Crab Design Inspiration & Ideation
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Inspiration was taken from the Greek mythology giant crab, KARKINOS (Carcinus) came to the aid of Hydra in a battle. It is an invasive species which is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, joint to the Atlantic Sea.
- Spider crab possesses large, long, thin legs which would allow them to move quickly
- Unsettling characteristic, seems dangerous
- Red and orange colouring, oval body shape, intense red eyes
- Snapping claw/ hook were decided to inflict harm against the main character and crystal, addition of snapping animation in future sprints
- Pirate hook and hat
- Injuries and “trophies” obtained from its previous battles/ fights
The design style of the melee crab followed a detailed pixel look. The following images provided a good understanding of the expectation of detail, obtained through shading and highlighting. Incorporated into the design of the crab and ultimately the design guideline, was the use of a dark colour 1-pixel outline. Considering the enemy and its probable need for detail, a black outline on features would have foreseeably resulted in a messy and bulky character design.
Draft sketches allowed for character ideation, as well as understanding various possible perspectives of the crab. Time was spent developing the type of claw that would be implemented, this was considered an important feature of the enemy considering it would be causing harm to surrounding entities.
- Top-down 3D view
- Bright and contrasting colours
- Basic features of a crab
64 x 64
32 x 32
The colour scheme implemented entails both warm and cool colours. The red colour is a common colour for a crab, though when paired alongside blue it creates an adequate and pleasing contrast. Strategically drawing the attention of the user to the claw and unsettling spider like legs.
- Red conveys to many a sign of danger, aggression, and war – very suitable considering its role as an enemy within the game.
- Though the colours are not dark and brooding, the colours chosen still successfully signify the evil, aggressive nature of the crab while being visually appealing.
Further discussion with other groups during the studio allowed for a coherent perspective to be established amongst the teams that were overseeing the design of the terrain and other characters. This consequently influenced the medium fidelity design of the crab entirely as the entire perspective had to be changed to adhere to the design guidelines. More information on the established guidelines the crab was designed around can be found on the Design Guidelines page.
The position of the claws were designed strategically, allowing for the crab to receive a greater amount of height, thus seeming more intimidating. Further, this stance mimics the attack position of a crab. The suggestions received within the studio user testing were applied, specifically:
- Addition of an animated face (angry/frowning expression, large red eyes)
- Size increase of claws
More details of results from the studio user testing (team 11) may be found here: Crab Design Studio Testing
Two versions were created for the high-fidelity design, greatly influenced by the user testing completed on the medium fidelity sprites. More details of testing, key findings, and result analysis may be found here: Crab Design User Testing
- Enlarged, bright, angry looking snapping claws draws the attention for the user
- Dark blue feet allow for colour continuity, streamline design of slender spider crab like legs
- Aggressive and annoyed animated face, eyebrows added to help clarify the angry mood
This design was used instead of the other as it provided an intriguing enemy character, which testing showed people desired.
- Pirate inspired look, addition of large sharp looking hand hook with a skull pirate hat
- Large skull on the back of the hat, when the crab is moving in direction of NW and NE this would allow for the user to still recognise it as an enemy since they would be unable to see the heated expression
- More teeth added to make it seem as if it were snarling
- Back facing perspective improved, due to the position of the crab being upright (attacking position) you wouldn’t be able to see the pale underside of the crab
