Character concepts (and some more things)

[Blondbraid]

I guess it all started when I saw an old WWII propaganda cartoon (Der fuehrers face, in case anyone is wondering),
and I got inspiration for a game set during the second world war, in a cartoonish art style,
visually I'm going for something in between a 1940s cartoon and expressionist art.

The main heroes would be a soviet sniper and her spotter in a darkly humorous story
akin to a buddy cop comedy in a war zone.

The sniper
(A strict and menacing character devoted to her motherland and strong believer in the communist ideology)

The spotter

(A jolly, if shabby man who isn't particularly attached to anything)

I wish to strike a balance between cartoonish and historically accurate.
On one hand, a real soldier would have more straps, bandoleers and details on their uniform,
but on the other hand it would be hard to draw and could easily look cluttered on a cartoon character.
These pictures are just concepts, but I plan to use them as reference when I draw the sprites for the game,
so I'm looking for some feedback and opinions as to weather the uniforms look right and recognizable despite
a somewhat simplified style.

The characters, from left to right, are supposed to be a commissar, a night witch (not an occult sorceress but a female pilot) and a simple solider.
Can they be recognized as such by their uniforms? I have a hard time finding color pictures from the time in question.
Any thoughts and opinions on the character concepts?

[Mouth for war]

I like it a lot! Very comic book appeal to it

[Lasca]

Everything looks great!
The one hardest to identify would probably be the night witch. Perhaps putting some flight gear och some wings on her shoulder, to put her in the airforce. Otherwise the colours looks great. I guess everything also depends on the level of knowledge of your player. For someone not familiar with the function of a commissar, perhaps it would help to make him a bit more "political". Perhaps some more stars? Otherwise, I love the style and overall idea.

[Grok]

Looks overall very good.

I would suggest that you change the face of the sniper though. It is, as I understand it a female sniper, and to me it looks like the character has both mustach and a pointy beard. That might be a bit too menacing?

Maybe the comissonar should have a pair of spectacles?

I would recommend the (fictional)book "City of Thieves" by David Benioff as background reading. There is some general information in there and one of the characters, Vika, is a female sniper. It's also a very good read.

[Blondbraid]

Maybe the comissonar should have a pair of spectacles?

Perhaps some more stars?

I'm so sorry, but this image just popped into my head and I just couldn't resist.

But on a serious note, I am grateful for your support.
Regarding the female sniper, I wanted to make her look weird and menacing,
but she is NOT supposed to have a beard and mustache. If it looks that way
I'm glad that it was mentioned so that I can remedy that. She's meant to
look silly yet scary, but hopefully the unibrow and stare will be
enough to get the point across. I will post a new image soon!

[Blondbraid]

Here is a hopefully improved redraw of the sniper!

[Grok]

Here is a hopefully improved redraw of the sniper!

No beard and no mustache in sight. I think that is an improvement.
Personally I would go for a more girly look, though.



That might not be what you want. She doesn't have quite the same quality of being menacing, this way.

[Blondbraid]

No beard and no mustache in sight. I think that is an improvement.

I am relived to know that!
I love your character design, she looks wonderful!
Perhaps too wonderful for my game...
The sniper is meant to be a cold and somewhat scary (yet a bit silly) character and I want her design to reflect that,
with an owl-like stare and sharp angles (I love the expressionist art style with weird proportions and dramatic shadows,
and also wanted to make it exaggerated and cartoonish at the same time).
I guess I also wanted to make her something of an anti-heroine, who isn't nice or pretty in any way yet still a
sympathetic character by the end of the story.

I guess I was also partially inspired by this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=369&v=hGlJdXwOYWM

All the same, your character design is great and I especially
love the watercolor look.

[Lasca]

I say keep your design and don't make her more girly. In my opinion there's too many girly looking characters in games. But obviously this is all very subjective groks character is a great drawing!

[Jury_Rigged107]

looks nice. 40s 50s. nice

[Grok]

...
I guess I also wanted to make her something of an anti-heroine, who isn't nice or pretty in any way yet still a
sympathetic character by the end of the story.
...

That's a perfectly valid way to go.

[Kasander]

I agree with what Lasca said. I like Grok's drawing, but his version while lovely painted is rather stereotypical and probably doesn't fit your initial idea for the game. I think sticking to your initial idea, to what gave you the spark, is the way to go and I for one would like to play game with such character***.

Having said that, I think you *could* add two thin horizontal lines to make her instantly recognizable as a woman: one short line to make her lips just a little bit thicker (and still menacing!) and one longer line just under her breasts - to dispel any doubts.

That is, if you indeed want the players to recognize her as a woman at first sight and if you don't plan any jokes based on her not-so-obvious sexuality or quests like cross-dressing as a male enemy soldier or something (in which case her gender-blending appearance would be an essential part of the game).

Anyway, I like the concepts and the idea. Regarding the uniforms, I think you've made a very good job, overall design is imo spot on and with that cartoony style you've chosen there's no need for more historical accuracy. I definitely see a lot of comedy potential in there

***But hey, you could introduce a rival character (or antagonist even) who despite her lower (or maybe non-existent) battle skills would be a media & polit-bureau darling, a kind of poster-heroine of the Soviet Union, of graceful and "womanly" appearance, beloved by everyone in the Soviet camp except obviously your main character who - seeing right through her with those piercing eyes - would hold her in disregard

[Blondbraid]

You have given me lots of ideas!:)
I am grateful for all comments that I have recieved.
I just finished a bit of concept art for the antagonist of this game, which to the suprise of none,
is Wehrmacht soldiers. While Nazis is one of the least unique video game enemies in the world (next to zombies, and Nazi zombies)
my game will hopefully have a somewhat original art style.

This is supposed to be an officer barking orders at a soldier, though I have little to no knowledge of military ranks.
I am kind of torn between adding more insignia and details or keep them simple and cartoonish. My goal is to make them look simple
yet still look like actual German soldiers and not just generic bad guys from any sci-fi dystopia.
What do you think?

[Cassiebsg]

Keep them this simple, you don't need lots of detail and insignias to make them recognizable. They already are, and I don't need the under text explaining the drawing... it's self explaining already.

Keep up the good work, and hope to see you game soon

[Grok]

I just finished a bit of concept art for the antagonist of this game, which to the suprise of none,
is Wehrmacht soldiers. While Nazis is one of the least unique video game enemies in the world (next to zombies, and Nazi zombies)
my game will hopefully have a somewhat original art style.

What do you think?

They are easily identifiable as German WW2 soldier and officer. That will work just fine.

On the Nazi part you might like to make a difference between Wehrmacht and Waffen SS.
Soldiers and officers in Waffen SS were nazis. That was a nazi party organisation. Soldiers and officers in the Wehrmacht (regular army) where not necessarily nazis. There where of course nazis in the Wehrmacht too, but not all where.

The battle between Russia and German in WW2 was between two totalitarian regimes. I can't see that there is a good and an evil side in that conflict. It was all evil. On an individual level there was room for good, but overall it was pretty bad. Handling that well in a game is not a small task.

For a Russian soldier at the time the Russian leadership and the political officers could easily be as much a threat as the German army.

[Blondbraid]

On the Nazi part you might like to make a difference between Wehrmacht and Waffen SS.
Soldiers and officers in Waffen SS were nazis. That was a nazi party organisation. Soldiers and officers in the Wehrmacht (regular army) where not necessarily nazis. There where of course nazis in the Wehrmacht too, but not all where.

The battle between Russia and German in WW2 was between two totalitarian regimes. I can't see that there is a good and an evil side in that conflict. It was all evil. On an individual level there was room for good, but overall it was pretty bad. Handling that well in a game is not a small task.

For a Russian soldier at the time the Russian leadership and the political officers could easily be as much a threat as the German army

I fully agree to all this and I wanted this game to be partially a satire of action movies and video games where the only goal is to kill
as many bad guys as possible because they are all evil and bad guys and was born in a different country than the "hero". I suppose another
source if inspiration for me has been the last season of Blackadder, where they used black humor to point out the absurdity of war. If I
wanted to tell a black and white story of good versus evil, I'd probably make it a fantasy story.

Here is a new picture of the spotter, which I intend to use as a sprite in the game.
He is supposed to look slobbish and maybe a bit drunk, but otherwise
a happy and carefree man, who in contrast to the
sniper do not care much for the war or ideology.
I have a feeling that something is a bit off with
this image though, but I'm not sure what...

[Grok]

I suppose another source if inspiration for me has been the last season of Blackadder, where they used black humor to point out the absurdity of war.

That's a great source of inspiration.

The spotter looks fine to me.

[Blondbraid]

I decided to change the spotter's hat,
hopefully this is an improvement.

Soon I might have enough of a game to start a
thread in AGS games in production, though I'm
terrible at coming up with good names and titles.
Does anyone think that "Sniper and spotter being patriotic"
sound like a good name for my game?

[Cassiebsg]

He is supposed to look slobbish and maybe a bit drunk, but otherwise
a happy and carefree man, who in contrast to the
sniper do not care much for the war or ideology.

Now you made think of these two   (in french, sorry)!

Love your art, just keep it going strong, looking forward to play this game already!

[Blondbraid]

Now you made think of these two   (in french, sorry)!

I haven't read the comic, but it sounds interesting !
Anyways, here is a new character design.
I thought about leaving her uniform undefined so that I can reuse the sprites for different situations, since I had an idea for a joke
(which is hard to tell without spoilers). Basically, the first time the player meets her, she presents herself as Svetlana the army cook,

Spoiler

later on the player encounters her by a plane wreck in the battle zone, but it turns out that it isn't her, but her identical twin sister Tatiana the pilot.
Later on the player meets an identical woman tending wounded soldiers, making you wonder weather there is a third sister,
but it turns out that it's just Svetlana who works extra as a nurse, sawing off gangrenous limbs and so forth when she isn't preparing her fellow soldiers food.

[close]

Is this funny or lazy?

[CatPunter]

Not sure I like the Nightwitch. I have a huge love for ww1 and ww2 history stuff and the Nightwitches were mostly really pretty young women. They actually became social outcasts when they returned home from the war because they were unmarried women and considered sexually promiscuous and terrible women for it. I think making her a fat nurse without making her a Nightwitch would work better, or to just put her in one of the flightsuits and put her on a crew proper.

In general, if you push the shapes more of the characters you can differentiate them without having to use a lot of detail. Her face shape and body type is a little too similar to the spotter for my tastes.

[Blondbraid]

I'm working on drawing a captain or similar officer who will send the sniper and spotter out on their mission.
I made this sketch to use as a reference when drawing the sprites:
(This isn't an actual character, I just drew this as a reference for which colors to use and to get the basic shapes of their uniforms right.)
I've tried searching for pictures, but most of the photos are in black and white and few of them tell the rank and occupation of the persons depicted.
Does this look historically accurate? If any history buff notices that the colors are wrong, please let me know.

[Grok]

You have a lot of different Red Army WW2 uniforms on the page linked below. All in color.
I can't tell how accurate it is. I think some of the text explaining who would wear a certain uniform might be placed beside the wrong picture.
It should at least be good for some inspiration.
link

[Blondbraid]

It should at least be good for some inspiration.

Thanks a great deal for this link, it has been a very good source of inspiration.

I think making her a fat nurse without making her a Nightwitch would work better, or to just put her in one of the flightsuits and put her on a crew proper.

I have thought about this and I agree that she probably has the wrong build for a pilot, and I guess making her a mechanic would work just as fine plot-wise. Instead I got a new idea for a different night witch.
The sniper and spotter sees her plane shot down, and decides to rush to her rescue only to find out that she's already killed a german, taken his gun and mowed down several enemy soldiers.
And this is supposed to be the captain who gives the sniper and spotter their mission. He does not have a large role in the story but I hope he will prove to be an interesting character. (He is in charge of a bunch of underequipped, underfed and underpaid redshirts and very aware of that fact. That doesn't mean that he that he actually cares for them though.)

I have also begun working on the background art for my game, but I have not yet decided on the exact color-scale.

I'm torn between either slightly dourer, but more balanced colors  like in the first image, or brighter colors reminiscent of old low-budget cartoons from the soviet states, like the second image. What do you think looks best?

[Babar]

With your characters, I'd say the 2nd.

[Cassiebsg]

I agree with Babar, even though the second kinda hurts my eyes...

[Lasca]

I like the first one best. Feels more Russian, more historical and also more attractive.
Btw I really love this concept and really like your art. this has the potential of a great game!

[Chicky]

Cool style Blondbraid, it reminds of Valient Hearts. Maybe this screenie will help you with colours in those backgrounds. I really like the rough lines in your characters, would fit nicely into simplistic flat coloured BG's.

[Blondbraid]

Cool style Blondbraid, it reminds of Valient Hearts. Maybe this screenie will help you with colours in those backgrounds. I really like the rough lines in your characters, would fit nicely into simplistic flat coloured BG's.

Why thank you very much, Chicky! I have actually played Valiant hearts, and it has been a source of inspiration, among other things. I loved that game and it's art-style, but I also liked that it showed a different perspective on war, and told a story that had more in common with a book or play on the subject than the blockbuster action-movies that seems to be the foremost source of inspiration for most games about war.
My game will be more focused on dialogues and characters though, and the environment. One of my favorite aspects of adventure games is when you get to hear the characters thoughts and observations on various things in their surroundings.

I have finally made enough to post on the ags in production forum!
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.0
Would still like to keep this thread going to hear more opinions on the art though.

[Blondbraid]

Here is an animation of the sniper being shot in the head, should the player make the wrong decision.
Too cartoonish or not cartoonish enough?

[Grok]

---
Too cartoonish or not cartoonish enough?
---

I'd say that the effect is quite brutal, in a non cartoony way. But I would think that that is correct for the subject of this game. Does depend a bit on how you are doing the rest of the game.

[Blondbraid]

Now this may be a weird thing to ask, but I sincerely wish to avoid any "moon logic puzzles" http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle
(I must admit I have googled for Walkthroughs far to often in far too many adventure games myself, I'm kind of bad with puzzles )
so I hope to hear some opinions on weather this seems like a logical chain of events (by adventure game standards at least):
The protagonist is in an area where the only way forward is blocked by rubble. When the lokk around they find some big oil drums, an empty Jerry-can and a few matches. Also there are some posters on the wall, which is nice.
the protagonist proceeds to:
1.

Spoiler

Fill the jerry-can with oil from the oil drums.

[close]

2.

Spoiler

Tear some paper from the poster and place in the opening of the can.

[close]

3.

Spoiler

Place the can in the rubble and light the paper on fire.

[close]

4.

Spoiler

Run for their life as the can and rubble explodes.

[close]

Does this sound as a fun puzzle, a violation of physics nearing Michael Bay levels, or both?

[Grok]

I would use that as a puzzle even though it wouldn't really work in real life.

Spoiler

You could possibly get an explosion, but it wouldn't clear a path through the rubble.
The explosive part is not the fuel in its liquid form. It is the fumes in a mixture with air. Oil can have very different properties concerning fumes and might not be all that explosive, as far as I understand. Petrol might be a better choice. Still wouldn't clear the path, but would be more likely to go bang with the right fumes/air mixture. Might still be more difficult than one might expect.
Another way to get the explosion could be to shoot through the can. The can should not be full. You would need a lot of space for fumes.

[close]

The jerrycan is a WW2 word. That was what the Americans called the fuel container the Germans used (jerry=german). It was technically a much better construction than what the Americans and British used at that time. Maybe there is something in that, that you could use in the story.

[Eggie]

I love these guys a loooot! I'm really happy you're going with that chunky outline look for the ingame sprites, it's what I like!

I think you can definitely push that death animation! The leg going down after everything else is good, you could take that idea further, create a really strong pose for the moment of impact(maybe bend her backwards, outstretch her arms) and then just have her flop down. If you were going really cartoony and physics-defying with it maybe have her head lead the whole movement; her head hits the ground first, then her torso, then her limbs and they kind of bounce as they hit the ground.

[Blondbraid]

I love these guys a loooot! I'm really happy you're going with that chunky outline look for the ingame sprites, it's what I like!

Great to hear that you like them, Eggie!

The jerrycan is a WW2 word. That was what the Americans called the fuel container the Germans used (jerry=german). It was technically a much better construction than what the Americans and British used at that time. Maybe there is something in that, that you could use in the story.

I figured that since the game takes place in a town occupied by German forces it probably wouldn't be too strange if they left some equipment behind as well. And according to Wikipedia the soviets copied the design and and jerry-cans are apparently common in Russia to this very day. No idea what they are called in Russian though, so it's probably a good thing that everyone in the game speaks English for the convenience of the audience. And the convenience of me. Mostly the convenience of me.

Also, I like your suggestion for the puzzle, it seems more straightforward.

[Grok]

I figured that since the game takes place in a town occupied by German forces it probably wouldn't be too strange if they left some equipment behind as well. And according to Wikipedia the soviets copied the design and and jerry-cans are apparently common in Russia to this very day.

On the western front the allies captured jerry-cans to use instead of the cans they where issued with, since the jerry-cans where so much better. I'm sure the same thing happened on the eastern front. On the western front the Germans sometimes booby-trapped jerry-cans (knowing that it was a desired item that would get picked up) and left them behind for the other side to find and get killed by the explosion. They might well have used similar tactics on the Russian border.

[Blondbraid]

I have made a new animation, though this time I used a slightly different approach compared to the sniper's death animation.

With the sniper I rotated different parts of the image in gimp, while here I did a new image from scratch for each frame of the animation,
just like the hand-drawn Disney classics, apart from the fact that this was made by an amateur with Photoshop and a non-existent budget. (The scale, quality and subject matter might differ too.)
Which method looks best?

[Cassiebsg]

I'm all for the hand drawn one!
The other pixelates in the rotated frames, they do give a different style of "cartoonist" effect though. As in "stiff vs. smooth"... However players might look at it as in "lazy vs. hard work" style animation.

[Grok]

I have made a new animation, though this time I used a slightly different approach compared to the sniper's death animation.
---
Which method looks best?

The spotter-animation is smother but I think the snipers animation tells the story better, which I think is the more important thing.

In both animations the character falls like a tree, while in reality they would fall more like a puppet that has its strings cut.
Something more like this;



(GIMP with a combination of copy-paste-rotate and redrawing)

By putting longer show time on the the first and last frames of the animation you get a better feeling for how this type of animation will look in action.

[Blondbraid]

The spotter-animation is smother but I think the snipers animation tells the story better, which I think is the more important thing.

In both animations the character falls like a tree, while in reality they would fall more like a puppet that has its strings cut.
Something more like this;
(GIMP with a combination of copy-paste-rotate and redrawing)
By putting longer show time on the the first and last frames of the animation you get a better feeling for how this type of animation will look in action.

I'm all for the hand drawn one!
The other pixelates in the rotated frames, they do give a different style of "cartoonist" effect though. As in "stiff vs. smooth"... However players might look at it as in "lazy vs. hard work" style animation.

I am very grateful for your input! I am thinking of a somewhat stylized approach but not without some sense of reality. Great gif by the way!
I also didn't think of combining copy-pasting and redrawing, I will try to experiment. (I have also begun experimenting with Spriter, but it will probably take a while before I learn to use that properly.)
Perhaps I will even add a few more death animations for variety!


The spotter doesn't seem equally excited about this prospect though.

[Grok]

The spotter doesn't seem equally excited about this prospect though.

The spotter has the potential to be a really interesting character.
Looking forward to see what you will come up with.

[Blondbraid]

The spotter has the potential to be a really interesting character.

Great to hear! What I'm aiming for is a man who you never really know whether he is a dumb man trying to sound clever or a clever man pretending to be dumb.
But the sniper will hopefully be an interesting character as well, who loves stating pretentiously grandiose communist platitudes even more than she loves shooting enemies of the state in the head.
She spent most of her time before the war as a lone wolf after losing her family in the revolution, and it's eventually revealed that

Spoiler

the reason she lost them is that her parents were members of the aristocracy, her father even a prince. Turns out she was actually a princess all along!

[close]

Does this sound interesting?

[Grok]

---
But the sniper will hopefully be an interesting character as well, who loves stating pretentiously grandiose communist platitudes even more than she loves shooting enemies of the state in the head.
She spent most of her time before the war as a lone wolf after losing her family in the revolution, and it's eventually revealed that

Spoiler

the reason she lost them is that her parents were members of the aristocracy, her father even a prince. Turns out she was actually a princess all along!

[close]

----
Does this sound interesting?

It does make me think of this colorful ww1 character.

Spoiler

Princess Eugenie M. Shakhovskaya was Russia's first woman military pilot. It is unknown if she actually flew any combat missions. She was ultimately charged with treason and attempting to flee to enemy lines. She was sentenced to death by firing squad. Since she was pregnant she was personally pardoned by the Tsar and sentenced to life-long stay in a monastery She was freed during the Revolution and became a member of the secret police. She was later named chief executioner of Kiev. She also was a drug addict. She shot one of her assistants in a narcotic delirium and was herself shot.

[close]

[Blondbraid]

It does make me think of this colorful ww1 character.

A most interesting read, thank you Grok! I had no previous knowledge of this very interesting person!

I suppose my primary source of fact's and inspiration for the sniper has been the book War's unwomanly face
by Svetlana Aleksijevitj (who is receiving the Nobel prize in literature this year) and a certain Don Bluth movie.
I've also posted a new screenshot on the ags in production thread today! http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.0

[Blondbraid]

And I almost forgot I should add that some of the women described on the site http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/ also served as a bit of inspiration, partially their description of sergeant Mariya Oktyabrskaya (though she drove a tank, and it was called the fighting girlfriend, and personally wrote to Stalin and asked for permission to buy said tank and kill Nazis with it to avenge her dead husband).

I've also been musing on the spotters backstory

Spoiler

While his parents are alive, they both served in the Women's battalion of death during WWI, his father disguising himself as a lady so that he could follow his lover into battle.

[close]

[Priabudiman]

You adapt the Propaganda Thingy beautifully!

Everything is tip-top, the artwork, the style, but maybe for me is the colors, maybe more shading and depth will bring them more alive? even just a bit. But that's just a one man's opinion, You've done great and keep up the good work!

[Blondbraid]

You adapt the Propaganda Thingy beautifully!

Everything is tip-top, the artwork, the style, but maybe for me is the colors, maybe more shading and depth will bring them more alive? even just a bit. But that's just a one man's opinion, You've done great and keep up the good work!

Why thank you very much!
As for depth and and shading, it's a bit tricky. Partially because I'm going for a 40's cartoon aesthetic, but also because it's hard to animate (at least for me).

[Blondbraid]

It's been a while, but I have finally come up with a new character design that I wanted to share and hear some opinions about.

This is what appears to be a very jittery, paranoid old lady which the spotter has to ask for directions.

Spoiler

The overstrung paranoia may have something to do with the fact that the old "lady" is a German deserter trying to disguise himself. The spotter may or may not notice this.

[close]

I suppose I took some inspiration from this scene in monty python and the holy grail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY
So, what do you think?

[Blondbraid]

I have a new concept for a character!

This is supposed to be a soldier from the eastern end of the soviet union, not far from Mongolia. He's meant to be holding a PTRS-41.
story:
His real name is Temujin, named after the medieval conqueror. The other soldiers just call him Tim though. He grew up in a yurt on the steppe, and originally volunteered to take care of the red army's horses, but since they kept getting slaughtered and eaten he ended up fighting with the soldiers on the front line instead. To him this has been his big chance to see the cities of Europe up close and he wants to see as much as possible before it gets destroyed, and unlike his namesake, seeing the widespread damages and destruction truly saddens him.

I thought it would be fun to empathize the vastness of the soviet union, spanning all the way from the Baltic sea to the pacific.
As much as I love the 1940's cartoon aesthetic though, nearly all Asian characters are pretty terrible caricatures, reflecting the attitudes at the time. I wanted this character to be a subversion of those stereotypes while still compelling in his own right.
If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on this character, or notice anything that needs to be changed in the picture, let me know!

[Cassiebsg]

He looks great! I was about to ask in the other thread if he was asian, guess he is! So well done transmitting that into the character.

[SilverSpook]

I like the Temujin character concept visually and the background story.  Russia is indeed massive, and that will be a nice touch to give the player a sense of its expansiveness, and cultural / ethnic diversity. 

The right eye / cheek area might be just a little bit off but it could be part of the aesthetic.  You can definitely tell he's got the high Asian-ish cheekbones there!

[Blondbraid]

He looks great! I was about to ask in the other thread if he was asian, guess he is! So well done transmitting that into the character.

I like the Temujin character concept visually and the background story.  Russia is indeed massive, and that will be a nice touch to give the player a sense of its expansiveness, and cultural / ethnic diversity. 
The right eye / cheek area might be just a little bit off but it could be part of the aesthetic.  You can definitely tell he's got the high Asian-ish cheekbones there!

Thank you both for your comments, I'm happy to hear that you liked the character and that I managed to convey his ethnicity in a successful way.
Here is the in-game sprite I made of him, what do you think?

[Cassiebsg]

I kind of like his "indifferent" expression better from the draft. But if you need him to be in "mean" mode, than it's good.

[Blondbraid]

I kind of like his "indifferent" expression better from the draft. But if you need him to be in "mean" mode, than it's good.

Well, I'm unsure what would be most interesting for the situation, but for context

Spoiler

The spotter finds himself face to face with a tiger (the tank, not the animal), and things look bleak but he is saved in the nick of time as Tim takes the tank out with a well placed shot.

[close]

I haven't quite decided on his mood and temperament...

[Cassiebsg]

Okay, I had guessed that he was guarding something. Like "You can't in there..." or something like that.
I think he would probably be feeling pretty good about himself by just having taken care of it... wouldn't you?

[nameplace]

After reading up a little bit I was trying to figure out what time period would make the most sense for your new character.
(Does it need to fit into a correct year? Probably not. But if you wanted to give a background that fits with the wikipedia's
'completeness')

Wikipedia
"However, by 6 December it became clear that the Wehrmacht did not have the strength to capture Moscow, and the attack was suspended. Marshal Shaposhnikov thus began his counter-attack, employing freshly mobilized reserves,[59] as well as some well-trained Far-Eastern divisions transferred from the east following intelligence that Japan would remain neutral."

So it could fit nicely into the soviet counter-offensive of 1941... but that isn't really necessary because you stated he already had his reasons and volunteered.

Stalin ordered the retreating Red Army to initiate a scorched-earth policy to deny the Germans and their allies basic supplies as they advanced eastward. To carry out that order, destruction battalions were formed in front-line areas, having the authority to summarily execute any suspicious person. The destruction battalions burned down villages, schools, and public buildings.[57] As a part of this policy, the NKVD massacred thousands of anti-Soviet prisoners.[58]

This may help, can zero in on a more absolute time/absolute place.   Of course no one except for a very few would even know the history as they were not present. I like the design! Hopefully pasted wiki-info isn't a letdown!

[Blondbraid]

Okay, I had guessed that he was guarding something. Like "You can't in there..." or something like that.
I think he would probably be feeling pretty good about himself by just having taken care of it... wouldn't you?

After reading up a little bit I was trying to figure out what time period would make the most sense for your new character.
(Does it need to fit into a correct year? Probably not. But if you wanted to give a background that fits with the wikipedia's
'completeness')
This may help, can zero in on a more absolute time/absolute place.   Of course no one except for a very few would even know the history as they were not present. I like the design! Hopefully pasted wiki-info isn't a letdown!

Cassiebsg: Thank you for specifying, I agree and decided to try and make him look a little bit more happy and confident, having just pulled off a heroic deed and whatnot. Nothing drastic, just a few small changes to his facial expression.

nameplace: Thank you for your interest and presenting me with some really fascinating facts! I've read a little bit on the subject beforehand, and appreciate reading about new and unconventional perspectives on the time period. While I try my best to faithfully depict the era, I deliberately chose to keep the exact date and location ambiguous, since it is a fictional story with fictional characters. One could say that my game takes place about the time when things are just, but only just, about to turn, but that is how precise I can be...
If you have the time, do check out the AGS games in production page for Sniper and spotter being patriotic!
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.0

[Cassiebsg]

Following from here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.msg636532051#msg636532051

You have a good point, I suppose I didn't want to make it too hard seeing as it may take a few tries for the players to figure out what to do.

Spoiler

I guess, in the end, it depends on what type of game you want. If the game is to be more puzzle oriented, as in solving the puzzle and not just "fast at the trigger", then I have no problem with this solution. Seems to have a nice balance to it as in not to frustrate the player. Just don't over do it, so the player won't get bored either.

[close]

[Blondbraid]

Following from here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.msg636532051#msg636532051

Spoiler

I guess, in the end, it depends on what type of game you want. If the game is to be more puzzle oriented, as in solving the puzzle and not just "fast at the trigger", then I have no problem with this solution. Seems to have a nice balance to it as in not to frustrate the player. Just don't over do it, so the player won't get bored either.

[close]

Good advise! All in all it is't a very long sequence,

Spoiler

Only three snipers spread out over a large room. I don't want it to get too repetitive.

[close]

While the player can get killed in various ways, there is no timed puzzles or similar stuff in this game.

[Blondbraid]

I wanted to have one more patient in the sick-room in the game, and learning that today is international Roma day, I thought why not make him a Rom?
This is Victor, a young man who joined the red army to help provide for his family. I haven't come up with much backstory yet, or exactly how he got injured. I suppose this might add a slightly darker element to the game as, while this particular character isn't a victim, many Roma were persecuted and killed during the war. I'm glad to hear any thoughts and opinions on this character.

[Cassiebsg]

He looks and peaceful... I like him!

[Blondbraid]

He looks and peaceful... I like him!

How great that you like him!
Perhaps a calm and peaceful man would be a nice change of pace to the other patients...

[Cassiebsg]

just realized that  I left "sweet" out of the sentence...
Should have been "He looks sweet and peaceful."

Maybe he's in shock and has "retreated" to a better place?

[Blondbraid]

just realized that  I left "sweet" out of the sentence...
Should have been "He looks sweet and peaceful."

Maybe he's in shock and has "retreated" to a better place?

Sounds like an interesting idea worth exploring, though I also thought about having him giving the spotter a bit of perspective. To him, being in the army has been pretty terrible, but to Victor it has been a chance to get real (if meager) pay and not be excluded due to his heritage, but your idea also sounds worth exploring!

[Blondbraid]

It took me some time, but here is a new sprite for Victor the Rom (or gypsy, which was the most common term back then).
He looks less peaceful now, due to the fact that I decided to have him stand guard outside rather than lying in the sick-room (I'm thinking of having the bed occupied by a night-witch getting some precious sleep after a long night of flying! ). Since he had no gun of his own, he took one from a dead german. What do you think?

[Cassiebsg]

He looks sad. Which is a "refreshing" look, considering most are guard NPCs are usually portrait as "tough guy".
Good job.

[Blondbraid]

He looks sad. Which is a "refreshing" look, considering most are guard NPCs are usually portrait as "tough guy".
Good job.

Thanks! Since the game has relatively few characters, I wanted to make sure all of them have some sort of personality, especially since the portion of the game where he is is meant to encourage the player to walk around and ask NPCs about an item needed to progress.

[SilverSpook]

Looks great!  He looks very concerned there.

[Blondbraid]

Looks great!  He looks very concerned there.

Happy to hear!

[Blondbraid]

So this is what passes for the closest thing my game has for an antagonist, the Wehrmacht commander leading the german forces in the city and whom the titular sniper and spotter has spent most of the game on a mission to try and kill him. And I tried my best to make him as absolutely underwhelming as possible, a weary, middle aged and boring kind of man. I wanted him to look balding but don't know how to show it while he's wearing his hat. He only has a rather small visible role in the game:

Spoiler

When the sniper finally, at last have him in her sight he is already in the process of waiving a white flag, his surrender rendering all her work to kill him pointless!

[close]

What do you think of him?

[SilverSpook]

Well played!  It reminds me of the climax of Full Metal Jacket when the American marines meet the Vietnamese sniper and  it's not some macho badass but just a little girl who was forced to go to war or have her family killed.

[Blondbraid]

Well played!  It reminds me of the climax of Full Metal Jacket when the American marines meet the Vietnamese sniper and  it's not some macho badass but just a little girl who was forced to go to war or have her family killed.

Yes, I rather liked that movie (Though to be fair, I liked all of Kubriks movies)!
I wanted to do a fun subversion of the typical boss-fight. Part of my inspiration also came from looking at old photos of german officers and the fact that most of them were a pretty far cry from the idealized warriors in the propaganda.

[Danvzare]

I love how he's the complete opposite of what you expect.
He looks kind of sickly as well, either that or just really tired. But at the same time, he looks kind of slimy as well, if you know what I mean.

A perfect antagonist for the type of game you're making.

[Blondbraid]

I love how he's the complete opposite of what you expect.
A perfect antagonist for the type of game you're making.

Thank you, how fun to hear!

He looks kind of sickly as well, either that or just really tired. But at the same time, he looks kind of slimy as well, if you know what I mean.

Yes, and and I got the idea because I found it funny how many of the top Nazis who had painted themselves as brilliant tacticians and military masterminds during the war suddenly insisted that they were relly just confused and bumbling old men once the Nuremberg trials started!
That, and I really wanted to play with the players expectations!

[SilverSpook]

I agree the subversion of expectations with this dude are spot-on. 

It's like I always say, 'If you're not subverting you're reverting!'*

(*I don't actually say that but it makes sense thinking about it now!)

Cool stuff again, can't wait to play this game!

[Blondbraid]

I agree the subversion of expectations with this dude are spot-on. 

It's like I always say, 'If you're not subverting you're reverting!'*

(*I don't actually say that but it makes sense thinking about it now!)

Cool stuff again, can't wait to play this game!

Great to hear, and as luck would have it my game is almost complete, save for the ending and some adjustments. Hopefully I will be able to release it soon!