Shiburu, do no evil!

Thank you for taking the time to look at my concept art for the Rookies 2022 competition.

‘Shiburu do not evil!’ was I project I completed for my digital games course, I wanted to experiment with pixel art and very basic coding to create an interactable environment. This portfolio will explore the pixel art side of the project.

For the main protagonist, I wanted a very cutesy, kiddish feel and a shorter stylised body. There are walk cycles for up, down, left, and right, and also sprites to sit down, as I wanted Shiburu’s world to be a peaceful one. The actual size of his sprite is 64 x 64. 

The hot spring was made to be the home of a macaque monkey, also known as the Japanese snow monkey, these monkeys often relax in the natural hot springs of Japan, and I wanted to depict a comfortable and calming environment for the monkeys to relax and rejuvenate. I found breaking my process into sections was a beneficial method to tackle larger environments.

I’m most proud of Shiburu’s house, the house's colour scheme was made to match Shiburu and his outfit so that it was obvious that he owned the home. Being a monkey of doing no evil, removing a tree would be one of the evillest things one could do, both he and all his ancestors allowed it to grow through the house, and Shiburu named his leafy roommate, Treeburu. 

It was a challenge trying to incorporate the tree into the design of the interior of the house, I found using it as a boundary between rooms to be the best and most interesting option. It was fun adding the detail to this piece as it added more inside into Shiburu's character and allowed me to experiment with furnishings. 

Finally, a few screenshots from the mock-up of the game.

Thank you so much for looking at my project, I hope you loved looking at it as much as I loved making it!