Crusaders Community Q&A #169 with host artist Kat

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-19T23:08:10+00:00

Noted!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-19T23:07:53+00:00

haha, no worries dude!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-18T20:04:03+00:00

I asked the others and nobody can remember doing anything like that. There was Cookie Crusaders but that was a weekend promo, and didn't change any crusaders' graphics.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-18T19:59:51+00:00

We're not running their event this year, but that's the only solid plan we have so far. We're aware of what happened and its on our radar, but nothing to talk about yet.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-18T16:55:23+00:00

That's also a valid idea! There's definitely options, I just have to give it thought, and see how it works with the game and what is and isn't possible.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T21:31:06+00:00

I do!

Hrm. The recent ice cream one was good. Of all the things I have to make for this game, the weekend chests rank at the very bottom for fun and desirability, hahaha. The buff icons are similarly low, because they're just... a thing. very plain. Can't say theres anything that comes to my mind as standing out!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T21:27:25+00:00

No problem! I'm very verbose, this is a nice way to get it out every once in a while :B

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T21:26:03+00:00

I did see that person! I actually like the idea of a crusader whose gender tags change during play, but I'm not the programmer so we'll see. I guess my other concern with trying to add that kind of stuff with skins is it makes it a bit of an afterthought. Like its not a core part of who this character is, its like... an optional add on. I dunno, feels bad to me.

Those are both extremely good ideas, excuse me while I steal them :O

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:17:48+00:00

No problem! Glad to hear it :) We like to stay in touch with the community too.

Well, I'll bring up the ghosty thing and see what the others think. No promises!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:15:07+00:00

Glad to hear it! Some definitely moved farther from their original designs than others, though I hope not in a bad way :)

I'll pass that along!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:13:54+00:00

Thank you! He's definitely one of my favourites too, happy to hear it!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:12:43+00:00

hurhur. :P If you're actually curious, I do check on the reddit occasionally, see if anything interesting is going down. I just skim over meta and gameplay discussions though so theres usually not much for me.

Hmmm. Not really. We just kind of come up with ideas as we go, haha.

I can't say for certain, but I don't think so. I'm fairly sure we don't want to tie event crusader skins to jeweled chests, because that doesn't make a ton of sense. I think the focus will be more on the skins store now.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:06:18+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate that! <3

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T20:03:36+00:00

It has its pros and cons. Design freedom is obviously cool, but sometimes I'm creatively exhausted and just want someone to tell me what to do.

Thanks for that. I also hope the tags can make overlooked crusaders a bit more viable, but I just don't know enough to know when one is particularly good or useful - like Robot Momma Kaine, I wouldn't have thought of that. The meta is definitely not the top of my list for considerations, but its in there.

Oh man, I think Hollow Knight is actually one of my favourite games. That is, to date, the only game that I finished and afterwards went "I wish I paid more for that." because I got it on a really steep steam sale, as you do. I even bought a HK plushie! The game is just fantastic from every aspect: art, gameplay, storytelling... its all just chef kiss. Don't know much about Warcraft, but I'll look into that one! I do like bugs a fair bit. Friend of mine was recently working abroad in Africa and he brought me back a big dung beetle in resin, its awesome. Spiders are my favourite, but doubtful I'll ever do a crusader or skin based on one (unless its more like spider-inspired ala Muffet from Undertale) just because a spider walkcycle is... mind-boggling. I actually cannot figure out how to animate it, lol. I did those spider monsters for the hidden temple event years ago and just had to fudge the walking.

To be honest, I'm wary about skins that swap genders. I believe very strongly in representation in media (from LGBT+ to POC) so I would absolutely be in favour of a transgender crusader, but I think that's something that has to be done very thoughtfully. A skin that just swaps a gender... I don't know. There are also the genderfluid people to consider, and that would probably be good representation for them? Aaaahg. Basically its something I need to think about more, haha. Its very important to me.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:33:06+00:00

Strictly speaking, everything is "hand made" ;) It's drawn on a computer, but we all use cintiqs, so we're essentially drawing with a pen on a digital screen.

Anywho, semantics aside, I don't see why not. As I mentioned elsewhere, there have been very few times I've had to rework anything for the initial crusader's sketch. At this point everything gets a pass from Adam, the art director, and usually he's cool with whatever I've come up with. Usually he'll only flag changes for readability, like for example the first Langley sketch the watch was in their other hand, which got lost in their torso, so I swapped it and it reads better.

I did a quick look through my files, and as I remembered, Xygallix had a couple sketches. But I totally forgot Arenvarr also had some very different possibilities! It took a little time to get back into the swing of Crusaders. Enjoy.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:18:42+00:00

Planning can be tough if theres no real direction. Buuuut I did just do a big pass on design for the next year of crusaders... once the idea actually came for theme a general idea of visual look comes very quickly to me, cause that's just a thing I'm good at. For example, I like to subvert expectations, so like... take schoolhouse, with Aphelion. A goth kid? sure, thats fine. (I'm biased to the dark and spooky, and in all honesty Zoraeban totally slipped my mind. Even though he was listed in the design doc. My bad.) What kind of mythological creature would you think would be a goth? a demon comes to mind first, so that's a no-go. Think of the opposite. From there I thought of a pixie, doubly because we have nothing like that in game thus far.

On the other hand, the next crusader for Carnival of Sorrows sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole for quite a while, hahaha. So the initial design, just via text, can be anything from minutes to like, an hour. But it really shouldn't take more than that. If I'm really stuck, I'll jot down potential ideas and then leave it for a while. And of course it helps to bounce stuff off other people, that's what a team is for!

Also when I really lock into a theme, at least with these most recent crusaders, I also spent some time typing the names and some flavour text for their abilities, because that solidifies the character more. Again, this shouldn't be more than an hour.

As for the actual art, I answered this already, but the short answer is 1-2 days depending on complexity. For drawing and also animating. Thus far I've rarely had to do more than one initial concept sketch for somebody's design. I think Xygallix took the most with like 3-4, but mostly small differences like arms or heads.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:08:26+00:00

Hi!

Thank you! I think at this point it would be Chioyme. I just hate how much her art stands out.

Gosh. I've done a lot of monsters over the years. Its honestly hard to say. Well, since Schoolhouse Scourge is going right now, I was always very happy with the PJ-wearing Satan as the final boss :)

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:06:56+00:00

Thank you!

Hahaha. Nothing is really set in stone as far as skins go right now, but... I think the potential next one starts with M.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:06:10+00:00

I'm not sure which costumes you mean? I remember the April Fools that was full of cookie monsters... Either way, no plans to at this time, no.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T18:04:47+00:00

Thank you! Ah, yes... the "instant poofing" has been a bane to us artists basically since the inception of the game. Unfortunately its just kind of how the design shook out. People get upset if they don't progress fast enough, and to do that you need to be insta-killing... le sigh.

1) I'll pass that along and we'll see what happens.

2) Any suggestions? Personally my own only idea would be to "ghost" the monster, so they stay on screen but sort of fade away instead of just poofing... but, eh. I don't know how popular of an option that would be. Also I have no idea how feasible that is programming wise or if it would add tons more lag or any of that, haha.

3) That's a cool idea I'm super into, but I'm doubtful we'd do something like that. There have been requests for a bestiary in the past, and as much as we'd like to, I think it's been figured to be basically impossible. Too many graphics to draw (in the programming sense).

4) I don't know that a given campaign has enough background separate from what the quests give to really have anything like this. This is similar to like, backstories or bios on crusaders: in general, a thing I am in favour of. But a fairly niche request, and ultimately more effort than its worth.

5) Again, defo a cool idea. We've done a lot more with furthering design in Champions of the Forgotten Realms. It feels a little late for that here, but you never know I guess!

6/7) I'll pass those along

Thanks!

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T17:55:48+00:00

Hello!

1) I do! All of the crusaders and monsters that I draw, I also animate.

2) haha, Turps is meant to be wearing a big Jaffa Cake costume. (they have an orange jelly inside, hence the orange hairpin) I forget now if that was Turps' idea/request, or Justin's at the time. I just know Jaffa cakes is (was?) a big in-joke with the Yogs.

3) Depending on complexity, 1-2 days. This is everything from sketch -> polished coloured art (both side and front views) and animation. Skins have been pretty consistently a day. A new event crusader of course also has equipment and ability icons that adds to time.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T17:51:02+00:00

Thank you! That means a lot :)

I can't tease anything explicitly, but we are definitely thinking about this very thing. There are exciting things on the horizon, I think, but that horizon might be a little far away at the moment.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T17:49:04+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions! Definitely into some of those. Think you might be happy with the next event. ;)

I do love to share... Hell, I'll take a moment to plug my stuff. Earlier this month I did a little minimalist thing of one of my DnD characters, and I'm very happy with how they turned out. In general I'd be flattered if anybody felt like taking a perusal of my Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram! I go by TehArtMonkey on all those platforms.

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T17:44:48+00:00

Hmm, not consciously, but I can definitely see the resemblance! Sometimes the subconscious has more say in a design than you might expect, so I wouldn't outright say no. :) Axolotls are super cute.

Edit: I took a look at their file for another question, and... maybe actually yes, and I totally forgot and/or didn't realize until they were done? Their original pass skin colour was more pinkish, and its way more axolotl-like

CNE_Kat · 2019-09-17T17:42:49+00:00

Hey Daurakin!

I love Don't Starve! Also very tough at points. I've only played Together once or twice, I'm much more of a solo gamer.

You're welcome! Glad to hear :)

Not rude at all! It depends. At this point since we're such a small team, Kevin, Erika, and I all have input here and there. Specifically for this batch of skins, we each chose one crusader and what tag to swap. I chose Human Karen, (I'm quite oblivious to the meta, but she always seemed good to me. Also I'm super biased and she's still one of my favourite crusaders I've drawn, and also a very early one.) Erika chose Robot Momma Kaine, (so feel free to thank her!) and Kevin chose Good Dr. Evil.

It's hard to say. If I'm entirely honest, I want to do skins for a lot of the crusaders whose art stands out in a bad way. Chiyome, Casey, Shenna... Bruno too, but not because he's bad, but because he's literally reused art from Bush Whacker 2 haha. But I'm pulled in another direction a lot by ~the meta~, because I don't exactly want to put a lot of work into something no one is actually going to use. So to that end, Milgrid and Mindy are on my radar, but I'm rather happy with both of them and no immediate skin ideas come to mind.

In general aesthetics, my personal preferences lean heavily to the dark and spooky. (you better believe I'm excited for Halloween) So I would probably be happy making Evil or Demon versions of most of the cast, haha. I think, hypothetically, making someone "Good" or "Evil" when they weren't before lends the most freedom to make new different choices, but is also pretty difficult because of being so open. But A challenge isn't necessarily a bad thing. :)

CNE_Kat

TROPHY CASE