Techtonica - The Groundbreaker
The earliest concepts were fairly heavy-duty and burly. We eventually deicded that this direction was a bit too militaristic for the vibe of the game.

The earliest concepts were fairly heavy-duty and burly. We eventually deicded that this direction was a bit too militaristic for the vibe of the game.

I kinda liked owl-boy.

I kinda liked owl-boy.

We decided early on hoses, tubes, and lots of quilted textiles.

We decided early on hoses, tubes, and lots of quilted textiles.

Head design. At this stage we weren't settled on whether the character was a robot or ambiguously human. If you want to find out where we landed on that question, you'll have to play the game!

Head design. At this stage we weren't settled on whether the character was a robot or ambiguously human. If you want to find out where we landed on that question, you'll have to play the game!

Some early Hoverpack concepts

Some early Hoverpack concepts

peak character design

peak character design

The Groundbreaker is the central character in Techtonica. Like most other assets in the game, this was a hugely collaborative effort, involving the entire art team at Fire Hose, outsourcing studios, and tech for implementation. My concept work was largely at the earliest exploratory stages of the design, so the final character ended up looking quite different than most of the sketches here.