Finished Atticus sprite!
Added 2025-03-31 08:44:26 +0000 UTCVITALY COOOOOOKED <3 @vitaly4321 on twitter
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You catch on quick! Yeah, so a few notes on this. Kai does wear Zenalyrian shirts/tops. This is because Kai has been here for three cylces, which places him here long before the Reconnection program started. He had to have clothes made with the diplomat symbol embroidered on it, so his shirt and stuff are new (We got a sense of this when he says how uncomfortable he finds the clothing) You're right, yes the Zenalyrians all have a hyper stylized sense of fashion that blends in with their sort of inherent superiority complex thing they have going on. They don't necessarily dress to show off (Zenalyr is an isolationist planet. They don't have anyone to show off to.) But in the following scene after the first 1.1 build ends (when the trio go shopping while Kai is detained) You get a good sense of how much higher the standards are for Zenalyr compared to Solaria for example, and it's actually a REALLY powerful scene that has some DEEP story building involved with the MC (I cried while writing it haha) As for world building, I take inspiration from all sorts of places. For example, the city of Zenalyr on the Planet Zenalyr IV is actually based off of a specific alien city from a specific 1999 video game! As for the interactions and behaviors, I try REALLY hard to make sure that the characters FEEL anthropomorphic. I didn't want them to feel like just humans in a fursuit, I wanted them to BE animals, so I try to incorporate animal behavior (flicking of ears and tails, pulling back of the muzzle, wrapping tail/ tucking in shame etc) as ways of showing emotion and expression on TOP of the normal human range of emotions because being able to portray feeling through that medium can be very enriching to the reader. It makes you feel more involved, like you're actually there, and that you're actually a member of that species. It's also important because the MC will remain faceless throughout the visual novel. You will see Eco's body a few times, but never his face, so finding a way to make the reader be constantly reminded of the fact that they are reading from the perspective of a timber wolf is something that I'm kind of scared might get lost in translation a little bit. As for more general world building, I genuinely just use my imagination and pretend. "If I was a really big 7'8 Kolterran that moved into a planet that was populated by beings who compared to me are frail little weak things, what would that look like? What would I feel like?" Well, I'd be wary of hurting people, and I would be aware of how I am perceived to them. And those themes really shine in through the MC and Kai's character. The MC doesn't have as much experience as Kai in this environment, and so he often starts fights and arguments simply based on the fact that he's intimidating people and doesn't realize it, where as Kai is far easier to get along with, even if he is physically more intimating. And I just go from there, I figure it out as I go along in all honesty!
KaiRaiken22
2025-03-31 10:12:48 +0000 UTCOne of the things I love about stories set in space is all the opportunities for world building, specifically in regards to alien culture. Its a little head cannony until we see more, maybe everyone dresses like this, but since Atticus and Acadia's outfits have stylistic similarities (especially the triangle buttons) and we can assume Kai wears Zenalyrian clothing since he dislikes his and has a hard time accessing Kolterran stuff, this is probably culturally unique to the Zenalyrian in some way. I hope we see species wearing a range of other clothing that can be used as a tool to give the reader a sense of their culture. Like that Zenalyrian clothing is futuristic and over stylised which fits with their cultures since its suggested their national pride is rooted to some degree in a sense of technological superiority in a conversation with Kai. I love it when VN's take advantage of the visual part in story telling! Would love to read your draft notes on world building if you have any! Like, how do you imagine the other species behaviour, cultural values, clothing and appearance of their home worlds/architecture.
Bright
2025-03-31 09:40:10 +0000 UTC
