Use Reference To Design A Boss Character

Tancred Dyke-Wells walks through the process of concepting and painting an endgame character for his new video game, Skeleton Crew

I’m going to walk through the process of designing and painting an elaborate end-o-flevel boss character, ready for integration into our game engine. Our antagonist is Cichol, the Bloodless King. He’s a huge lich, an undead sorcerer king. He needs to be a terrifying foe with wow factor!

However, unlike an illustration focused purely on storytelling impact, I have to start from gameplay considerations. What are his attacks?

Does he have to dash or teleport? Maybe our boss will scatter teeth that spawn warriors, summon a cursed sword or use darkness to shroud the play area. Perhaps eye socket gems will signify weak spots?

My design needs to ‘telegraph’ dangerous aspects of the character and communicate critical vulnerabilities. A game character’s form must follow their function.

I’ll need to think about rigging – designing him to be split up into pieces for animation, some rigid attachments and some ‘soft’, flexible meshes. Chunks of armour will be stripped off as the battle progresses, so the anatomy underneath needs to be painted.

I also need to be mindful of the scale that our boss will appear on screen. Will player character’s jumps be sufficient to hit his tender spots? Will his hands be the right size to crush them? Cichol needs to be big enough to intimidate but not so huge that he gets stuck on the scenery. Now wouldn’t that be awkward?

1 Gameplay ideas from my helpers

After drafting a few initial gameplay ideas with the team, I go to my principal design consultants: my kids. I ask (okay, pay!) them to propose how Cichol should behave during the boss battle, and their sketches present a range of fun ideas for vulnerabilities and combat moves. The idea of a phylactery (soul jar) that floats above our Lich and offers an occasional weak point is a keeper.

2 Inspiration and reference