[RedSlash]

[Mattias Gustavsson]

Ok, I've done another character for the game, this time it's one of the enemies you can encounter.


Any comments?
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www.mattiasgustavsson.com - My blog
www.rivtind.com - My Fantasy world and isometric RPG engine
www.pixieuniversity.com - Software 2D Game Engine

[BadMrBox]

I think it looks very good but perhaps the leg muscles are a bit to big perhaps? :)
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[Verious]

That looks great. Keep up the good work.

[RampantCoyote]

My only comment would be that it looks too much like an orc face on a human body. I'd do something to make it look more monster-like.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Hajo]

What do you think makes monsters look more monstrous?

Tolkienish orcs are corrupted men AFAIK. I think the above image fits to that. So I'm curious what bodiily aspects define monsters more clearly :)

[Mattias Gustavsson]

[Hajo]

Somehow I think "orc" and "troll" have been bended into too many shapes and meanings :/

Why is the depicted human labeled a troll? It is overly muscular and at the same time obese, but finally just a slightly malformed human frame.

Not saying this is a bad image. Just unhappy with the label "troll". This is in my eye just a wrestler or bone cruncher.

Maybe strive away from the overused stereotypes which have no meaning anymore, and create more distinct monsters?

Edit: I must admit that my try of making "Quiochitls" just confused the players. But they were fairly original ;)

[Mattias Gustavsson]

Well, my inspiration for the Troll comes mostly from folklore, which usually (at least in swedish folklore) describes trolls as human-like, but with strange and exaggerated proportions...

Here's some pictures of Trolls which I like and which inspires me

see how they're all fairly human-like, more so than the Lord of the Rings type trolls...


I don't think there is something wrong with stereotypes. They become stereotypes for a reason, and I think it is a great way to communicate some things to the players. I try and put my own spin on things when the inspiration is there, but I think it is a bad idea to try and make up entirely new creatures just because you want to be "original". Original does not equal good, and I actually prefer it if writers and designers base their creatures on something I'm familiar with already, rather than chase originality for the sake of it (though sometimes authors come up with great new ideas for creatures, and that is good, but rare).

So that's my take on it... but each to their own :D
_________________
www.mattiasgustavsson.com - My blog
www.rivtind.com - My Fantasy world and isometric RPG engine
www.pixieuniversity.com - Software 2D Game Engine

[Hajo]

The top left matches my idea of troll most. I don't know much about Tolkien, just that Tolkien trolls did not fit to my idea which was mostly inspired by myths that I knew, and which seemed to say that trolls are smallish creatures.

Stereotypes are good. Problem is that Tolkien abused some names with formerly were set by fairy tales, like elf, dwarf, troll and more ... so there is no clear stereotype for those anymore (if there ever was, I think even myths and fairy tales are much inconsistent there).

Another problem is that east asian game makers took Tolkiens ideas and modified them further. So east asian orcs have pig-heads often, while Tolkienish orcs only had the teeth (I think, not knowing precisely).

So the sterotype isn't clear anymore, orcs are evil, trolls too, but details are widely blurry. Which is good in a way, since yours can very well be a troll, just everyone has a different idea of troll nowadays ;)

Maybe Blizzard did something right in Diablo II to give monsters new names, which a player has to learn first, but then are distinct and precise.

Hmm ... it has skeletons and zombies, but it seems those stereotypes are more precisely defined anyways but orc and troll.

[Mattias Gustavsson]

I don't agree that Tolkien "abused" stuff from fairytales. He got inspiration from them and put his own spin to it, which I think is a great way of going about creating creatures for your world...

I do agree that everyone has different ideas of what, for example, a troll is, but it's the job of us designers to convey to the player our view of a troll as it is for our game world. And if the creature is clearly based on one of the stereotypes of trolls, why would I want to and call my creature a Xzrulxzy or something instead of calling it a Troll? It doesn't make it more original, and chances are that players will ignore my new name and just call it troll or ogre or something else they feel familiar with :D
_________________
www.mattiasgustavsson.com - My blog
www.rivtind.com - My Fantasy world and isometric RPG engine
www.pixieuniversity.com - Software 2D Game Engine

[Scrim]

Your troll makes me think of Uncle Junior from the Sopranos. If he had bad skin and took HGH...

[RedSlash]

I think most stereotypes in western fantasy are Tolkien influenced, so whether they match the actual original definition is of lesser importance. I don't think the naming of creatures have to be that precise.. as long as you're not labeling a dog as a cat or something that would cause significant confusion.

[js71]

I find it strange that no one's yet commented on the bright red thong. :p

[Hajo]