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 The Hut 

 Character Design 

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The past week I have researched and designed what the protagonist of the game will look like. I have created four separate designs that I have proposed to the group, one of which has been taken forward. The different designs represent different demographics of hikers, ranging from amateur dressed designs of more casual hikers, to outfit designs which are based on professional portage attire. When designing the character, I tried to make them as neutral as possible. Each design attempted to cover as much of the character as possible so that in a 2D side scroller game, the ethnicity of the character would be ambiguous. This would hopefully try to make more players relate to the character they are playing as. Collectively we chose to make the protagonist a male, as it both relates to the history of portaging. Voyageurs were Canadians who entered the fur-trade in the 18th / 19th century, and would portage across lakes and land to make deliveries to hard to reach places. At the time, this was a mans job, and required numerous people to carry the canoe and the delivered goods. In modern-day, portaging is a hobby where people go out into the wild, with a lightweight canoe, and carry all the belongings they need as they travel through the wilderness. Although portaging is a hobby nowadays, which can be undertaken by anyone, we wanted to reflect the history through the character.

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Design No. 1:

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Design No. 2

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Design No. 3

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Design No. 4

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Out of the designs I put forward, the rest of the team seemed to like the third design the most and have decided to use this as the design for the game protagonist.

Character_2.jpg

This design is based on more modern-day clothing approaches. The outfit covers the identity of the protagonist and uses calming colours to reflect the calming and mindful message of the game. 

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The biggest criticism is that it is a fairly casual design for a character who is built around the hobby of portaging. 

Character_2 (1).jpg

This design is a more realistic concept and was based on hiking gear. Since the game is set in the Boreal Forest in Canada, this outfit seems to be more realistic for someone adventuring out into the cold wilderness.

 

However, although this clothing is more realistic for hikers, it doesn't necessarily fit the design of someone going on a portage.  Portage is half the time in water, half the time on land, and therefore, to make the design realistc, the character would need to be in waterproof clothing.

Character_3.jpg

This design is accurate to someone canoeing across cold water. The use of fleece, waterproof trousers, ski boots, gloves and a Toque (Canadian knit hat), are all warm clothing that can be used in cold climates for someone participating in water sports. Since the clothing is not too heavy, it would also be fitting for a person who spends half the time hiking across the land, carrying all of their belongings. 

 

Furthermore, I also included light calming colours to make the character stand out and to maintain a calm attitude within the game.

Character_4.jpg

This design is based on hobby canoers and portages. The boots and trousers are based on waterproof outfits commonly used, and the use of a life jacket promotes a feeling of safety to those playing the game. Furthermore, the outfit is designed to look lightweight. 

 

Furthermore, the brightness of the outfit makes the protagonist stand out but also compliment the green forest setting of the game. The biggest flaw of this, however, is that the hat may not cover enough of the character's identity, which may fail to mask the protagonists' ethnicity.

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