Sinister Studios Games
Character Concept Art
This section contains all the character concepts I've done so far, including the main antagonist, Dr Bram, and the monster that will be pursuing Frederick Irwin while he tries to escape the old abandoned warehouse.
The first concept I will be doing is of Dr Bram, a head surgeon with deteriorating mental health and a side project which involves turning patients into mutants with enhanced abilities (e.g. strength and speed). With this idea in mind, I decided to make a mood-board consisting of a variety of mad doctors to gain an idea on which direction to take the concept. In particular, I paid close attention to the clothing and hairstyles as those are big aspects of what sets the 1960s apart from this decade; I decided to base the hairstyle on the top-left black and white picture as it gives off that smart evil doctor impression with grey hairs being an indicator of experience and wisdom, and for the clothing, I took inspiration from Dr Killjoy (from The Suffering - Midway Games, 2004) and Hugo Strange (from Batman Arkham City - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 2011); the former is a good example of a doctor with old primitive attire (suitable for the 20th century), and the latter, despite the modern aesthetic, is an example of how a mad scientist would dress in smart clothing (suitable for a head surgeon). The aim now is to combine both elements together; so the clothes can look old school and smart at the same time.
This is the concept I made based on what I found on the mood-board. I decided to make two variants here; the left variant shows how Dr Bram would normally look and the right variant shows his mentally unstable side after a day of experimentation.
The first thing to talk about is the clothing; it is similar in layout to what Hugo Strange wears, however, I've included things that would typically be worn by a 20th Century doctor, for example, a bow-tie, monocles and headlamp. Secondly, the grey/beige colour scheme is suitable for a lead surgeon, especially since it makes blood stand out in a horrific way (additionally, the blood matches the colour of the bow-tie and collar).
Aside from blood and chemical stains, the mentally ill variant has other minor differences including paler skin, ripped clothing, darker eyes and frizzled hair; true marks of a mad doctor.
After gaining feedback from team members, it was suggested to add more hair to the normal variant and to replace the boots with something smart (such as black shoes), so that is something I will address in the near future.
This is the concept of the monster that pursues Frederick Irwin throughout his escape, his name is simply 'Specimen'. The idea is that Specimen will have freakish strength despite looking slim and emaciated, while also being infested by bulging boils as a result of the experimental procedures conducted on him.
I did some research on the Slender Man who has a slim body and long arms, as well as the Lambent Drudge enemy from Gears of War 3 (Microsoft Studios, 2011) which has glowing lumps on its abdomen. I decided to make use of those features for my character design; the long arms being out of proportion to the rest of the body, as well as the abundance of boils makes Specimen quite a frightening sight; he still retains some of his humanity, however, his disfigured and disproportionate body gives off an uncanny effect.
On an additional note, most of his face is covered by an oxygen mask and there are a couple reasons for this; one, it adds a sense of mystery as to what the rest of Specimen's face looks like, and two, it will make a creepy pounding/breathing which could be a valuable asset to the overall atmosphere of the game.
References:
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Midway Games. (2004). The Suffering. PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows. Surreal Software: Kirkland, Washington, USA.
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Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. (2011). Batman Arkham City. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii U, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Rocksteady Studios: Kentish Town, London, England.
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Microsoft Studios. (2011). Gears of War 3. Xbox 360. Epic Games: Cary, North Carolina, USA.
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Update (14-12-2018):
Upon receiving feedback for my Dr Bram concept (most of which was positive), I decided to make some much-needed changes as the main sources of criticism was the hair and the boots:
His normal variant looked like he was already losing hair, which contradicted the fact that he was a healthy lead surgeon working a typical shift in a hospital, so I decided to clean up his hair-style around the sides and add more strokes to fill up the areas where he was balding.
The second thing is the fact that he is supposed to be wearing smart clothing (due to his position), yet he was wearing boots which were found to be out of place compared to the rest of the design, so I decided to erase the boots and replace them with smart shoes.
Aside from the monocles (I had to change the colour of them as they looked like golden paper) and the addition of lower trouser legs, the rest of the design remained unchanged as it already captured the look of a 60s surgeon.