So today I have a few little UI updates to share, and I'm going to tell you about the design process for Coppelia's Beloved, also just called  "The Beloved." (She does have a name, in case you were wondering, but.... that's a surprise!)

If you don't already follow me on twitter, I suggest doing so  @bluerosesonata. At the time of writing, I've had a few personal things to take care of, so there hasn't been much outside the UI update I'm mentioning here, but I post informal updates there fairly often.

Since I've given myself a little more wiggle room, the other day I worked on a few images to use as "pop-ups" in the game; if you've played exploration VNs like Ace Attorney or 999, you're probably familiar with concept. 

Basically, it's a small visual to help players stay engaged, and it also helps to draw attention to objects without zooming in on them and losing resolution. In my case, however, it's a way to feature objects without creating individual sprites of characters holding them. In this post I've featured two essential objects- the bag Coppelia is given to store body parts in, and the scalpel she harvests body parts with.
Now, onto the meat of this log- the development of The Beloved. 

The Beloved

Unsurprisingly, the creation of The Beloved started immediately after I finished with Coppelia's development. As mentioned in previous logs, I immediately had a vision for The Beloved, and unlike Coppelia, she went through little to no design revisions.

I wanted The Beloved to be a contrast to Coppelia's waiflike, doll figure, with her pale face and red hair; As a way to emphasize how she's more grounded in reality than Coppelia is, she's a bit stout- you could even say a little chubby. (This is also, as I'm sure you'll see in my art, a body type i lean towards when designing characters, lol. It's because i'm pretty barrel chested.)

My initial concept of her was barely a sketch; the only image i had in mind was "someone with a soft appearance",  "soft, romantic eyes," and "someone that you would see and be like 'oh, i want her to be my wife!'" (although I can't particularly speak to the success of the ladder beyond myself, lmao.) Another feature I find charming are people with angular, strong noses- they're so distinctive and fun.

As you can see in the top corner, I originally was calling her "The Guest," as my initial idea was that Coppelia would think of everyone as "guests," because that was how the ringmaster referred to them. I can't entirely say what made me change my mind, but not long after, I switched to "The Beloved," and I still think it captures her role in Coppelia's story well- She is one who is Loved by others. Design-wise, this version of The Beloved is much more sprightly than later versions; she comes across as a little sassy, even. As time went on, I found myself changing her character to be a little bit more broody, and I think the narrative is much stronger as a result. 

At  this point, I had drawn what I call Coppelia's "promotional image," and the initial concept for the character that would later become The Puppeteer in a dramatic fashion that was a weird, unresearched comination of a flamenco dancer and ballet pose, so I decided to extend the theme and make all of their "promotional art" of them in ballet poses. (You can also see the absolutely horrible proportions in my sketches, which i fixed after I scanned and redrew it, lol.)  Already, this image of The Beloved- in a pose that evokes wistfulness and longing- more closely aligns with the personality she ended up having in the actual story.

In this "second pass," I decided to push the emotion and impression of a romantic- or maybe, more accurately, a person who longs for something more. As I continued to work on this, her backstory started to unfurl in front of me, and resulted in what she's ultimately become in the story- a woman who is a bit cynical, a bit sarcastic, a bit "broken"- but all the same, wants to believe in her own impossible dream; someone whose eyes light up in a special, absolutely spellbinding way when she talks of the things she loves.  I chose to give her a neutral, but warm palette, using pink for a hint of romance, and deepened it to a mauve/blush for an air of maturity.

It was also around this time I made a decision to make it so that all the names of towns in the story are obscured or missing, and that's just because I think it's fun.

Passing The Buck

Sometime around the 20th of Sept, I realized trying to do the art all on my own was not going to be possible if i was trying to make the jam deadline, and commissioned @keychainnet to draw the sprites of the main four characters for the game. It was a great decision, and I'm extremely happy with the sketches she's sent me so far. Here is one of her early passes for the neutral sprite for The Beloved:

I let Key have free reign with altering the designs I made, because she always has really good design instincts, and I couldn't be happier with her choices. Unlike my own art, her lines have a decisiveness and cleanliness to them that make the "coloring style" I'm implementing feel much more polished, despite being composed of a collage of photo textures, as shown below.

As it stands at the moment, the finalized sprites are heading my way later this week, so hopefully I'll be able to share them with you all soon!

Next update will focus on The Puppeteer, their purpose in the story, and their...interesting design, lol.