The assets showcased here are from a project I contributed to during Mini Jam 149. The challenge required us to create a game within three days, based on the theme “Ancient” and the constraint “Written in an Alien Language.” Managing scope while ensuring the game was fully playable within that timeframe was no easy task, but our team succeeded, and we were proud to place 3rd overall in the jam.
If you’d like to try the game, it’s a short browser experience (about 5–10 minutes)
SPRITES & TILESETS
Caridea’s design is inspired by the mantis shrimp, with her older, shaman-like appearance emerging naturally from the silhouette of a bipedal version of the creature. The hunched, enclosed posture suggested wisdom and age, which guided the rest of the concept. Her clothing draws influence from Serbian folk attire, grounding her in a distinct cultural style.
Caridea originates from a frigid swamp ecosystem, inhabited by terrestrial snow crabs and parasitic fungi that feed on the blood of creatures that succumb to hypothermia.
This project was an excellent opportunity to experiment with new ideas and deepen my understanding of how a character’s design can reflect and reinforce the environment they inhabit.
Character Design
The model was sculpted in ZBrush and retopologized in Maya to create an optimized low-poly mesh suitable for real-time performance. Following a high-to-low resolution workflow, I used Substance 3D Painter to bake normal, curvature, and ambient occlusion (AO) maps, enhancing the surface detail. Texturing was also completed in Substance 3D Painter, using a combination of procedural masking and hand-painting for a grounded, organic look.
