Kraken Concept Art

[Mefisto]

Maybe facing slightly more towards the south?

This is why I drew the second sketch. Should I work on it? Or should I design something less cuttlefishy and more squiddish? If the unit is to be given trait "submerge" I could draw the whole body and it would still be visible only during attack with it's tentacles etc. It would be easier to me to conceptualize it.

Otherwise, this looks cool, however, the colour scheme might be a little too different from the previous level...

I think that the difference in colours isn't that bad. Bats, wolves, horses of different levels are easily distinguishable thanks to their colour schemes. But now I think that the palette is too big. The unit doesn't need so many shades.
Well, maybe it's too red. But you know, in the deep, dark water red colour is invisible

[pauxlo]

If the unit is to be given trait "submerge" I could draw the whole body and it would still be visible only during attack with it's tentacles etc. It would be easier to me to conceptualize it.

Submerged units still would be visible not only during attack, but always when an enemy unit is next to them.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Plus something that big would be visible even when completely under water, so the submerge trait really doesn't fit.

[Mefisto]

Submerged units still would be visible not only during attack, but always when an enemy unit is next to them.

So do I need to make frames for kraken submerging and emerging from the abyss?

Plus something that big would be visible even when completely under water, so the submerge trait really doesn't fit.

I depends how deep it is. But I see that "submerge" trait gives us nothing.

Another concept for possible kraken:cuttlefish half-mutated into squid. If this is still not good enough I'll try something completely different. Still I wanted to preserve it's resemblance to cuttlefish as in the campaign Dead Water it is the upgraded cuttlefish.

[Vendanna]

The last sketch gives an impression of sadness (due how the eyes are placed)

Also, the problem with changing the pose from down and right perspective to the one in the sketch is that the size perception looks strange (it is bigger on not?) atm my impression would be that the unit is shorter. even tought I know it isn't since I cannot compare properly the lenght with the other unit.

The hybrid squid-cuttlefish seems the way to go with the unit, or at least I like the idea, remember that you may give some hooks with the suckers since the colossal squid has those (and its what cuts the skin of the perm whales when they fight.)

So my suggestion would be keeping the perspective but it should be longer rather than just bigger (it could be 1 or 2 pixel taller but rather longer). Remember part of the charisma your cuttlefish has is due to the perspective you used, a front view doesn't give that big impression.

[Mefisto]

This perpective has two advantages:
1. I allows to draw one animation suitable for both S and SE attacks.
2. I is distinct from the cuttlefish perspective. It is easier to distinguish units of different levels if they have not only different details but also the pose.

About hooks - I thought about it because I like the idea. But I don't know if they aren't too tiny to be clearly visible and recognizable.

About "sadness" - well, that's the charm of cuttlefish eyes. I have made another sketch, this time with more squidish eyes (but the body is more cuttlefishy . And I attach a template with this sketch scaled an a cuttlefish placed below for comparison.

[thespaceinvader]

I think that one is teh win. Just what I was thinking =)

[Issyl]

Looks great to me.

[Mefisto]

Good. Time to drown... eeer... to draw.

[Mefisto]

My eyes are burning so I'm not sure about colours. Tell me if they aren't too saturated.

[Issyl]

The green in the eyes might be a little saturated but the rest looks fine to me.

One thing I didn't notice before though: the left tentacle is longer than the right, which looks rather odd.

[Mefisto]

The green in the eyes might be a little saturated but the rest looks fine to me.

OK, I'll work on this green but not today. I need to look at it with the fresh eyes.

the left tentacle is longer than the right

No. It's just the perspective. Besides even if they are uneven it doesn't matter because cephalopods can shrink and elongate their tentacles. Unless wikipedia lies.

[Cloud]

Add a pixel of white to dark part of the biggest eye, it brings out reflective surface of the eye.

[f]

Nice Kraken!

If you want to make it look stranger, here is a closeup of a kraken eye:
http://www.weichtiere.at/images/weichti ... e_auge.jpg

f.

[Mefisto]

About the eyes: no. I have considered briefly giving cuttlefishy eyes to kraken (see the sketch higher on the page) but I think that large, bulging eyes look better.

I attach the latest version of kraken and a comparison between it and the cuttlefish unit. I fixed some minor things in shading and shaping the tentacles and slightly changed the shade of green. If it is approved I start animation. Should I move the future animations to the thread about Dead Water art in Contribs or leave them here?