

I bounced between multiple different levels of "insectification" deciding how much much the denizens would have transformed, how grotesque would their new forms be. 

Much of their body is coated with an insect like carapace, rigid in some areas but mostly sleek and flowing. Their muscles are exposed and visible but protected underneath the the large plated shells adorned around their bodies. The smaller group act as drones and scavenger while larger specimens would have sometimes multiple recently grown appendages, the number of which vary upon size and the level of mutation. 

Character Engineer

The initial protagonist for the the game is both a planet-side explorer and engineer, venturing to uncharted and dangerous world.

For this i quickly ended up settling on the idea of a tough, adventurous, tounge in cheek mechanic. 

Her costume simply consisted of padded boots, a vest, fingerless gloves and weebing around her torso holding a pair of  LED lamps. 

The character needed some form of a suit that would be worn while outside, initially this was going to be a form fitting harsdsuit, with a slightly clunky aspect to it. 

This was instead scrapped in favour of a more traditional space suit or Hazardous enviro suit aeasthetic, one that would seemingly make more sense when occupying or venturing into an alien environment. More so, it embodied her larger sturdier body build by having a suit that was larger and radiated strength and durability to survive the harsh environment.  

The suit itself stands roughly 7 - 8 feet tall. The large tanks on the back of the armour act as life support systems and generators supplying the necessary power and care to user. The choice of colour scheme was intended to give it a "custom racer" feel, having been spray painted modified for a more personalised look. 

Year 3, Unit 1: Project Alpha

As year 3 begins i have decided upon focusing predominately on my character art, and as such have decided to create a portfolio in the style of an art book. My intention is to act in the role of a professional concept artist, working towards a schedule, designing Characters and creatures for a hypothetical game. My end goal is both an art book and an interactive gallery made in Unreal Engine 4 to exhibit finished 2D and 3D z-brush characters.

Rift Render

Final render of Rift's costume complete with her final weapon. Rather than giving Rift a dedicated weapons, the staff instead can conjure bladed weapons at its end. Her Armour is a combination of ornate eleven looking pieces with robotic limbs and segments bearing a skeletal appearance.

The final rendered version has rift atop a felled robot. 

Out of many designs i have worked on previously, Rift became one that i particularly enjoyed working on. Her overall character allowed me to experiment and play around with different styles, poses, aspects and designs. I feel along the way however, the jester elements I wished to add to her design where superseded, this is possibly due to the complexity of her design and perhaps my attempts at trying to combine one too many themes. 

Riftrider: Part 3

Rift's character model sheet complete with front back and side view, and also detailing some of the materials.

More sketch work of rift including a expressions sheet, poses and a further developed costume. 

Personality wise rift is intended to be a jester, usually mischievous, unpredictable and prone to causing havoc.

In order to embody her magic/void based abilities i wanted to give her an almost witch like element. Some of her Armour is crafted from old, decommissioned destroyed robots which she wears like shaman bone charms. Outside of the robotic skulls, part of her chest Armour was supposed to be a fabricated rib cage taken from a some kind of skeledroid or synth.

And finally an initial render of rift, initially i toyed with he idea of her having horns to convey a semi devil appearance. Ultimately this stood out from the costume and thus was removed in later variations.

Rift Full Body

Riftrider done in a full body zBrush Model. The base of the model (Torso+Head) was crafted from a base sphere followed by cylinder sub tools that where used to crate the arms and legs. 

Riftrider: Part 2

More development work into rifts design fleshing out expressions and costume design. 

Face studies exploring facial features, proportions and and expressions. 

Hairstyle and gear variations

One design toyed with the design of theatrical style mask which rift would wear. 

Costume Variations