Constellation

[Neverward 210]

Oh my goodness they look awesome in action, that menu is seriously cool!! I personally like the new style better as well. I love to see all of the great concepts that Cirus comes up with for this game! The battle system looks fascinating, and all together it's turning out to be a very beautiful and unique game! Keep up the awesome work <3 I can't wait until I can play it~!

[The Yank 10]

lol the second person from the right looks like Ahri from League of Legends

[Galv 1,387]

Well that comment confuses me. Apart from both having black hair and being female, I really can't see any other similarities in the characters to make anyone think they look like each other.

In future please try to include feedback for the dev on how they are doing on their project when you post. If you are unsure what I mean by this feel free to PM me.

[Ocedic 249]

Love the new character designs. My favorite is Faas - Neverward really did an amazing job there. I love the little details with his outfit; his Zodiac sign is dog, so he has that going for him.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Ocedic

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Wow, Ocedic. Biased much? Just kidding.

 

Yara's my fave and always has been...revamp or no revamp. The only thing I don't like am unsure about rather have trouble with gah, what's the word...well, I'll just stick with "note" but I noticed no pupils. Which is fine, I personally like that style sometimes and it works great here, but I was a little surprised

[Heartfeltcurse 195]

Wow, Ocedic. Biased much? Just kidding.

 

Yara's my fave and always has been...revamp or no revamp. The only thing I don't like am unsure about rather have trouble with gah, what's the word...well, I'll just stick with "note" but I noticed no pupils. Which is fine, I personally like that style sometimes and it works great here, but I was a little surprised

I've always thought that eyes without pupils made the character look soulless, which is perfectly alright in my book, but I know it throws some people off.

[seriouscat 347]

Haha the reason for that style of eyes is my request for Neverward to be inspired by illustrator Tatsuya Yoshikawa, specifically his work in Breath of Fire III (my personal favorite). They have similarly drawn eyes. 

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Ohhh I see (Had to look up on Google) Wow, Neverward did a great job with the style~

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

I love Breath of Fire's artwork. : D The details of the bones are so beautiful to look at.

 

The new portraits look great. I love how you can still see some of Neverward's personal style. 

I especially really really like the hair and details of the fur/ hair on the third character.. Her hair really stands out to me because of how well done it is, imo.

 

 

Well that comment confuses me. Apart from both having black hair and being female, I really can't see any other similarities in the characters to make anyone think they look like each other.

Well i dunno. XD I think they look pretty alike; like i think i can see quite a lot of similarities actually.

[seriouscat 347]

Omgosh it's been like forever since I last updated! âˆ‘(O_Oï¼›)

 

I have had sooo much going on guys! I've simply been dealing with urgent irl matters such as losing power, and heat and internet and everything, but I apologize deeply! (ã„’oã„’) I assure you, Constellation is still alive! I actually wanted to share with you guys some things I have been considering re-vamping! Without further a-do, here is my NEW to-do list :

 

0 New sprites - I am not particularly happy with the mack sprite style anymore (reminds me too much of rtp style??) so I was thinking of getting custom sprites for Constellation! They will still be tall sprites, but more stylized! I also may incorporate pixel movement and diagonal movement. I really want to capture the feel of a polished RPG and I think those things will really help!

 

0 New mapping - I have been thinking hard about this and I have decided I want to re-do all my maps in a different style, instead of 50/50 (parallax/rtp) I am thinking going 90-100% parallax so I can create interesting new and unique maps!

 

0 Renevating the story - while I am not drastically altering the story by any means, having all this extra time to think and stew has given me new perspective on my story and how to improve it and make it better! The core of C0nstellation is still inspired by Chinese mythology but I will be taking more liberties and changing things up. 

 

If any of you are still here and following this topic I give you all my love and kisses! (*￣з￣) â™¥ You guys are what give me strength to keep going! 

 

Love,

ciruscat

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Still here Cirus :3 I'm just glad you're back! Glad to see that Constellation is still on the move, though ^-^ Ooh, custom sprites. That'll be amazing to see in action 

[Ocedic 249]

Glad to see you endure through the hardships to work on your project. This is still one of my most anticipated games here; I look forward to seeing your new art/story.

 

I think it's a smart idea to simply use a certain mythology as inspiration rather than being beholden to it set in stone. Good luck!

[Allusion 398]

This project is so adorable, and creative~ Chinese mythology sounds so interesting! I love everything about it so far, and the artwork looks amazing~ I know this is going to be a wonderful game, Cirus! Can't wait to see what happens with all the changes. 

[seriouscat 347]

Hello everyone! ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

 

So I thought a fun little thing to talk about today would be about where did I come up with inspiration for my characters. So read on to see how I came up with each of the Constellation characters! 

 

I am inspired by a multitude of things: music, etymology, other characters, blood type, and numerology. Typically, I think of a general personality outline for a character (such boldness or modesty or agonized) and then find a name for the character that fits. I then check the numerology of the name to see if it is a perfect fit. (note: Numerology is the belief that numbers hold special powers such as in your name, etc) If you are interested in numerology, here is a very basic calculator that determines a name's number and its meaning. I typically only check the number of the first name but you can check the entire name if you wanted!

 

This will be update ONE of FIVE in a series of posts I will do concerning the develop of Constellation's main characters:

 

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One: Yara

 

 

My goal for Yara's character was to develop a delicate and naive young woman with surprising nerve and a strong sense of loyalty; The character I had in mind while creating her was Ashitaka from the film Princess Mononoke. 

 

I wanted to expand on the delicate themes of her character in her first name so I chose the name Yara, inspired by the Hebrew name Yaara meaning "honeycomb" or "honeysuckle". Her last name, Naji, was inspired by the Arabic word Naji meaning "close friend" and was given to represent her honesty and friendliness. 

 

I checked the numerology of the name Yara (#9) and it had more characteristics I used to develop Yara: humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression. I started to get the image of a selfless young woman faced with a cosmic obligation.

 

In order to evolve her story I started listening to music. The song Lullaby by The Acorn (listen here) instantly stood out to me. To me it brought to mind a simple country girl forced to leave her home and the sorrow she carried with her as she travels. Thus, I started to mold Yara into someone suddenly uprooted from her homeland so I could explore conflicts of reluctance, uncertainty of the world, and self-discovery.

 

The last step in finalizing her character was to determine her phase (Wu Xing) and Chinese zodiac (ShÄ“ngxiào). Her role in Constellation made  it natural to give her the element Earth which is associated with the concept of centrality. Her Chinese zodiac sign the Rabbit bears many similarities to Yara's qualities including delicacy and flexibility.

 

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I hope after reading all this you have a stronger sense of Yara's identity and I truly hope it can somehow help you in your own character development! 

[Ocedic 249]

I like that you develop your characters with multiple axis, so to speak. There isn't just one inspiration for your characters, but rather you draw on influences from numerous sources such as etymology, numerology, and the Chinese Zodiac. The result is a multi-faceted character, just like how in real life a person can't really be defined by one attribute only.

 

I look forward to seeing the rest of your characters' inspirations! It's always cool to see the thought processes behind design decisions.

[Allusion 398]

Oh, wow! This is really cool, Cirus. I love the little numerology bit! It sounds like it tears down the initial wall that a lot of people have when creating characters; finding out where to start. Without the initial spark of inspiration, starting from scratch can be daunting.

 

Yara, in the end, fits with herself perfectly! She is adorable, and I have a strong view of her character from this. What do you think her Western zodiac would be? 

[Galv 1,387]

I, too, love hearing dev's thought processes. Ya'll need to do this more as well

[seriouscat 347]

@Allusion Thanks so much! Well... Her western zodiac would definitely have to be...Virgo! I chose it because it is an Earth sign and represents a hard working, practical, and modest person, which is definitely very Yara! 

 

edit: I forgot to mention her Blood type! I chose O because it felt like the best fit for her, because I see her as being ultimately optimistic.

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Ooh, my blood type is O I think your development process is extraordinary. I've never used that much background in a statistical kind of way to create a fleshed-out character like that ^-^

 

EDIT: BY THE WAYYYYY, I had a little bit of time to draw this today. I couldn't dedicate a lot of time to it So it looks kind of scratchy. The sudden picture of Yara is because of how much I love your project--and also my way of saying a deep thank-you for yesterday (You understand, I'm sure~)

[The Yank 10]

Wow, looks like a lot of depth went into each character. I didn't think there would be so much behind something as simple as a name! Not that it's a bad thing, of course.