In the last update we reported how the good people of Trüberbrook learned to speak. But of course that's not enough for a proper video game character. This update will focus on how they got their unique looks (including: face, body and of course their own style to dress).
So let's get Benjamin Denkert on board, who worked with Game Director Florian on the individual looks in long sessions, then finely handcrafted them with pencil and brought the characters of Trüberbrook to life.
Hey Benny, could you give us a little insight into your work life? What does a typical working day look like for you?
"I was responsible for the Character Designs in Trüberbrook as well as the development of their visual style; that means I generally spend my day drawing loads of rough sketches and silhouettes for new characters, creating finished illustrations and drinking rather inhuman amounts of tea. But I think that I also spent quite some time trying to sneak some of my mischievous ideas into Game Director Florian’s scripts. With mediocre success ... for better or worse."
Let’s talk about Trüberbrook! What was it like when you first heard about the story and the different characters? Did you already have people in your mind?
"When I first got invited to work for Trüberbrook I was immediately blown away by all the finished sets and models the team showed me. So there was no question in my mind about participating in that project. I prefer to work with my hands and traditional media so I felt so connected to the team and their vision.
When it comes to the Character style and designs, no, not at all. We all tried to keep an open mind to different approaches and experiments, so I spent the better part of the first month developing different styles that could be used in the game, from very cartoony to more realistic. The game has only one set camera perspective and no closeups, so I had to rely on other features then facial expressions to make the characters distinguished, for example shapes and silhouettes. As soon as we figured out what style we wanted to implement, we started working on the main character. If my memory serves me well, we ended up with about 30-40 heads with different art styles and looks, as well as 15 full body designs of Dr. Hans Tannhauser."
How does the process continue from the first idea to the finished figure?
"Well, in general, I began by annoying Florian as long as possible until he started to list all the features and traits he wished for a certain character to have. For example personality, role and positioning in the story, as well as the interaction with the protagonist. As soon as I was satisfied with the information, I gathered I started to scribble away – very loose and fast, not thinking about faces but shapes and silhouettes at first. Yes our characters have faces, haha but what you will see and interact with most of the time are their general shapes and gestures. When I had enough material that contains the right message, I would start to think about features, like little funny gimmicks or clothes and sketch them. After that, I usually created a selection of possible face and the next step was to combine all the sketches and experiments while trying to find a good base for the whole character. If I found something I was happy with, I would start illustrating the character concepts in multiple variations until we had a finished character that we all could agree on. In some cases I continued by filling sheets and sheets of paper with gestures and facial expressions or even turn around drawings of a character so I could pass all the material to Hans, our technical artist for the 3D modeling."
What happens to Benny's designs when he passes them over to the technical team will be revealed in a new update soon!