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Plan for Kirk Alberts

by Kirk Alberts · 05/21/2004 (11:27 am) · 5 comments

We've been slugging through BitShifter for a little over a year now and we've gotten to a point where burn for all of us is taking it's toll. As we were trying to come up with ways to cool the burn rate we decided my main priority at this point would be to back off and start doing more concept art and try to find some other people to take over the roles I had been bogged down in.

Over the past few weeks I've been working on Flash Bios, our reluctant hero in BitShifter. Flash has been complicated for us. He's the simple man, thrown into a whirlwind of events that are completely over his head. We've had a lot of talks about who Flash is and how he will act, react, etc. And we've come up with a pretty clear idea of who our hero is. Now we just need to see what he looks like.

Flash's primary duty is menial labor, he's a janitor who finds himself ultimately responsible for the future of Bitworld after an evil villian has unleashed a terrible virus upon the land that threatens to destroy all of Bitkind.

I've come up with a few ideas of what we think he should look like and have been kicking them against each other to see which one comes out on top. Joe at Bravetree has been helping us by providing some valuable insight during the creation process. Joe has a rare eye for being able to dissect potential problems and offer solutions without getting bogged down in the muck and mire inherent in solution giving. Plus, he's a talented artist with an good grasp on what it takes to make things work.

We're pretty close to the look we want for Flash and hope to nail it soon

If you'd like to see some of the recent concept work for Flash's character I've got a few drawings of him Here. The top left version of Flash is the one we're looking at heavily at this point. We're going to push him a bit farther and see what happens.

I'll post more concept art as I go, there are more characters that will be part of the plot that I have yet to fully visualize, including Colonel Panic, the arch villian bent on the destruction of Bitworld.

We'll see how things shape up in the coming weeks.

Paul, Jason and I have been working on the characters that will revolve around the game for some time now and we've finally started to really get a grasp on what we'll need to make it all come to life.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks working on more concept art for models and the comic strips that will tell Flash's story

#1
05/21/2004 (12:04 pm)
Kirk, just a thought: does every good guy in your game look like a robot? I mean, don't you think Flash should look different from the bits themselves?

Anyway, is great to see people seriously concerned about storyline and a true character design. Allow me to point this great resource about storytelling. Syd Field is a must-read for Hollywood movie script writers.

By the way, I loved the name of the company and the logo, though I'd take off the grenade. The letters are enough and very cool.

Hey, you asked for opinions, right?? :OP
#2
05/21/2004 (1:26 pm)
Nice one Kirk! you guys are doing well! keep at it! last leg!!!!!

Go team go!

Yayy!

etc :)
#3
05/21/2004 (2:50 pm)
Great work man. :) Keep it up.
#4
05/21/2004 (5:19 pm)
Thanks guys!

@Abid. Yes, Flash looks a lot different than the Bits. I'm going to do some studies of Flash with some Bits, the Bits are smaller and have these gigantic ovoid heads. Plus, they tote guns and tear around like caffiene-crazed maniacs. We're going to assume that noone in their right mind would ever allow Flash to have a gun.
#5
05/23/2004 (3:23 pm)
I love it! Flash and the bits, its classic, campy and fun! Cant wait to play (again) at this years IGC.

-s