When envisioning the aesthetic inspiration for my game, the first thing to come to mind was, of course, FNaF. Scott Cawthon‘s penchant for uncanny robot designs is an obvious thing for me to analyse, to see how I can use mechanical parts to design a character that elicits that uncomfortable feeling I want to introduce over time. He also has plenty of unassuming robots that aren’t large or looming, so I can also look for inspiration for the starting/original form of our robot protagonist.
The Desolate Hope is a 2014 game that rolls platformer, dungeon crawler and RPG turn-based combat into one package.
I played the first several minutes of the game to get a feel for how the art looks in motion and what the mechanics are like. Easy to say, a word to sum up this game is OVERWHELMING. The settings are filled to the brim with assets, there’s immediately three levels of simulation (?) with different gameplay, and there’s already multiple shops to buy… items? Upgrades? Switch stats? I don’t know – none of this is to mention the controls. No WASD, Z to jump, Esc IMMEDIATELY closes the game (I have no idea how to access settings or if I even can), and there are two buttons to cycle through dialogue at different times.
However, I can say that the art is certainly worth looking at. The game centers around these large robots called Derelicts, and each has it’s own room and a breathtaking, looming design.
I really admire that all the designs are distinct yet extremely cohesive – it’s believable that they were built by the same organisation.
My favourite Derelict is the last one pictured here. They all have somewhat of a “puppet on a string” vibe, but the humanoid/mask face really elevates that here. I love the contrast between the thin, hanging arms and the broad shoulders and upper body, and also the general aesthetic of his room. The combination of human and robot elements (later used in the FNaF franchise with characters like the puppet and Ballora) really lends itself to the uncanny valley feeling. I think taking inspiration from how these characters play with proportions and adding some asymmetry would make for some really cool and unsettling visuals.
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