While I had done quite a few designs for games I had previously worked on, (Most notably Phantom 2040), SepterraCore was the first game that I was able to really create the world and characters from the ground up and set the tone for the artists that would follow. The story takes place on a world of floating continents, arranged in concentric shells, stacked on top of each other, all revolving around a bio-computer at its Core that holds the secret of the world’s creation. I was lucky to have some very talented people continue the visual design work for the rest of the cast, the hardware, backgrounds and creatures – Some of the most creative artists I have ever had the privilege to work with!
What follows are the original designs I did for the main characters, back when the game was just in its concept phase. The color was done by the incomparable Kathy Tootelian, (who also did the character design for Grubb and Doskias).
Tap each for more detail, and then on the larger image for more info.
Maya - 1995
Maya was the first character I drew up for Septerra. I wanted her to look junky and rugged while still being feminine. When we turned these characters into 3D models, I decided that the game would be better if the faces were less of my cartoony style and a bit more serious / realistic. Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Maya Wind - 1995
This was done to not only develop a profile look for Maya, but also to be used in the concept video we put together to help sell the game to the Viacom brass. In the movie, the camera pans up to a starry sky and focuses on the planet Septerra.
Corgan - 1995
Corgan came out of a desire to have a character that combined both modern and ancient styles, a reflection on the society he comes from. Some people have asked why his sword has no cross guard. I just thought it would be interesting to have a fighting style that is less about actually sword fighting and more about getting in the first blow - fairly Samurai I guess. Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Led Campbell - 1996
This was the first drawing I did of Led. After this, every time I would draw her the pony tails and wrench got bigger! Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Led Kneeling - 1996
Led was really one of the first characters I created that people really reacted to, both the male and female players. Everyone wanted to know more about her. I'm very proud of that!
Led Shy - 1996
This image was cleaned up and used for design, but also wound up on some t-shirts for the team. Next Generation ran the very first story about SepterraCore to hit print and they included the original picture of Led looking over her shoulder.
The day after the article hit, I was walking down the street and two kids passed me. "That dude has the coolest SepterraCore shirt," one of them said to the other. Remember, the game had not even come out yet, and all the shirt had on it was Led, not the title of the game! I knew at that instant that Led had appeal - people remembered her.
School Girl Led - 1998
This was a drawing I did sort of for my own fun, but also because everyone liked the idea. It's fun to see the progression of Led from '95 to '98 as we developed the game.
Selina - 1995
Selina was the first of the Chosen to be designed. I wanted to emphasize her armor, (which originally was needed to survive on the lower shells of the planet), and her spell casting ability (the cards are spells). Selina was conceived from the start as a dark character who would move from the "bad guys" side to the "good guys" side, although such black and white distinctions are not always that clear in the game. Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Runner - 1995
Runner is still one of my favorites. Originally he was never intended to walk upright as well as on all fours. When we had trouble getting the character to work right in the backgrounds, we decided that he would stand up to walk around, and go to all fours to fight and run. In retrospect it made him even cooler.
Araym - 1995
Araym was designed to be the ultimate bounty hunter, and I had a real fun time designing his arm rockets. As you can see, originally they were going to have cables that connected the arms to Araym when in flight, but this was just too difficult to do in the game ( and I knew it would be, but I wanted to see if we could get it in!) Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Badu - 1996
Badu was an attempt to design an original race of creatures for Septerra. Badu and his people were patterned after a combination of dolphin and bat traits. They also communicate with changing patches of Bio-Luminescence on their foreheads. His spine tail (coming off of the back of his head) was always something that I liked. Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Lobo - 1995
Lobo was originally only going to be a robotic pirate, but I came up with a different story while working out this design. I decided these robot bodies were used by his government as warriors, with reprogrammed criminal brains inside, re-conditioned to fight any war as their punishment. Lobo's memories reawakened after being shot down and he spends his life fighting against his creators. I tried to pay extra special attention to the moving parts on this design, making sure that he would actually work in 3D. Colors by Kathy Tootelian.
Gemma - 1996
This design was for the embodiment of evil in Septerra'a mythology. Unlike most fantasy, Septerra has a blurrier depiction of good and evil. Like the real world that we live in, only the world's mythology has clear lines drawn between good and evil. Therefore, both the antagonist and protagonist believe they are on the side of right - I wanted to avoid the overused idea of some dark evil re-awakening in the world ONCE AGAIN to....snooore. Oh, what? Sorry I fell asleep.
Kyra - 1996
Kyra was designed to be a goddess of light, and the love interest for Marduk, the mythology's main hero. Originally her hair was supposed to turn into light as it left her head.
Marduk - 1996
This was the original design for the hero of Septerra'a mythology. Originally he was conceived as a younger character who grew over the course of the myth-cycle into a legendary king. While I really like this design, I later felt that the character should be more epic and regal, and I decided to use a drawing I had originally created as an illustration of Elric instead. But perhaps this IS the younger version of the Marduk that wound up in the game...
Marduk / Storm Bringer - 1997
I wanted to do a picture of Moorcocks's Elric and his demon sword Stormbringer, just for fun. However, this picture was modified and used as the character of Marduk in Septerra Core at the last minute, because the other designs I had done just didn't feel epic enough.
Dogo - 1996
This was my original design for Dogo, the trickster god from Septerra's mythology. I still really like the design, a sort of combination of a clown, the grim reaper, and a harlequin. However, I thought that one of the designs that had been done by Kye Wan, one of the artists who did many of the other designs for the game, was darker and more serious. The final character in the game became a combination of the two. Little known fact: The design we used for Dogo was originally created to be used as Brom, a henchmen of Doskias' who was cut from the game early on.
Enkidu's Son - 1996
Much of Septerra's mythology was a combination of both Paradise Lost and Babylonian mythology (which I included when I found out that quite a bit of the stuff I was making up for the mythology was mirrored in Babylonian). Enkidu was originally going to be one of Marduk's allies against Gemma in the game, but was dropped to keep things simpler. The idea for the character came from the Epic of Gilgamesh. I gave him a weapon made from a large iron bell - it was supposed to ring when he went in for the attack. Hmmm, bells, wrenches, flying arms - I guess I just like strange weapons!
Jinam Battleship - 1996
This was the original ship design for the Jinam battleships. Kye Wan was doing some awesome designs for the Chosen and the Ankaran ships, so he inspired me to jump in and set the style for Jinam. The large cylinder on the back was going to drop off of the ship and descend to the battlefield, where it would open up and unleash ground invasion forces. Oh well, we couldn't squeeze that battle sequence movie onto the disk so it was cut! Notice how the ship looks similar to Lobo in design - They are both pieces of Jinam technology.
Septerra Page - 2001
This was a "fake" SepterraCore comic page I did for inclusion in a book by on visual storytelling - the idea being to see how this scene would play out differently in different mediums. This was done several years after the game came out, and I thought it might be neat to include here.