#Drawing Archives - Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli

Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn Malak

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Mon, 12 May 2025 15:42:45 +0000

Table of Contents

The Context
Foreword about AI
The Design
About…

The Context

🕹️ I have won the Character Design and Concept Art contest generated by the independent game studio Guild Studio on their game “Shadow of the Guild”.

The Guild Studio launched an open-to-all Character Design contest for every creator to propose their own vision of the main character of the game : Yaràn Malak.

This contest took place on the rising community videogame platform Gamearly, which connects creators, video game studios, and their communities ensuring their independence and creative freedom.

The Game’s Community then decided by vote who should be the winning proposal. Below is the creative process I developed for the proposal that won the contest.

Foreword about AI

Is AI replacing creativity?

If you see yourself as a doer, you will be replaced by AI.

If you see yourself as a creator, you will be served by AI.

AI doesn’t replace creativity; it complements it: it’s just another tool on the crafter’s table, just another color on the artist’s palette.

AI is no more dangerous for creativity than felt-tip pens were when they were added to charcoal, or when Photoshop gradients replaced the compressor-powered airbrush. Just because everyone has a camera in their smartphone doesn’t mean there are no more professional photographers.

Because creativity doesn’t reside in the tool; it resides in the way it is used.

Experience, artistic culture, sense of composition, symbolism of colors, pictorial narrative, the hierarchy of forms and so many other things that make an artist unique cannot be replicated by AI. And this for one reason: AI feels nothing.

Art is a subtle connection between two living beings, two backgrounds, two cultures, two universes ; each of them being unique and developed, felt, lived in a unique and organic way.

AI is nourished by all cultures and all experiences to be able to respond to all technical requests ; therefore it cannot “understand” this exclusive connection. Because it has no narrative and artistic culture of its own, then it doesn’t understand the narrative and artistic culture of the human spectator. It is as simple of that.

What makes a work of Art is not only the quality of the treatment, the accuracy of the colors, or the precision of the line…

The ultimate test of a true work of Art is how it makes you feel.

And since AI does not understand the importance of feeling—because it is incapable of this manifestation—the processed result can only be incomplete, always. AI will always need a Guide who can order it to match such subtle combination of colors, such composition, or such hierarchical ordering of shapes that will trigger an emotional reaction in the viewer.

Because AI doesn’t differentiate between a flower and a can of soda ; it doesn’t understand the symbolic implications of Blood Red and Lilac Mauve ; it doesn’t understand the difference between a gaping wound and a smiling mouth.

AI is the Disciple, and the Creator is the Master.

To be afraid of AI is to be afraid of change. And to be an Artist is to embrace the essence of Change.

Why not replace Artists with AI?

When people ask me why an Art Director, an Illustrator, or a Photographer are still necessary in the era of AI’s “perfect” (sic) images, I simply ask two questions:

“Who will write the prompt and who will appraise the relevance of the result?”

Will it be the company’s accountant? The executive secretary? The head of marketing? The CFO? The CEO? The intern? The cook?…

…or will it be someone who will understand what needs to be asked to AI to convey an emotion to a human being?

…someone like an Art Director, an Illustrator, a Photographer.

A Creator.

A New Era Begins

However, a new era of artists is dawning, because AI is an extremely powerful and interesting tool for developing new aspects of creative production: its speed allows for the rapid development of strong concepts, its flexibility allows for near-real-time reaction to any given suggestion, and its variety of styles allows for the exploration of new avenues of expression, new ideas connecting, new concepts with great economy of means.

In the future, creators will be able to instantly bring their visions to life in the real world: creating holograms, 3D models, 3D printed objects, and other means that we can’t yet imagine. Creation through words, voice, and thought! Pure creation through pure imagination.

Imagination alone will separate true Creators from non-creators.

How I work with AI

So here is my method for reconciling human creative design with the AI Tool. Because, in the following example, it wasn’t the AI that dictated its vision to me; it was Me who dictated my vision to the AI and then perfected it.

At the beginning, there is always Imagination. Always. A story. A vision.

From this vision, I create a sketch. A drawing.

From this sketch, I break down the elements into different fragments that I generate with one or more AIs, with a very precise idea of their final arrangements.

Selection is very important: I can spend some time before refining the choice of AI creations so that it is as close as possible to my initial vision. I can also refine the prompt(s) more and more to achieve this result. Being an Art Director, or simply an Artist, means making drastic choices, all the time.

The method of creation through AI is similar to the action of Alchemy : once the vision is shattered and scattered into several elements, once the Dissolution is complete, comes the moment of Coagulation.

I bring these dispersed elements together. I unify them —in this case, with Photoshop, but many other softwares are possible— to create a single, strong visual entity where each element finds its place within the narrative hierarchy. Each element complements and completes each other other into a coherent, cohesive and harmonious whole.

If manual retouching or hand brush perfecting are necessary, I do them to bring completion to this whole, as much as polishing a diamond after having cut it to its final shape grants it with its final glow.

The Transmutation is achieved and the Vision is now complete.

The Design

Choice of Art Direction : AI and Manual Intervention

As the character is both an Assassin and a Wizard, I based my work on the principle of complementary duality, which would be reflected in the graphic charter. Namely: Black and Gold.

Black: Shadow, Night, Concealment, and therefore the Assassin.

Gold: Desert, Sand, Power, Wealth, and therefore the Wizard.

To create an efficient and fast enough concept art, I opted to Production Techniques mixing 20% Manual Design/Retouching and 80% AI based :

Production Techniques:

AI Part

Dall.E : Wall Texturing, “Janbiya” Blades, Background
Leonardo.AI : Main Character face and Costume

Manual Part

Flaticon : “Rub El Hizb” PNG symbol
Paper & Pen : Initial sketches and concept rough
Pexels : Cracks and Fissures effects on the wall
Photoshop : PNG Forehead’s Symbol insertion, layer masks fusion adjustements, colorimetry, hand brush corrections and Typography

Slide from Left to Right : from Rough Concept to Final Image.

Character Design

Once the my vision of both the Character and its Narrative impact have been set, I create a conceptual rough/mockup in 10-20 minutes to set in place the elements which will help me to sort out which elements will be set as AI and which ones will be adjusted manually :

Initial Paper & Pen Conceptual rough (click to expand)

I then decompose the whole rough visual into separate -yet coherent- elements/base principles according the productions techniques needed. The whole will need to be united into a single graphic atmosphere to create an impactful visual :

Persona

The character is in his early thirties: young enough to perform physical feats but also old enough to have the wisdom and knowledge necessary to wield the Arcane magical power.

Costume

As the game is somewhat inspired by Prince of Persia, I wanted to give him a Middle Eastern clothing style, where the hood evokes both the assassin’s concealment and the wizard’s prestige. The costume would therefore be black, enhanced with embroidery and magical arabesques in gold edging on the garments’ trim.

The final Character Art – Leonardo.AI (click to expand)

Weaponry

The weapons depicted in the visual are two Janbiya (Arabic daggers with curved blades), also with black blades etched with gold runes, symbolizing his ability to master the dual threat of physical strength and magic.

The final Janbiyas Art – Dall.E (click to expand)

Distinguishing Features

The symbol inlaid on his forehead also has a dual meaning:

The first meaning is the Rub El Hizb, a Middle Eastern eight-pointed star indicating his membership in the Assassin sect as a ritual scarification.

The second meaning is that of an Octogram, an eight-pointed variation of the Pentagram, indicating that magical energy is—so to speak—embedded in his mind. Hence also the yellow glow, symbolizing the magical power bubbling within him, which illuminates one of the lower branches of the Octogram.

This magical energy has also corrupted his soul, coloring his pupils with a menacing yellow whenever he calls upon this dangerous energy.

The final Rub El Hizb Art – Flaticon – Iconfield (click to expand)

Background and Graphic Ecosystem

Environment/Atmosphere

His face dominates a texture of ornate middle-eastern ruins, vestiges of the past and mysterious glory of a ruined civilization that he explores to make the most of. The “Old Gold” appearance of the wall inlays and the gaping cracks remain consistent with the character’s Black and Gold graphic style, unifying the whole.

The final Textured Walls – Dall.E (click to expand)

In the background, the landscape on the left represents Desert Storm, the character’s ecosystem as dangerous and unpredictable as he is. Its sandy color reflects the graphic style of Gold—and therefore the power of the Mage.

The landscape on the right represents night falling on a Middle Eastern city in the heart of the desert, plunged into shadow, favorable to the assassin and his modus operandi, his preferred terrain; Compliant with the graphic charter of Black—and therefore the Assassin‘s concealment.

The final Background Art – Dall.E (click to expand)

Typography

The typeface of the Character’s name is Ondine. It’s a cursive-style font with a Middle Eastern calligraphic soul without the excess of a “Fantasy” font, to maintain the seriousness of the game’s spirit. It is consistent with the character’s spirit while maintaining excellent readability.

The OndineD Typeface (click to expand)

About…

WHAT IS GAMEARLY ?

Translated from the Gamearly official description

Gamearly is the ultimate gaming ecosystem platform for game development. It aims to onboard gamers in the video game creation adventure to gather feedbacks and engagement, therefore improving both game curation and discoverability while maximizing gamers retention.

It helps game creators by monetizing their game from prototyping to post-launch, hereby gamers can support the game creation adventure. This platform is also giving a space where creators can distribute their creations and improve their visibility.

It is connecting indie devs & studios to artists in order to optimize game production. Also refering publishers with data on live creation Gamearly game projects.

WHAT IS “THE SHADOW OF THE GUILD” GAME ?

Translated from the Shadow of the Guild Studio official description

Inspired by the world of the Rain Merchants’ Guild novels, Shadow of the Guild is a platformer, combining beat’em up and stealth. You’ll deploy your skills as a warrior, mage, and assassin through spectacular combos, devastating spells, and stealthy assassinations to defeat your enemies!

Features

RPG

3 skill trees to choose from: Warrior / Mage / Assassin
Beat’em up: Dynamic combat where you can combine combos with your mastery of lightning
Infiltration: Want to stay in the shadows? Stealthily assassinate your enemies and enjoy the animated cutscenes we’ve created especially for you!

Items

Consumables, throwing weapons, and a whole host of runes to give you new skills
Story: A beautifully crafted story, created by the writer of the “The Rain Merchants’ Guild” books
Exploration: Side quests, special items, secret passages

Shadow of the Guild is

5 story-driven levels with their own visual identity, enemies, and cutscenes
Combos and 10 devastating spells to take down your enemies
Different assassination cutscenes for each enemy depending on your positioning
4 to 5 hours (on average) to complete the game
A unique graphic style
A tribute to Prince of Persia

Story

Aridia is an arid planet where water is a rare commodity… Where magic is omnipresent… Where the blacksmith is a pyromancer and the builder a telekinetic… On the planet, the different kingdoms call upon the The Rain Merchants Guild, the most powerful trading organization in the world, to provide their population with water.

From its flying fortress, the Guild sends hundreds of flying ships to capture clouds and resell them to the highest bidder. Their mastery of the skies is complete despite regular attacks by the Pirates Guild.

Faced with this hegemony, the Eastern Empire refuses to employ the Guild’s services, building its own fleet of flying ships and attempting to revolutionize the water trade on the planet. The empire is led by Emperor Gethro III. Investing heavily in scientific research, Gethro III fears that his discoveries will attract covetousness. The emperor then decides to close his borders and impose drastic controls there…

Ten years later, a discovery, made at the cost of immense sacrifices by the Informers’ Guild, suggests that the emperor has managed to create clouds using a new technology, freeing himself from the laws of nature and the Rain Merchants’ Guild’s monopoly.

The Guild cannot stand by and decides to send its best personnel into the empire to discover this new technology… without forgetting to wipe out all traces of its existence and all those who worked on its creation. This is where your story begins…

This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Artificial Intelligence, Character Design, Corporate, Game, Illustration, Videogame, Web

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Check the latest comments!

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

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Videogame : Fishprey

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 17:01:56 +0000

Complete Game Assets Carousel

“Smily” – Player Character 1

The Context

🐠 I have been involved in the creation of a French Browser Videogame named “Fishprey”.

I have been in charge of the art direction, conception, animation and realization of the graphic playable assets of game, as much as participating to the game design, level design, UX/UI and overall balance of the game.

This French Browser Game was part of an internet gaming site named “Muatoo”.

● The First part of this project is the “Game Concept” section where I will reveal in exclusivity how I have worked with the production team to conceive the whole project from scratch ; presenting every stage from Game Design to Level Design, as much as the Character Design’s early stages, game roles and playability . Our team included developers, senior artists and game/level designers.

● The Second part of this project is the “Concept Art” section where the different stages of the assets production are extensively detailed : Mockups, Research and the intermediate steps of the Final stage. The totality of the Player Characters, Non-Player-Characters, Enemies, Food and Traps being eventually presented at their final, playable stage.

Along the principles of creation, design and execution of each asset and game conception, I will reveal many anecdotes pertaining to the history of the game and the life of the game production project.

Listen this Article

Listen to the synthesis of this publication and what Alex Karlson and Iris Devocca from “Creative Compass” have to say about it! You may either listen directly this epidode below or access it through Spotify.

Listen on Spotify

How to buy the “Fishprey” NFTs

All the Characters Assets presented in this publication are available as NFTs exclusively on my Certified Rarible space.

Please click the Link or the Picture below to explore my Rarible Gallery and don’t forget to follow me on Rarible for future exclusive content :

https://rarible.com/jdlavoixcarli_2

Click this picture to access directly the “Fishprey” NFTs on my Rarible Gallery

“Fishdom” : the legacy of “Fishprey” ?

A few years after our “Fishprey” project, The videogame company Playrix has released “Fishdom“, a game very similar to ours, but with way more assets, technology and gameplay elements ; meaning, initially, our game concept was pretty correct.

A Screenshot example of the “Fishdom” Videogame by Playrix – Click to enlarge

Part 1 : Game Concept

Graphic display of the “Fishprey” Videogame – Click to enlarge

● Game Design : “Survival of the Fittest…”

The team has been asked to conceive a simple, single-user, keyboard/mouse-playable browser game which could have a very simple gameplay, along a feeling of progressive achievement. The game principle and rules were supposed to be very simple to grasp and use within minutes. That is typically the kind of game that could be as well adapted easily to a mobile game.

The best games come along a very simple principle, ergo, after some brainstorm sessions, we decided to come with a very simple pitch : “A little Fish tries to survive in an hostile environment to eventually end up at the top of the food chain.”

● The Gameplay was supposed to be a click and point kind of game, mainly focusing on the dexterity of the player who had to react immediately to his environment and guide his character through each level and achieve the “top of the food chain” status to complete the said level, levels which were increasing in difficulty, objectives and amount of challenges.

Game Principle – Click to enlarge

Image Caption Translation :

○ The Player Character is represented in Mauve

○ The Trap Mob is represented in Dark Pink

○ All the other Mobs are represented in White

Blue Arrow : Player Character Cannot eat Target

Green Arrow : Player Character Can eat Target

Red Arrow : AI Mob can attack Player Character

? Predator AI
? Prey AI
? Hostile AI

? AI in Hunting Mode

● The Game Interface (UI) had to include both a very simple color code to display the PC’s life bar, which would be proportionate to his level (the highest the level, the larger the amount of life points) and an icon system which would help the PC to figure out both the behavior of the opponents and if the opponents are edible or not.

Draft of Life Points User Interface : from 100% to 10% – Click to enlarge

● The AI of the Mobs would change depending of their respective zones of interaction. Each kind of opponent (NPCs, Enemies, Traps, Food) would have different behaviors depending of both their type and their radius of interaction with the Player Character : some would be voracious and very aggressive as soon the Player comes too close, some would be just curious and swim gently towards him, some would be hunters and track restlessly the player, etc.

Examples of Interaction Zones for different Mobs types – Click to enlarge

Image Caption Translation :

○ Type A : Curious

○ Type B : Tracker

○ Type C : Voracious

Detection Zone

The Mob moves forward the Player Character at Normal Speed.

Chasing Zone

The Mob chases the Player Character at Maximum Speed.

Danger Zone

The Mob attacks the Player Character and damages him.

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● Level Design : “Swimming with Sharks…”

Each level was supposed to be filled with an evolutionary type of challenges, presenting, one after the other, more and more NPCs, Enemies, Food and Traps of different types and particularities. Since the Game principle was founded, we designed the following rules, along the definition and roles for each type of asset :

● The Player Character was starting on the Level 1 stage, represented by a tiny fish.

● The Player Character was supposed to eat enough Food to achieve Level 2. At that point, the Player would “mutate” and evolve into another kind of fish of Level 2 strength. Food assets were represented by plankton, small crustaceans and any kind of edible, passive elements which would just loiter around. The PC would instantly lose life if he would be in contact with any NPC or non-playable asset of similar or above Level.

● At Level 2, up to Level 5, the Player Character would be able to consume both Food and Non-Player Characters of lower level ; e.g. : A Level 3 Player Character would be able to consume Food, Level 2 NPCs and Level 1 NPCs and so on. The game was won once the PC would have achieved Level 5 and then would pass to the next game level.

● Beyond the Non-Player Characters-which were edible by the PC- we also added Enemies, which were basically Level 6 opponents. Meaning that there was no chance the PC would be able to ever eat them and clear the board to swim around safely. That was made to balance the game and make it still a challenge in case a PC would achieve Level 5, after some game levels.

Example of the Evolutive Gameplay chain of actions : From Stage 1 Player Character to Stage 3 – Click to Enlarge

Image Caption Translation :

○ The Player Character Stage 1 is represented in Pale Blue

○ The Player Character Stage 2 is represented in Mauve

○ The Player Character Stage 3 is represented in Pink

○ The Edible Elements are represented in Green

Green Arrow : Consuming action on Target

Purple Arrow : Evoluting action into a new upgraded form

● In addition, we added Traps assets, which were dangerous mobs with a particular AI behavior which could radically change the configuration and balance of the gameplay when they would be present.

● So, in the end, the progressive level design evolution would have started with a tutorial for the PC, where he has to simply eat Food, then bringing in low level NPCs, then High Level NPCs, then Enemies, then Traps. Mixing all these components gave us a grid of progression which was our base to design and balance each level.

● Also, depending of the depth in which the assets were swimming (both PC and Mobs), the swimming speed would have been either normal, halved or doubled. Giving a supplementary parameter to give to the player when devising a survival strategy to win over each level.

Example of Speed Modifier Zones for different Mobs types. Also trajectory of the Food assets – Click to Enlarge

Image Caption Translation :

○ The Player Character is represented in Mauve at the center of the screen

○ The Traps are represented in Pale Red

○ All the other AI assets (Food, Enemies and NPCs) are represented in White

○ The Surface Water Zone on Top Third of the screen doubles the Swimming Speed

○ The Deep Waters Zone on Middle Third of the screen gives no modifier to Swimming Speed

○ The Abyss Zone on Lower Third of the screen halves the Swimming Speed

Green Arrow : Indicates Trajectory of the Food assets

Types of Base Food : Crustaceans, Plankton and Asterias.

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● Character Design & Art Direction: “There is always a bigger Fish…”

1: Player Characters

Since the game user had to instantly figure out his character in any given level, whatever his evolution stage would be, we decided the following :

A-He must have his own and exclusive color code.

We opted for an unique combination of Blue and Yellow that would never be reused for any other asset, to avoid confusion with the multiple non-playable assets around.

B-The character must look unique throughout all his “avatars”.

We decided that the PC would have his own sympathetic face along a recognizable feature : a blonde lock of hair that would be present in every stage of his mutation.

C-Each “strength” level must be embodied with a “real life” fish equivalent.

Which makes sense when visually comparing the size and power of each. For instance, the Level 1 fish must be inspired by a tiny, harmless real-life equivalent and, logically, the Level 5 fish must be larger and more imposing. It would be illogical to start the game with a Level 1 big Wolffish and end up with a Level 5 tiny Goldfish…

“Smily” – Player Character 1

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2: Non-Player Characters

To help the player to sort out Edible NPCs from Non-Edible Enemies I suggested that the NPCs’ types of fish would be the same as the Player Character’s, with the following alterations :

A-All NPC must have different colors.

We wanted the whole game to look bright and vivid, as if we were swimming in a Caribbean ocean ; ergo, even the opponents of the PC must have attractive colors, we cannot give out a grim and dark atmosphere that would contradict the “light and cartoon” feeling of the game.

So, even if each NPC was typically “the dark side” of the PC of equivalent strength, I made sure I used colors different enough from the PC’s color code, but bright enough to make them attractive yet and to sort them out between each other. Only the PC would keep the same color code throughout the game.

B-They must look “grim”…but not too much.

Since we were aiming more at something like “Finding Nemo” than “The Call of Cthulhu”, I came up with a variety of facial expressions which were sticking to the cartoon’s codes… basically “fishes with an attitude” which would be contrasting with the sympathetic look of the PC.

I stretched that principle to some extent when I came to design the Traps, later on in the game, for they should look much more scary and increase the Player’s heart rate…

“Grogne” – Non-Player Character 1

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3: Enemies

As aforementioned, the Enemies are the Non-Edible mobs : Level 6 strength opponents that the PC would never be able to eat or overcome, whatever his level of mutation would be. In addition, these Enemies would be able to destroy NPCs as well if they would come in contact with them, thus, it was possible for the PC to lure a NPC or an Enemy into each other if he would be daring and tactical enough. In addition, each Enemy mob would have its own AI behavior depending its type which would add a level of challenge for the PC when dealing with them.

Consequently, since Enemies were supposed to be extremely different in both shape and color for the PC being able to identify them immediately within any given level. The points explained below would be the axes of Art Direction :

A-They must have a radically diferent appearence from the PCs and NPCs.

An Enemy Mob is no longer restrained in shape to “match” any of the PC or NPC appearance, thus I had full liberty to conceive each of them independently of the previous fishes researches or “series” visual connection. I was planning to introduce completely new races of fishes then.

B-They can look “Scary”.

Since these Enemies mobs were supposed to be much more dangerous (for both PCs and NPCs around) I did allow myself to make them a bit scarier than the NPCs and my inspiration stemmed from the predator or poisonous fish types… still treated the cartoon way, nonetheless.

C-Their color codes must be radically different.

Their color codes must be even more different from both PCs and NPCs. Counting back, between the blue/gold combo of the PCs and the 5 different color codes of the NPCs there were then 6 main colors that I could not use or even approach to avoid any confusion between the categories. I had to be careful that any “blue” or “yellow” I would use would be different enough from the PCs, or any “red” I would use would be different enough from Level 5 NPC, etc.

“Barrac” – Enemy 1

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4: Food

Initially, we were planning on 3 types of Food. As far Art Direction was concerned, it needed to fit the following criteria:

● Each Food type must be very small, yet, immediately identifiable.

● Each Food type must have its own simple behavior that the Player would be able to anticipate to develop his own strategy towards food. The appearance of such Food type would then require to reflect this behavior and/or the area of the game surface that it was supposed to inhabit and/or move within.

These criteria being set, we did expand furthermore on the rules set concerning the 3 types of Food that we needed:

A-The First food type.

It would “fall” slowly from surface to bottom throughout all levels of water, allowing the PC to catch it by swimming around the main surface of the level.

It was supposed to have a very basic nutritive value (BNV) as it was the easier to catch and was available over almost the whole surface of the game level. Typically, each stage of mutation the PC would be able to achieve to next level of mutation was equal to : [current PC Level] x 10. The Type 1 food had a BNV=1. Meaning a Level 1 PC would need to eat 10 Level 1 foods to achieve mutation to Level 2.

The most logical choice for Type 1 Food was then a Plankton: a small shape falling slowly, yet floating erratically horizontally sometimes, throughout water from surface to bottom.

Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Max” : Cartoon plankton character with cross sight eyes and a confused expression, representing confusion in a fun way.

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Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Max” : Cartoon plankton character with cross sight eyes and a confused expression, representing confusion in a fun way.

" data-medium-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Plancton-A-White.png" data-large-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Plancton-A-White.png" src="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Plancton-A-White.png" class="wp-image-6304" alt="Portrait of Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli, a professional expert in strategic analysis and risk management, showcasing his expertise and leadership in the field." style="object-fit:cover;width:295px;height:auto" srcset="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Plancton-A-White.png 295w, https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Plancton-A-White-150x150.png 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px" />

“Max the Plankton” – Click to Enlarge

B-The Second Food type.

This one would stay completely still to make it easily accessible for the PC. Yet, it was placed in an area which would make its access more perilous than for Food 1: the difficulty to access it would lies in the fact that it would be concentrated exclusively on the bottom of the ocean (eg : the bottom of the screen).

That area would be more dangerous than the surface or middle waters since the speed of the PC was halved there and Traps/Enemies would be more present (see “Traps” below).

To illustrate that balance between easy access of a stilled Food with a dangerous area in which that Food would be set, we gave to Type 2 food a BNV of 2. Meaning a Level 1 PC would need to eat 5 Level 2 foods to achieve mutation to Level 2.

The most evident choice for Type 2 Food was then a Starfish: an immobile small shape set at the bottom of the ocean. We were aware that Starfishes normally move, yet very slowly, but we decided that these kind of Starfishes were somewhat too asleep, lazy or under illegal substances to even move around…

Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Ringo” : This image features a cute, animated starfish with a friendly face, large blue eyes, and a welcoming smile. It is designed to evoke feelings of positivity, creativity, and motivation, suitable for branding or educational content related to Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli.

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Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Ringo” : A cheerful cartoon starfish with bright blue eyes and a warm smile, symbolizing inspiration and excellence in creative endeavors.

" data-medium-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Etoile-A-White.png" data-large-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Etoile-A-White.png" src="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Etoile-A-White.png" class="wp-image-6303" alt="Cartoon star character with blue eyes and a friendly expression, representing creativity and positivity." style="object-fit:cover;width:295px;height:auto" srcset="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Etoile-A-White.png 295w, https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Etoile-A-White-150x150.png 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px" />

“Ringo the Starfish” – Click to Enlarge

C-The Third Food type.

It would move quicker and more erratically than Food 1. Being able to move back and forth within the most dangerous area of the game, which is, once again, the bottom of the ocean.

The Type 3 food had a BNV=5 as it was the most dangerous kind of Food to be caught. Meaning a Level 1 PC it needed to eat 2 Level 3 foods to achieve mutation to Level 2.

The most evident choice for Type 3 Food was then a Crab: a small shape being able to move slowly, then very quickly, before suddenly changing its direction without a warning, over the ocean bottom’ scenery.

It is important to note that each type of Food would disappear after some time, whatever its type would be. E.g.: Plankton would disappear when it would reach bottom of map, Starfishes would fade away after some minutes of existence and Crabs would go off map once they would have reached one of its borders.

Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Nebula” : This image features a vibrant cartoon crab with a bright red shell, large claws, and big blue eyes. The playful design makes it suitable for educational or entertainment content related to marine life or sea creatures.

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Fishprey Video Game by Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli – “Nebula” : A colorful cartoon crab with expressive eyes and prominent claws, designed to add a fun and engaging visual element.

" data-medium-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Crab-A-White.png" data-large-file="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Crab-A-White.png" src="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Crab-A-White.png" class="wp-image-6307" alt="Cartoon red crab with big claws and blue eyes, playful illustration." style="object-fit:cover;width:295px;height:auto" srcset="https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Crab-A-White.png 295w, https://jdlavoixcarli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Food-Crab-A-White-150x150.png 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px" />

“Nebula the Crab” – Click to Enlarge

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5: Traps

The last type of Mobs we designed would be the most dangerous one: Traps. The gameplay difference between Traps and other types of mobs were as follow:

● The Traps would destroy anything they touch: whether they be PCs, NPCs or Enemies, whatever their strength would be. If it would happen a Trap would hit another Trap, they would mutually destroy each other.

● The Traps would appear according certain circumstances and/or would trigger their own events or set of changes in the gameplay.

According these criteria, we came with two different Traps, based on the most iconic sea predators:

A-Mooray Eel Mob.

It would inhabit exclusively within the small caves set at the bottom of the ocean. It would not exit completely from its cave but would rather spring out from its starting point like a coil spring, devastating everything in its path before slowly coiling back to its lair.

The AI behavior was supposed to trigger the Mooray Eel with various stimuli: a PC/NPC of a certain strength coming too close, if there were too many Food types around, etc. That behavior would change randomly during the game level, thus making the Mooray Eel Trap highly unpredictable.

B-Shark Mob.

This one would swim randomly across the whole game map, destroying everything around for some time before leaving the map. As for the Mooray Eel Trap, its AI behavior would change randomly during its appearing : sometimes he would loiter “gently” around, sometimes it would chase in turn PCs, NPCs or Enemies, etc.

We also set the gameplay for the appearing of the Shark Trap instantly make Enemies and NPCs alike to move away from it… resulting, sometimes, in a tricky situation for the PC in a map where all the Mobs flee in a radiating and centripetal pattern, away from the Shark’s path.

From here, the AD was quite easy: make these assets the bigger and/or scarier of them all… learn more on Traps on their individual descriptions below.

“Moris” – Trap 1

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Part 2 : Concept Art

● Concept Art – Mockup Stage

On this stage, the point was obviously not to come with finished graphic assets but to sketch up and create very rapid roughs to concretize our ideas and show them to the production manager. The initial reaction on such or such character’s mockup is essential to know which direction is to be adopted and developped further and which one is to be dropped.

Beyond Art Direction, having participated to all the components of the game in terms of Game Design, Level Design, UX/UI and Character Design, I came up early with some ideas that I cast as is on the paper to use them as a base of discussion with both the manager and the team. A few examples are displayed below, each mockup being like 5-10 minutes each as you cannot lose too much time on the details and have to go straight to the essential.

Mockups Drafts 1

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● Concept Art – Research Stage

Once the initial directions of each and every asset of the game has been approved on the previous stage, I went with some more elaborated sketches to go further into details and overall cartoon style to confirm if that kind of Character would still work when taking into account the final animation stage. Considering the animation process on the early stage of then production helps to figure out in advance the complexity of the task and when to renounce to a “cool looking” character because its level of details would be too much time-consuming when going onto the animation phase.

On the other hand, the dialogue with both the manager and the team is essential as, sometimes, we would keep some complexity into such or such asset nonetheless because it would be a definitive “cool factor” that would enhance the overall attractiveness.

Balancing a good ratio time/production without sacrificing the quality of the game is what is essential in Art Direction.

The PCs and NPCs started to have their own personalities, please consider a few examples below and meet, in order, “Bloatty”, “Elvis”, “Lil’Tiger”, “Sharky”, “Mmmh”, “Scala”, “Grogne”, “Orfi”, “Lampion”, “Moony”, “Blubby” and “Smily”.

Elaborated Sketch 1 – “Bloatty”

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● Concept Art – Final Stage

1: Player Characters

Player Character 1 – “Smily”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

Even if the initial direction was approved, the final stage of the character has yet to pass the final test of pre-game ; that includes a simulation in a simple background with a simple engine to see how each asset interact and relate to each other. Initially, “Smily” was our Level 1 base PC, the base of “evolution”. He needed to be quite small and simple, hence his initial simple shape which would prevent that too much animation over his body would blur the comprehension of the character because of his small size.

Yet, even if the initial model design was working, we chose to refine the character to make it more like a goldfish and I worked with another senior artist until we finally got the correct model with his “sympathetic” added value overall look.

In the end, every model was supposed to have all his fins and tail being animated, we finally managed to have a good compromise between outlook and animation functionality. I finished the coloring and vectorized the whole, adding more yellow to the fins to have their movements more easily spotted and voilà, our final Level 1 PC was ready !

Player Character 2 – “Strippy”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

Initially, Level 2 PC was supposed to be a small fish like an angelfish, just the size above the initial “Smily” character. Though, since our Level 1 PC had his design changed to something more substantial, we could not keep this direction as the chance of confusion between the two different stages characters would be too high.

Thus, I reworked the whole concept to propose something more elongated and less spherical as a shape, integrating the features of different fishes : mixing altogether elements from a carp, a codfish, a cichlid and an imperial arowana to end up with something radically different from PC Level 1. I added some stripes to increase even more the difference with the spots of “Smily”, which led me naturally to baptize him “Strippy”.

Player Character 3 – “Moony”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

Going along the principle of changing radically each PC’s shape with each mutation, I initially gave to Level 3 PC a disk shape, much chubby, to indicate that the player was starting to have a consequent power in the food chain. “Smily” was a little sphere initially, but his fins were enough to distinguish him from a mere ball, yet the initial design of the Level 3 PC was not refined enough to make him an original character. Consequently, I modified his initial design as a sergeant major fish or a flame angel fish to go more toward a kind of moonyfish or a sunfish.

The idea was to have a neat round shape for the body with neat defined shapes for the fins, to avoid any confusion with “Smily”. I wanted to keep the tiger-like stripes from the sergeant major fish but made them different enough from “Strippy” to avoid any confusion. And “Moony” was born.

Player Character 4 – “Spotty”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

The initial name of this Character was “Blubby” and he was loosely inspired by some form of not-too-scary humpback anglerfish, to symbolize that the PC was now pretty menacing to all the other mobs. I totally dropped that idea and, even if I managed to make him look sympathetic, his appearance was too weird and spooky to be kept in line with my own art direction ; I needed something big, yes, but still with the flourished appearance of surface fishes, and leave all the “alien-looking” fishes of the abyss for villains and enemies. That would add a visual help to the Player to sort out the “good guys” from the “bad guys”.

Thus, I chose to go with something more elegant, as a reward for all the efforts the Player had to get through, and designed a fish based on the Betta Siamese fish and the Mandarinfish. The large elaborated fins and his particular body shape would make something definitely different from all the previous stages of the PC. I deliberately inverted the color code to make the yellow prominent and keep the blue as pattern, as an allusion to the initial spots of “Smily”, hence the final name of “Spotty”. The dominant yellow color was also there to give the player a “gold reward” effect.

Player Character 5 – “Chubby”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

For the ultimate Level 5 PC, I wanted something really imposing and massive to give the player the feeling he was now (almost) dominating the food chain and eventually evolved into some kind of predator himself. Yet, as always, I needed to keep the “sympathetic” look and not make him a kind of horrible, devouring monster.

On the elaborated sketch phase I planned to make him a globefish which would inflate while swimming, but I dropped the idea as the animation would be too confusing for the player, especially that a size change while playing could severly impair the PC if he needed to tactically swim between a group of opponents…

Ergo, I kept the “massive and fat” idea to apply it to a “cool-looking” wolffish ; basically the good natured “Chubby” guy that you still don’t want to mess up with in a bar… The proportions of the wolffish were ideal to keep his fins range to a minimum, thus enabling the player to focus essentially on his basic shape mass when moving without being concerned about big fins confusing movements or sudden shape/size changes.

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2: Non-Player Characters

Non-Player Character 1 – “Grogne”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

The first NPC mirroring our Level 1 Player Character Hero. Remember that the NPC mobs, contrarily to the Enemies and Traps mobs, can be eaten by the PC, provided this one is of Level strictly above the one of the NPC (Level 2 PC can eat a Level 1 NPC, etc…). Therefore, the model base used for the NPCs must be the same as for the PCs for their strength level to be clearly identified by the Player ; yet, they must have a completely different color code to avoid any confusion with the PC fish character.

Once all the final shapes of the Player Characters have been determined and validated, it was quite easy to apply colors different enough to the NPC, as much as a “grim, grumpy” face expression to these baddies.

That is why I baptized the first Level 1 NPC “Grogne” (“To Growl” in French) to emphasize that matter of fact. I chose a vivid magenta pink/bright orange combo to make him a clear opposite to the blue/gold color code of the PC line.

Non-Player Character 2 – “Mmmh”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

When we came to that Level 2 NPC, I finalized the pale green/dark green combo fast enough. We just had a moment of latency before giving him a name.

I made a small brainstorm session with the creative staff, discussing about the “personality” of that green fish. For some reason, I designed him as looking quite haughty and arrogant, the “fish with an attitude” kind of character who looks down on you with a despising “Mpf…” comment.

For the time of the session I was trying to voice out his personality to the staff by mimicking his face while saying “Mmmh” (as in “Mpf! You are SO inferior…”) whereas everyone around was saying “Mmmh” as well, unsure about how to eventually name him (as in “Er… Mmmh… how to name that guy… Mmmh… let’s think about it … Mmmmh…what to find…Mmmh…”).

So, in the end, we all agreed to name him “Mmmh”.

Player Character 3 – “Lil Tiger”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

For the “dark side” of “Moony”, I already had his name and colors in my mind since quite some time. Actually, when I designed the tiger-like stripes of “Moony” to distinguish him enough from his previous avatar, “Strippy”, the idea of a little, sympathetic tiger went into my mind. But since I wanted to have a form of consistency with the PC names-which are all ending in “-y”- I did not want to name the PC “Lil’ Tiger”, so I saved it for his NPC equivalent.

Starting from that point, the orange/brown color code alluding to the tiger was an obviousness.

Player Character 4 – “Moody”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

Since PC Level 4 “Spotty” was so bright, beaming and shiny in his bright yellow golden skin, I used the opposed, complementary color for his counterpart and therefore used a light violet/mauve for the base color and a light blue for the spots ; the spots pattern needed to be of a relative light hue to not give the impression the mobs had “holes” all over his body.

And since “Spotty” was so smiling and bright, the idea of a sullen, depressive fish led me naturally to the “Moody” name.

Player Character 5 – “Bloatty”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

As NPC Level 5 was the strongest NPC opponent, he needed to be designed as being quite dangerous at first glance and immediately identified as such through both shape, color and expression altogether. Hence, I saved the use of bright red color for this very character, even the bright pink color of the stripes were there to make a “shimmering” effect, a “red flash warning” of sort to tell the Player : “Warning! Big danger ahead!”.

And “big and nasty” was the very idea behind the design of this character, I really wanted to give out the dangerous Wolffish feeling with this one, even if Wolffishes are not really of that color. Red color in the animal world always indicate a form of impending danger and I used that idea for “Bloatty”… Therefore, I allowed myself to give into the process that I did cast aside for “Chubby” and, indeed, designed a kind of horrible, devouring monster- all-bloated and ever-hungry, ergo the “Bloatty” name.

The bright pink stripes are small enough to not confuse the reading of the shape, yet they “flicker” enough to enhance the dangerous feeling while still keeping the cartoonish, lighthearted concept of the game.

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3: Enemies

Enemy 1 – “Barrac”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

We needed one of the Enemy to be of the “fast seeker type” : a Mob which would be able of sudden burst of speed towards the PC when this one would come in its zone of detection. Initially, that type of Enemy was fitting perfectly a Garfish -temporarily named “Orfi”, since “Orphie” was the French name for this fish.

Later on, I realized that the proportions of this fish were posing a problem: it was very thin and narrow with not much surface to design or animate, as much as its face was too small for the proportions of the game. Consequently, I entirely dropped its design to create a Mob from the Barracuda fish instead : it had the same speed allure and profiled look, plus the added value to look more dangerous than a garfish. I added some “zigzag” pattern over its body to evoke a kind of “quicksilver” symbol, as if it was the speedster of the oceans.

Therefore, “Barrac” was created. And before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with Barrack Obama…

Enemy 2 – “Wolffy”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

PCs and NPCs Level 5 were already derived from the “Wolffish” type of fish; yet, I surmised that I did not used all the aspects of that very interesting, massive fish and I wondered if I was being able to create another Wolffish type without confusing it with the PC/NPC sort. I then focused on its “grudged” expression that I enjoyed creating on the elaborated sketch stage.

Focusing more on its facial expression than its massive body, I used a violet color as an allusion to the colors of both Level 5 PC and NPC. This Mob had the most erratic AI behavior of all the enemies : the algorithm was cycling regularly between the 3 other types of Mobs’ AI; ergo, it could be sometimes a “seeker ” as “Barrac”, a “voracious” as “Lampion” or a “curious” as “Stingy”, making it a very unpredictable kind of Mob.

Enemy 3 – “Lampion”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

As the production was progressing, I realized that I did not have an “abyssal fish” yet and I really wanted include one in the game, since their shape, colors and overall aspect is so weird and bizarre ; plus, the fact that one of the area of the game map was called the “abyss” (the lowest one, logically…) it was just making sense to have at least one of them. If I could, I would have added much more of abyssal fishes but the production manager told me that we already reached the maximum amount of fishes that we were supposed to include and he was satisfied with all the design of the actual fishes…. Too bad… perhaps in a future expansion.

It was difficult to choose amidst all the wonderful abyssal fishes that do exist, but I finally opted for an Anglerfish as it had the most delirious variations leading to something both scary and completely bizarre in design.

I took the obverse option of the “dark colored” abyssal fish as this opponent was scary enough in its design, so I colored it bright pink to tune down a little bit its scary appearance, as much as to make it looking weirder even.

Its AI was the “voracious” type : meaning he had a very short detection zone, but a very large aggression zone, eg : as soon it was detecting a PC it was chasing it for quite a long time, making it an opponent quite hard to get rid off once it spotted you.

Its name came to be “Lampion”, as it means “Paper Lantern” in French, alluding to the little light topping its fleshy “stem” used to lure preys in darkness. As soon the PC was spotted and “Lampion” was starting its pursuit, that light was supposed to blink constantly for as long the PC was kept as a target. A fish-warhead of sort, so to speak….

Enemy 4 – “Stingy”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

For the last Enemy, I really wanted something flamboyant ; a form of “beauty of the devil” opponent which would reflect the gracefulness we can see in some Caribbean fishes, despite their dangerousness. And since the last AI behavior was of the “curious” type, something as beautiful and as poisonous as the Lionfish was completely appropriated.

I did many researches and tried many different designs before coming to the final form. Since “Stingy” was bearing many colors, the difficulty was double : I had to harmonize these colors in a way which was not making the model to be confused with another Mob; also, I had to be sure that the stripped pattern was not preventing the overall shape to be deciphered, yet paying homage to the Lionfish’s elaborate appearance.

Eventually, I came with this base of pure white, enhanced by this blue-purple-magenta gradient streaks. White color having not being used yet, it was completing efficiently the totality of the color palette used thus far, the gradient being used within the same range of colors it was neither too flashy or incongruous to not blur the shape. For the gradient, I purposefully used the blue tones on the lower parts and the red ones on the upper parts, since it was linking visually the shadowed bottom part of the model with the darker parts of the bottom map and the reddish ones with the surface and, consequently, the sunlight.

Initially, I wanted its fins to have some transparency, but it was consuming too much of the game’s engine rendering process to display it and I finally made them opaque, it was unjustified to cripple the rendering speed of the game for just one model.

The “curious” type AI granted “Stingy” with a large “detection/attraction zone”, meaning that he could detect the PC from quite a long distance, gently loitering towards him but not “attacking” before he was really in close contact, to balance things even. Basically, “Stingy” was relatively easy to avoid most of the times… Provided you keep him constantly at the corner of your eyes, making his presence in a level map a very pestering one, tactically speaking.

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4: Food

Food 1 – “Max”

Early concept sketch
(Click to enlarge )

Since all Food Mobs were the tiniest ones, I could not overload them with a lot of details. The “plankton” type 1 food was just a small green ball with two blinking eyes, seeming to say : “What am I doing here?…”. I used a matching colored outline for all the Food types, as their small sizes would have blurred or smeared their respective colors if they would have been outlined black ; they needed to be spotted and identified by their colors immediately despite their tiny size.

Of course, I named that Plankton “Max”, related to a deplorable wordplay on “Max Planck” and his work on the smallest scales of the quantum theory. Ergo, a “Max Plankton” particle having the smallest “scale” of the Mobs sounded appropriate for a game about fishes…

There has been a special “easter egg” or “perk” hidden rule stating that if the PC would reach Level 5 mutation exclusively by eating plankton, a quantum superpower would be triggered which would shrink all the NPCs, Enemies and Traps of the game to a plankton size, allowing the PC to eat all of them, regardless of their nature or level, for a short amount of time, increasing the PC’s score. A bit like the “power pellets” of Pac-Man enabling it to devour the ghosts.

Food 2 – “Ringo”

Early concept sketch
(Click to enlarge )

The nearly immobile Fishstar type 2 Food had no eyes initially. But it was making no sense that all the Mobs of the game-including Food- would have eyes except this one. So, I added this confused gaze, not only for AD consistency but on the Game Design level, as well : thus helping the Player to identify positively that asset as something to interact with and not as an unimportant element of decor/background.

Evidently, I named that Mob “Ringo” for “Ringo Starr”… The “easter egg” effect would state that if a PC would reach Level 5 mutation exclusively by eating Starfishes, the Beatles’ song “Yellow Submarine” would play and a random type of Mobs present in the map would start to accomplish some dancing ballet or synchronized swimming (like all the Level 3 NPCs or all the “Barrac” type Enemies for example) ; during that dancing time, these mobs would be completely inoffensive as much as edible (as Level 0 Mobs) and the PC would score triple points if he would eat exclusively these mobs.

Food 3 – “Nebula”

Early concept sketch
(Click to enlarge )

To be sure about gender equality, I decided to make the type 3 Food a female Crab Mob. Of course, that doesn’t immediately jump out as an evidence since gender determination of crabs is a delicate task. Once the gender determination was done, it was easy to come with a female name which made sense on the gameplay level : “Nebula” ; of course as a reference to one of the brightest nebula type ever observed : the Crab Nebula set in the Taurus constellation.

“Easter egg” effect : If the PC would achieve Level 5 mutation by eating exclusively Crabs, then all the Crabs Food Mobs would grow to a gigantic size, reaching Level 7 strength equivalent (overall, big enough to reach the “abyss” lower part of the game map) for a short amount of time.

All the NPCs, Enemies and Traps would be instantly destroyed (the PC would be unaffected by the giant “Nebula”), exploding in a myriad of little “Nebula” Mobs that the PC could consume normally, increasing potentially his score. Tactically, it was interesting for the player to modify his gameplay to attract and lure opponents mobs towards the giant “Nebula” to benefit from their destruction.

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5: Traps

Trap 1 – “Moris”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

As stated earlier, that Trap Mob was a stationary one; yet, it was no less dangerous as the player had no idea about the springing range of this Moray Eel model and the reasons of its triggering before some time of observation. Indeed, each “cave” set in the bottom of the map might have a random type of “Moris” whose PC detection, agression and springing range was determined randomly at each map, as much as it was able to attack randomly a particular type of NPCs and/or Enemies as well. Therefore, the unfolding reaching movement of this Trap would vary between 1/10th to 1/3rd of the width of the map.

As soon the PC would enter the detection range of “Moris”, its evil eye would start to glow within the shadow of the cave, leaving only one second for the PC to swim away before this Moray Eel would spring out in its direction, destroying everything in its path (except “Sharky”).

Visually, I designed it as an “Alien/Xenomorph” type of Mob, bringing it on the fringe between cartoon and semi-realistic styles, as I wanted it to look really nasty and scary, as much as its AI behavior.

The model itself was set in three separate parts which were articulated and attached to each other to simulate the unfurling movement, as much as for the developers to calculate the range of the spring. Consequently, the developer was attributing such or such coordinates to the different parts to know at which point of the model they had to attach to each other : one for the model at rest and one for the model fully deployed; the animation of the unfurling movement being calculated between these two states.

Initially, this model was named “Elvis” (for “Moray Eel-vis Presley”) and its initial design was displaying him with a Pompadour haircut. Though, since the design evolved into something more scary, I dropped that name to baptize him “Moris” (for “Mor-ay eel”).

Trap 2 – “Sharky”

The different stages of the Concept Art
(Click to enlarge each picture)

Certainly the deadliest opponent in the game, “Sharky” was the most massive of all the models. Initially the design of this Shark was rounder and shorter, but gameplay wise, it needed to take more space in length and less in height to give the player more space to avoid him, since the game map was set on a vertical configuration and not an horizontal one.

On the visual aspect, I did not want him to look too much as “Bruce” from Finding Nemo, especially that our shark was not vegetarian at all. I really wanted to give him the profiled, steel aspect of a killing machine, enhanced by his “scoring tattoos” painted on his flanks, as if he was a form of war pilot shooting down his preys one by one.

To help further the PC about the impending arrival of the “Sharky” Trap, a sort of “Jaws” music was played announcing his arrival. Since “Sharky” was so massive and that he was to trigger a fleeing pattern in all the mobs of the map, we made him to have a relatively low speed for the PC had a chance to set a dodging strategy…

Now, the fact that “Sharky” was going through the map level so slowly was, as well, meaning that the AI behaviors of the other Mobs was changed for the same amount of time ; up to the player to use that knowledge to prepare an optimal dodging strategy.

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● Final elements of the Game’s First Level

1: Game Models complete display

Below are represented the final models and their respectful sizes within the game map.

2: Game Background screen

The settings of the First Level of the game named “Sunken Galleon”.

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This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Cartoon, Children, Concept Art, Corporate, Game, Game Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Level Design, Podcast, UX/UI, Videogame, Web

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Check the latest comments!

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

#AdobeAnimate, #Drawing, #Fish, #Food, #Game, #Predator, AdobeIllustrator, AdobePhotoshop, Application, Browser, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Evolution, GameConcept, GameDesign, LevelDesign, Mockup, NFT, Podcast, Rarible, Sketch, UX/UI, Videogame, Web3

🇬🇧 All the “Fishprey” NFTs available on my Rarible Gallery

🇬🇧 The “Fishdom” Videogame overview

🇬🇧 🇫🇷 The “Fishdom” Videogame on Google Play

🇬🇧 The Playrix Videogame company website

Creative Compass on Spotify

Presentation of the Podcast “Creative Compass : Where Art meets Story”

JDR Magazine #57: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 5

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:36:39 +0000

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The Context

🐲 This illustration has been commissioned by a French roleplaying game magazine. This is the fifth adventure of the parody of a roleplaying party described in Episode 1. During the previous episode, the adventurers had to face the giant snails guarding the innkeeper’s vegetable garden, after this high feat, it was time to take a break and delve into the intimacy of our adventurers with a more in-depth interview of one of its proudest representatives: the Barbarian…

The Illustration

The principle was to have an in-depth interview with each of the characters (in this case the Barbarian, represented by R.E. Howard) to the exclusion of any other scene or character which could have interfered with the main interview scene. I therefore decided to animate the scene in the most iconic and representative way possible to capture the quintessence of each adventurer. There were therefore two criteria to respect: First, the behavior and posture of the character during the interview. Second: represent all the paraphernalia which embodied as much as possible his role in the adventure, as well as his personality and the elements of the article which referred to it.

Since this “interview” was conducted “OOC” (“Out of Character”), I also took the opportunity to “break the fourth wall” to systematically represent a game of Tabletop Role Playing Game where the character would “play” himself, presenting a figurine in his image within a context of a tabletop roleplaying game. This made it possible to have a surrealist double reading of the situation, while graphically signaling a “type of staging” which differentiated itself from the usual scenes in the series.

For the representation of the Barbarian himself, as well as his attitude, I decided to represent him very… thick. Thick in muscle and thick in brain, since he is described in the article as being really very, very stupid, preferring brutal force to the slightest thought: hence his puzzled posture.

I had decided from the start that the Barbarian would be the stereotype of the “Gros Bill”, which, in the world of French role-playing games, designates a meme for a Powergamer, a player who only seeks to accumulate all kinds of objects and powers up to the caricature to cheat and win every game at all cost. A figure quite close to the Mary Sue or Gary Stu in literature and cinema.

Consequently, he had to be represented with an insane pile of objects and weapons which would change with each representation along the story, in this case: A Sword of the Bastard (allusion to the “bastard sword” type of weapon), a scepter bearing the claws of Wolverine from the X-Men comics, the sword from the movie “Conan”, a two-handed syringe marked “Nth dose” (yes, we were in COVID times), as well as a sword strongly resembling Excalibur. In the same state of mind, Tolkien’s “One Ring” is worn as a bracelet on his left arm… as a small ring would be certainly not impressive enough for our Barbarian.

To reinforce the idea of a player who always wants to win, his flail is ended with a 20-sided dice with all sides bearing the number 20, a number indicating an exceptional and critical result in most role-playing games. The “Unearth Arkana!” tattoo is a declaration of intention from the Barbarian ; actually, in Dungeons & Dragons, the roleplaying community considered that the famous extension of the game named “Unearthed Arcana” allowed the advent of super-powerful players, destroying the balance of the gameplay… this tattoo is therefore a testimony of nostalgia towards a time when everything was permitted.

On the game table is a dungeon floor plan -typical of D&D tabletop sessions- in the middle of it, the gigantic version of the Barbarian’s figurine version is triumphing : all around are scattered the figurines of all the opponents he killed during the game session, both friends and foes…

Two glasses containing the dice necessary for a game are presented: the glass symbolizing the damage inflicted by the character is filled to the brim with dice; the second, symbolizing non-violent skills, includes only a few. As, for this type of player, only destructive capacity counts and not reflection. I also reinforced this matter of fact with a torn “character sheet”. This Sheet is used by players during role-playing games to embody their character within a very specific rules context. The fact that the Barbarian tore his own sheet signifies his carelessness in respecting the rules. It is also covered with fanciful and poorly spelled inscriptions, proving that only the characteristic of “Strength” matters. One the other hand, “Wisdom” -or circumspection- is completely unknown to him and his score of “Intelligence” is very weak – because useless… As proven by his characteristic of “Languages”, which he thought was a question on whether or not the Barbarian was equipped with a functional tongue…

Cover of JDR Magazine #57 in which the illustration appears (click to expand)

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This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Corporate, Edition, Editorial Cartoon, Heroic Fantasy, Illustration, Magazine, Narrative Design, Roleplaying Game

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“The 4M” : Designing Superheroes for Public HealthJuly 24, 2026
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Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

JDR Magazine #56: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 4

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 16:44:41 +0000

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The Context

🐲 This illustration has been commissioned by a French roleplaying game magazine. This is the fourth adventure of the parody of a roleplaying party described in Episode 1. During the previous episode, the adventurers negotiated at length to NOT cross the cursed portal which led to the cursed vegetable garden to collect cursed vegetables, but they failed the negotiation. This time, they have no choice: they will have to face the guardians of the vegetable garden: giant snails (which are also cursed…).

The Illustration

After having announced a great danger beyond the portal in the previous illustration, I had to represent an epic fighting scene between the four adventurers and the giant snails… I was inspired by historical medieval illuminations which represented this kind of fights between knights and peasants against giant snails during the European middle-age; as depicted in the two images below (click to expand) :

However, in order to keep the same pictorial style as the previous episodes – and considering the large number of protagonists – I decided to decompose the image and the action into foreground scene, intermediate scene and background scene, in order to include four independent sketches in the same illustration. Narratively and pictorially speaking, it was more interesting to represent four “duels” animating the page than a pitched battle split into two monolithic camps: the snails against the adventurers. This way, the eye can better wander around the page and appreciate the temperament of each character immersed in their own battle.

Each of the snail shells also bears an individual inscription which has a double purpose: First, it allows to personalize each of the snails by giving it a form of personality, posing like the innkeeper’s “cattle” where each animal would have its own nickname, like a pet. And Second, each inscription has “added value” in the way it evokes either a pop-culture “meme” or a pun made out with the word “Escargot” (“Snail” in French).

In the foreground, I chose to focus on the Barbarian‘s victory against his own giant snail; the animal nature of the Barbarian is finally revealed as he literally devours the snail alive, like a succulent dish. I also chose to give a “cartoonish” appearance to the snails, so that they become characters in their own right – and no longer just animals – so that they can also express emotions that can serve the interaction dynamic they have with the adventurers. The pun on its shell is “Chubby-Niggurath”, an allusion to “Shub-Niggurath”, an iconic deity from H.P. Lovecraft‘s cosmogony; and it is also an allusion to the succulent texture of the snail which the Barbarian feasts on.

On the intermediate level, the Wizard enchants a cabbage by levitation in order to delay the assault of his snail, the time someone else comes to help him… or to lure the gastropod towards a possible precipice. His snail bears the inscription “Naute” to form the pun “Escargot-Naute” and therefore “Argonaut”, as if this vegetable harvest were a mythological feat…

Behind the Wizard, the Priest is in difficulty facing his own snail, which is very aggressive – even demonic – which explains the surge of faith of the Priest who tries to do a “Vade Retro” gesture by crossing two leeks to form a crucifix. His snail bears the inscription “de Nuit” to form the pun “Escargot de Nuit” (“Night Snail”), an allusion to a famous French song from the 80’s by Axel Bauer : “Cargo de Nuit”.

In the extreme background, the silhouettes of the Thief scrapping with his snail at the top of a cliff stand out, in the purest style of a swashbuckling film. This scene also allowed me to extend the perspective and the dimension of the vegetable garden as if it were an immense and infinite valley, even a magical country in its own right, which would extend beyond the portal – a strong homage to the World of Narnia. The shell of his snail bears the inscription “Norrhea” to form the pun “Escargot-Norrhea” and therefore “Gonorrhea”, which is a sexually transmitted infection… this snail being particularly infected, it is better that our thief dispose of it as quickly as possible! Note that the position of the off-hand of the Thief and the tip of the snail’s tail are mirroring each other, typical of an “En Garde” fencing position.

Cover of JDR Magazine #56 in which the illustration appears (click to expand)

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This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Corporate, Edition, Editorial Cartoon, Heroic Fantasy, Illustration, Magazine, Narrative Design, Roleplaying Game

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“The 4M” : Designing Superheroes for Public HealthJuly 24, 2026
Site Update : World Architect OffersNovember 27, 2025
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Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn MalakMay 12, 2025
Article Header Design: “How to use AI for Weak Signals – Trump, the International Revolutionary?”March 28, 2025

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Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

JDR Magazine #55: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 3

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:49:47 +0000

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The Context

🐲 This illustration has been commissioned by a French roleplaying game magazine. This is the second adventure of a parodic roleplaying party described in the Episode 1. and Episode 2. After having fought an epic battle against a Dish Golem in the kitchen, our heroes are asked by the Innkeeper to go through an ancient portal leading to a merciless world : the one of the vegetable garden…

The Illustration

Part of the narrative continuation of “loser anti-heroes unable to earn a single gold coin”, the Innkeeper requires the heroes to venture into the vegetable garden to earn their share. Therefore, the principle remains the one of the absurd, where the slightest household task takes on an epic proportions; and this, in accordance with the codes of role-playing, but always with humor.

The task of the adventurers is then to venture into a magical and dangerous vegetable garden to harvest all kinds of… well, vegetables…the danger residing in the presence of giant carnivorous snails, eager to devour the slightest careless person venturing into their territory.

The article presents the door as being the source of all negotiations between the Innkeeper, the adventurers and his waitress ; therefore, I decided to essentially use the main plot of the article as the main decorative element: the door.

Beyond that, the waitress serves to animate and put the plot into perspective to prevent the illustration from being too static. The author also wanted the elf waitress to have Asian features, as he wanted to pay homage to one of his personal acquaintances. So, I worked from the photograph of this real person to pose the character of “Balls of Fire” (or “Fireballs”), the elf waitress.

The main thing was to synthesize a “dangerous” aspect with a comic touch. Consequently, the gate had to display a heavy appearance, with several superfluous padlocks, chains and locks to caricature its role as a “forbidden door”; at the same time, I lightened the whole aspect with several anachronistic indications and several puns, “tropes” or “memes” specific to fantasy or role-playing games: a road sign indicating “Beware of the snail!”, a pun borrowed from the Lovecraftian universe or several burlesque warnings.

As for the character of “Balls of Fire”, I created her as the perfect stereotype of the curvaceous and sexy inn waitress; and I chose to add a pair of small “fireballs” in the form of jewelry to several places on her person as a pun on her name. The tray she carries is garnished with several burlesque drinks and puns writings, synthesizing branding, role-playing tropes and certain cinematic allusions.

Cover of JDR Magazine #55 in which the illustration appears (click to expand)

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This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Corporate, Edition, Editorial Cartoon, Heroic Fantasy, Illustration, Magazine, Narrative Design, Roleplaying Game

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“The 4M” : Designing Superheroes for Public HealthJuly 24, 2026
Site Update : World Architect OffersNovember 27, 2025
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Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn MalakMay 12, 2025
Article Header Design: “How to use AI for Weak Signals – Trump, the International Revolutionary?”March 28, 2025

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Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

JDR Magazine #54: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 2

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 11:55:19 +0000

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The Context

🐲 This illustration has been commissioned by a French roleplaying game magazine. This is the second adventure of a parodic roleplaying party described in the Episode 1. Since our wannabee adventurers had not enough money to pay their mere meal, they had been forced by the Innkeeper to wash the insane amount of dirty dishes and plates which rest in the kitchen…

The Illustration

Originally, the article was simply presenting a scene of arguing and bickering between the adventurers where everyone asserted their right to NOT wash the dishes, notably the Wizard who thought that an “Unseen Servant” spell would be enough to finish quickly their chore in their stead.

But since we were in a magical world where unreal excess could serve the comic and absurd tone of the writing which was supposed to come through in the article, I decided to go well beyond what was written. And I literally created a “monster” made of dirty dishes and plates that would extend almost to the infinite. So I created a titanic “Dish Golem” that would epically depict the challenge faced by the adventurers.

The horizontal curves of the stacks of plates help create the mass of the golem’s body, while I chose cooking pots, marmites, chaldrons and rounded dishes to form the mouth, hands and fingers, because their rounder shapes were more suitable for the representation of complex organs, a bit like Giuseppe Arcimboldo did with his pareidolia portraits with vegetables and fruits.

A large fork forms the golem’s tongue to evoke his “evil” intention, as well as his glowing, smoldering eyes that come from the embers of the ovens. However, I added a skimmer and a spoon on his head, forming a sort of “antennae” to give him a comical appearance in order to “de-dramatize” the creature: the illustration had to remain light and not frightening. Sometimes it can just be down to a detail.

I transformed the “Unseen Servant” into a fairy-like “French Maid” who – literally – returns her apron and leaves the Wizard’s service, refusing to work overtime in the face of the enormity of the task… and anyway, she was definitely too low level!

In an Illustration, it is necessary to propose concrete alternatives that effectively serve the “spirit” of the article without ever contradicting it. This makes it possible to establish a “style” which will nourish the graphic trend of the series while creating a narrative which the writer can use later. The illustrator is not just a simple performer : he is the co-author of the story in a collaborative and reciprocal dynamic.

Cover of JDR Magazine #54 in which the illustration appears (click to expand)

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This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Corporate, Edition, Editorial Cartoon, Heroic Fantasy, Illustration, Magazine, Narrative Design, Roleplaying Game

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“The 4M” : Designing Superheroes for Public HealthJuly 24, 2026
Site Update : World Architect OffersNovember 27, 2025
Interview with a Compeer #1.1 : Desfragmentations – “The Alchemical Vision”June 11, 2025
Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn MalakMay 12, 2025
Article Header Design: “How to use AI for Weak Signals – Trump, the International Revolutionary?”March 28, 2025

Check the latest comments!

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 18:42:08 +0000

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The Context

🐲 A famous French roleplaying game magazine commissioned several illustrations from me. Through several episodes, they were representing the adventures and setbacks of a group of adventurous characters (typically Dungeons & Dragons) unable to escape the inn of their first adventure.

Art Direction, Style and Synergy of the Commission

The tone of the article was resolutely comical and satirical, as were the situations represented. However, the illustrations also had to have a certain realistic density so that readers/roleplayers could identify with them, through memories of game experiences shared by all roleplayers.

I therefore chose to make a synthesis of styles oscillating between a form of cartoon, semi-realism and caricature in order to be able to induce certain allusions specific to the storytelling of tabletop roleplaying games, such as certain “memes”, “tropes” or “easter eggs” throughout the episodes that I had to illustrate.

A non-roleplayer could therefore completely understand the illustrated situation, but, in addition, a roleplayer would perceive “added value” thanks to all the details and “private jokes” perceived with a second reading.

Technique

The technique chosen is that of the pencil to adhere to a relaxed and immediate style, specific to press drawings. Also it symbolically embodies the pencil used by all roleplayers during their roleplaying sessions.

Character Design and Narrative Design

The adventure involved a Barbarian, a Wizard, a Priest and a Thief. From the first episode, I had the idea of portraying the four adventurers in the guise of four renowned Heroic-Fantasy writers, each of whom remaining a famous reference among all roleplayers:

Clive Staples Lewis as The Priest

Clive Staples Lewis, the author of the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, has frequently questioned religious faith and has instilled numerous references to Christianity in his works. This made him a wise choice for the Priest. But to keep the light and caricatured spirit of the article, I modified the Christian cross of his prayer rosary into a mathematical “plus” sign of arithmetic, and I added the symbols “minus”, “multiply” and “divide”.

Robert Ervin Howard as The Barbarian

The Barbarian had to be represented by the author who most represented this archetype in Pop Culture: Robert Ervin Howard, the author of the famous “Conan the Barbarian”. Especially since his physical appearance as a boxer made him suitable for this role. Arguing to be an outrageous stereotype of the Barbarian, this character constantly carries a whole eccentric arsenal of weapons on his person in order to demonstrate his aggressive, bellicose and not very subtle nature.

This also allowed me to change the weapons from one illustration to another, to create visual interest from one illustration to the other; and also to make other references to pop culture or Heroic-Fantasy classics through famous weapons such as Starwars’ lightsabers, the Singing Sword of Irish legends or even a giant pocketknife!

Howard Phillips Lovecraft as The Wizard

The mysterious and enigmatic Howard Phillips Lovecraft created a colossal work by inventing the cosmogony of the “Call of Cthulhu” myth. I portrayed him as a Wizard, or more precisely, a Necromancer; his work having always been perceived as very dark, fatalistic and peppered with references to death.

I wanted to give him almost vampiric features, in line with his role ; he always carries the “Necronomicon” like a spellbook and his familiar perched on his shoulder is a small “Cthulhu”, constantly squealing the famous “Ftaghn” from the the injunction of “Call of Cthulhu”.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien as The Thief

Finally, the Thief took on the features of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” saga, in reference to the “Hobbits” of his works who, most of the time, correspond to the archetype of the Thief. I wanted a “rebel” character, completely at odds with the academic personality of the author towards the end of his life. I therefore represented him young and with a mustache, as he appeared during his engagement during World War I, which profoundly influenced his work. He wears “The One Ring” as an earring and several thieves’ tools at his belt, along with several purses containing anachronistic currencies.

The Illustration

In this episode, these adventurers are faced with a forced chore of washing dishes. I symbolized their confusion and summarized the story arc of the episode by an object called “Bucket of Plonge” which is a “Franglais” barbarism that could be translated into English slang as “Bucket for Washing Dishes”.

To symbolize the anxiety of the situation, I gave this object an aura of danger by representing the sponge in the bucket having multiple predatory mouths and a creature is hidden in the broom brush.

Cover of JDR Magazine #53 in which the illustration appears (click to expand)

Access the Issue of the Magazine

This post belongs to the Category :

Art Direction, Corporate, Edition, Editorial Cartoon, Heroic Fantasy, Illustration, Magazine, Narrative Design, Roleplaying Game

Check my latest posts!

“The 4M” : Designing Superheroes for Public HealthJuly 24, 2026
Site Update : World Architect OffersNovember 27, 2025
Interview with a Compeer #1.1 : Desfragmentations – “The Alchemical Vision”June 11, 2025
Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn MalakMay 12, 2025
Article Header Design: “How to use AI for Weak Signals – Trump, the International Revolutionary?”March 28, 2025

Check the latest comments!

Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Thank you very much for your comment coming from an IT expert, Nouha!
Nouha on Designing Sphinx: the AI which challenges your beliefsDecember 20, 2023
Very interesting article and excellent choice for th Sphinx!!
Helene Lavoix on JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1December 20, 2023
Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

One response to “JDR Magazine #53: “You are in an Inn…” Episode 1”

Helene Lavoix

December 20, 2023

Splendid as always! And also this showcase the very broad scope of your design skills!

Reply

#Drawing Archives - Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli

Using AI creatively : Character Design – Yaràn Malak

The Context

Foreword about AI

Is AI replacing creativity?

Why not replace Artists with AI?

A New Era Begins

How I work with AI

The Design

Choice of Art Direction : AI and Manual Intervention

Production Techniques:

AI Part

Manual Part

Character Design

Persona

Costume

Weaponry

Distinguishing Features

Background and Graphic Ecosystem

Environment/Atmosphere

Typography

About…

WHAT IS GAMEARLY ?

WHAT IS “THE SHADOW OF THE GUILD” GAME ?

Features

Story

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Videogame : Fishprey

Complete Game Assets Carousel

The Context

Listen this Article

How to buy the “Fishprey” NFTs

“Fishdom” : the legacy of “Fishprey” ?

Part 1 : Game Concept

● Game Design : “Survival of the Fittest…”

● Level Design : “Swimming with Sharks…”

● Character Design & Art Direction: “There is always a bigger Fish…”

1: Player Characters

2: Non-Player Characters

3: Enemies

4: Food

5: Traps

Part 2 : Concept Art

● Concept Art – Mockup Stage

● Concept Art – Research Stage

● Concept Art – Final Stage

1: Player Characters

Player Character 1 – “Smily”

Player Character 2 – “Strippy”

Player Character 3 – “Moony”

Player Character 4 – “Spotty”

Player Character 5 – “Chubby”

2: Non-Player Characters

Non-Player Character 1 – “Grogne”

Non-Player Character 2 – “Mmmh”

Player Character 3 – “Lil Tiger”

Player Character 4 – “Moody”

Player Character 5 – “Bloatty”

3: Enemies

Enemy 1 – “Barrac”

Enemy 2 – “Wolffy”

Enemy 3 – “Lampion”

Enemy 4 – “Stingy”

4: Food

Food 1 – “Max”

Food 2 – “Ringo”

Food 3 – “Nebula”

5: Traps

Trap 1 – “Moris”

Trap 2 – “Sharky”

● Final elements of the Game’s First Level

1: Game Models complete display

2: Game Background screen

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