We're in the process of importing some 3d models into Tumbleton's Fortune to make the world a little less boring and more recognizable. I'm working with 2 artists from DigiPen - a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and a Bachelor of Art in Game Design (BAGD) to get the art assets that Tumbleton's Fortune needs.
Tumbeton, who is our hero is an explorer. The first thing an explorer needs is a sweet hat. That's why the first thing that got modeled was his hat:
Taking inspiration from Indiana Jones, the hat goes right on top of our character, who is essentially a ball:
The cool thing is that depending on where the gameplay camera is looking, the hat (and the ball - Tumbleton) turns with it. This makes it easier for the player to understand which way the main character is oriented, which ties back to our control scheme for controlling Tumbleton.
It's still work in progress, as we don't have a face on the ball yet. We're planning on using various textures that show Tumbleton's facial expressions - happiness, fear, sadness, anticipation.
Even without the face, playtesters loved the hat and all commented that they felt that the hat gave our ball character. People were just having fun looking at him, which helps connect players with Tumbleton. The hat also makes him instantly distinguishable from the rest of the environment, which the main character should always be.
The environment will also get a variety of models. Players during playtest sessions commented that they expect to see cool landmarks like pyramids and sphinxes.
This is a giant sphinx that will come in 2 flavors: a decorative one and one that you can roll in and explore for loot.
We can also easily scale the sphinx from a scyscraper-like size to something as small as Tumbleton. We're planning on scaling the sphinx down, and using it as a small person-sized decorative environment piece.
The head of the sphinx is a simple sphere, like Tumbleton himself. This is because the characters in our world are all balls that roll around the world. I wanted to do that because players will suspend their disbelief more easily if they agree that the game is taking place in a fantasy world where characters are cute spheres that roll around to get places.
