Call for Input: Designing the Grootslang

Howdy!

If you've been following the game's development, recently we unveiled some concept art for a new character, a South African grootslang (a legendary creature of African folklore, made by the gods when they mixed elephant and snake parts into one being).

For now he's internally called Themba and here are a few pointers about his concept:

• He's a mix of elephant and snake — leaning more on the elephant side _{because we arguably already have an excessive number of scalies and a snake.}
• If recruited he'll be the hotel's accountant. His family's lineage has worked on the hotel's accounting for generations, they take this duty very seriously, they consider it a great mission and privilege.
• In primordial times the gods tried to exterminate all grootslangs. He and his family never forgot that. As a consequence they do not think highly of anything divine and feel a kinship with Asterion, knowing his situation.
• His family is very wealthy because they have been working for the hotel for centuries. They are also very close-knit, despite relevant personal differences.
• His attitude:
  • He's stern, formal and polite at work. Thoroughly professional and punctual. Believes that payroll should never ever under any circumstance come late.
  • Considers Asterion his boss, not the Master.
  • He's quite sloppy and carefree when at home and not entertaining guests. Prefers wearing his old, comfortable clothes.
  • Really enjoys alone time, is an introvert. Used to be shy around strangers as a kid, is confident nowadays.
• Before the story starts, lives in Johannesburg.

 Here's nanoff's original design:

I think we were on the right track with him, but considering how well bringing Eddio to design Black the Hydra turned out, I figured it would be worthwhile bringing in a fresh pair of eyes to give Themba another take. This time I talked with another friend of ours: GigaSaddle, the developer of Pervader, well-known for his mastery over the art of daddy-making.

As you can see, Giga made a few variations. We discussed them among ourselves, each person had a favourite plus a set of likes and dislikes. But overall I have the hunch that all the designs are great, they all have what it takes to go into the game and stand out and it'll most likely come down to a matter of taste. I suppose, then, that asking what our reader prefer would be smart, so we created a little survey to gauge what people prefer. It should display below, but if you have any issues you can access it by clicking HERE.

We won't necessarily go with what's picked the most, this isn't a popularity contest. We are doing this to see what the trend is like.

Also: if you have more specific points or suggestions post them below as comments, that way others can see it easily and respond to each other.

1st UPDATE!

Largely inspired by the feedback we got so far, Giga went ahead and did three more attempts.

• The Cobra patterns with the Basic Brown color scheme,
• A new shape for the tusks, more fang-like and reminiscent of snakes,
• The Dark version with body hair.

We are still discussing the designs and the results internally. We're planning on waiting a few days before making a final decision, to give everyone some time to throw their suggestions and to allow us to think it through.

2nd UPDATE!

We got enough results so we closed the survey. Stay tuned for more news relating to Themba soon!