Description
This was supposed a birthday present for my youngest brother but I was about a month late. This is for his own clever story/video game concept he came up with and from talking with him about it I just wanted to try to see if I could portray a box art of sorts for it. Not realizing it at the time, this would be one of the toughest pieces for me to convey. The challenge, beside fighting with my own procrastination and art-block, was the severe learning curve of creating unique characters with no reference at all. Along with that was producing mechanical looking individuals (that are somewhat logical), portraying them all in one piece, and not smudging all of my work. It was a intensive experience and I had to work it out to the best of my abilities. My brother who gave me some parts of what he wanted them to look like but overall given me a lot of creative freedom (almost too much in some cases). So my little brother Kaidan became my first commission and that was certainly a benefit for the future, hopefully, to see what I still need to work on (which is still quite a lot). But down to the reason as to why I took this up was just because I wanted to do something nice for him. Even though late in my goal to give it to him on his birthday, he certainly came to like it in the end; which was all I wanted. So while late I'm glad he appreciates it; and now for the rest of what I have to say will be small information about this clever little story he came up with (along with some notes I had about designing them):
The premise of Sigmus is based around the Dyson sphere planet called Sigmus; a planet entirely of robots. Robots of this world are assembled, worked, and eventually disassembled to produce a new generation of robots. These robots come from the metroplex-like cities called simply the Factories, producing new robots with the supply of the last generation. This process is guided under the constant watch of the Overseers of Factories, and guided by their advisers; the Marked A.I. These A.I. are of unique creation, given personality all on their own and unlike any other robot, their memory is always present; no matter how many times they are dismantled. But out of one of these A.I. they would realize his mundane existence of serving the Overseer and this A.I. was Upsilon. Upon the usurping one of the Factory Overseer, which would escape to become Rogue, a new order would take place. With Upsilon wielding newfound power he made his first order to disperse all A.I. that chose not to usurp the Overseer to the menial jobs of the Factory drones. As the other A.I.'s of Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omega where left to repetitive tasks Alpha would reach his own realization. He sees how Upsilon was just the same as them and has no right to Overseer in comparison to his own. And with that Alpha came to form a rebellion by joining the other banished A.I. to join in challenging Upsilon's rule. As Upsilon discovers this resistance, since he cannot reassemble their A.I., chooses to exile the resistance out of the Factory itself. As the resistance are still determined to stop Upsilon rule; Upsilon himself is looking towards his from his ultimate goal. As he dismantles and reassembles the Factory drones into mechanical monstrosities, he is builds an army of slaves; seeking to capture all the Factories to make the world in his image.
(Each character from bottom to top, right to left):
The Mechanical Dragon: This is Upsilon's pet and tracker to abduct the bots of the factory do be dismantled. It's goal is to constantly track Alpha and his Resistance which seems to go with the dragon always returning for repairs. That doesn't stop its goal though, as it constantly returns to face the team at every step of the way growing ever more powerful each time they meet.
"This was perhaps the one I had to think about the most for I needed to use him to create the portraits of the rest of the group. In my brother's idea as a game; this would be the reoccurring boss that gains new abilities as the story progresses. What I thought was so clever about his idea was each of Alpha's team members have particular weapons to fight with; each dealing a type of damage (slicing, puncture, static, trauma) that would be specific to parts of the boss or minions. It wasn't something I've seen in a game myself and it would be really interesting to see implemented in an impressive way. Dealing with the design I just though plates and types of propulsion; the outer wing is split front and back as well as retractable for dynamic motion and to be more intimidating idea. It obviously isn't the most practical but I thought of it as a bit of a unique way to make wings in the end."
Rogue: The usurped Overseer of the factory. Fleeing Upsilon and departing away from the factory Rogue has since returned to take his place back at the factory. Rogue's trek back to the throne is at odds with Alpha's own ambitions to take over and while the team has little to be against Rogue, Alpha finds Rogue a rival. In the story the Overseer was about to reach the point of being updated with the latest software which gave Upsilon his opportunity to strike. Without being connected to the Factory he comes off as a feeble machine to Upsilon not thinking of him after becoming the Overseer. While most of his cords and cables are unreliable due to his defeat, Rogue is able to hijack certain areas with some control and has normally used this to slow down Alpha's team to take on Upsilon himself. Rogue sees the defiant ways of Alpha and the Resistance as the same thing as Upsilon and his view of this is disdainful; all the while Alpha sees the Overseer trying to keep himself in power once more which makes their feeling mutual. I wanted to make the design for Rogue a bit synthetic and almost alien like in comparison to the others as he was the Overseer.
"I wanted to make the design for Rogue a bit synthetic and almost alien like in comparison to the others being the Overseer. His more organic design actually made him one of the easier ones to sketch and I thought he came out well"
Alpha: The Resistance leader and the first A.I. to resist Upsilon's orders as an Overseer. As with all the Marked A.I. they have held the position of advising the Overseer in its efforts to handle the process and cycle of the Factory they live in and Alpha was easily content with this. This would change as Upsilon took over and was sent to be a mere metal smelter in the Factory. Once he realized he doesn't have to take the orders of Upsilon he brought forth the idea of the Resistance and fighting against Upsilon's tyranny. He wields blades that can cut the circuitry of drones and machina and while a bit self-centered in his hopes to defeat Upsilon and take over as Overseer, he is willing of making his teammates goals be reached as well.
"Eh, it was a bit of a challenge to make his design. Those ribbon like parts across the shoulders are flat cables that can retract and extend at will to hack certain systems. His head (which looks a bit sonic-ish to be honest) has two states: this standard state to a power state where the blades in the back, over the eyes, and at the "nose" extend to add extra armor to the face. His Greek character is the crown like piece on the top of his head."
Beta: Alpha's best friend and the groups tech support; Beta is the brains of the Resistance. Being the longtime friend of Alpha before the usurping of Rogue he was determined to join Alpha in their goal to challenge Upsilon's rule. Being brought down to be an engineer with repairing and keeping the factory at tip top shape; he is very technical and well aware of the Factory layout and how to get back into the Factory after being exiled. Beta utilizes a tesla-like staff that he can use to shut down or overload systems in drones.
"With Beta I was thinking of battery power and plastic machines. That baseball cap concept is actually an augmented reality visor that goes over his face to reveal things he otherwise could not. It was very irritating to put that into perspective and it still seems off but I feel like it worked with his overall design. his Greek character is the shoulders and on the "headphones"."
Delta: Gamma's younger brother and the juggernaut of the Resistance. Downgraded to a blacksmith of the Factory, Delta found no greater insult in his downgrade than seeing his brother stay as Upsilon's loyal guard. Always constantly at odds with each other Gamma now loathes his brother; and with it he took up Alpha's offer instantly just to get back at his brother who not only joined Upsilon but allowed him to be downgraded without remorse. Gamma has a battleaxe used for cleaving, only fanning the flame of him being downgraded as a blacksmith. He uses it to create and hack armor off of Upsilon's minions.
"Delta's design and perspective was absolutely the most challenging and fairly frustrating part of this piece. much of it had to do with the neck which I wasn't sure to do; as with most the lines are to represent wires and cords that connect the separate pieces of the body but being a large machine I tried giving him something different but I still unsure of the outcome. His character is across his face even though you can't see the entirety of it."
Omega: Omega is the gentle giant of the Resistance. While he was fairly complacent with the job as material maker it was upon Alpha's speech he found the drive and opportunity to have actual goals and simply not be content with what is. While a calm and simple A.I. he certainly isn't a pushover, wielding a large hammer that can impact armor and launch drones with ease.
"Omega was fairly easy and I overall thought of a rig or a semi when coming up with his design. As with his name and how he is a robot, I was really trying to push away from the "Omega" concept already known while he is similar I feel I distinguished him enough to be all his own. His character is easily the panels that surround the eye that can move slightly to vent out heat if need be."
Zeta: Zeta was supposed to be Upsilon's first clone in his image and prototype of controlling Marked A.I., but that didn't work out. Turns out the assembler didn't have the proper pieces in order to make a mirror image of Upsilon so instead he chose to call Zeta his son. However ever since Zeta has been reassembled he has been found by his "dad" as a nuisance, viewing him just the same as any drone; beneath him. Soon enough this neglect and distance Zeta would make him grow curious of the Resistance Upsilon has been so enveloped with. In which Upsilon thought Zeta would be capable to dispatch this resistance it, in fact, did the opposite. Zeta would reach the Resistance and stealthily hide nearby only to hear Alpha's speech of his reason to resist. Instead of delivering a fatal blow, he asked to join their team. With a bit of deliberating the team they chose to take up the little tyke along with them to challenge Upsilon's rule, discovering the true plan Upsilon has for the Factory and Sigmus as a whole. Zeta's weapon is an air compressed sniper that punctures and goes straight through drones.
"Zeta at first was easy; his design was basically at first a visor with a scarf that my brother wanted for him and just about the same head shape he has now. But then my little brother asked if for him to have small dot like eyes that would light up and it suddenly got a lot more labor intensive. After going over the eyes trying to keep them consistent I realized the entire symmetry of the head was off. So from there I had to reset all my measurements and do the eyes all over again. It was repetitive to say the least but he says he truly likes each and every one of them so I feel like it was worth it."
Gamma: Delta's older brother and Upsilon's henchman. where Epsilon can be considered Upsilon's right hand, Gamma would be his left. He was the brute force necessary for Upsilon to reach the Overseer and has since been his loyal guard since. He has always held resentment for his complimentary A.I. Delta and with them falling on opposite sides that loathing has only grew more intense.
"Gamma was much more easier to convey than Delta as the only things I had to refine or redo was his chest piece. His character is the braces on the sides of his face."
Epsilon: Upsilon's right hand man and closest adviser. Being long time partner's with Upsilon the two have been companions ever since. Epsilon's prestige as a manager for the last Overseer given the opportunity Upsilon needed to take over. While Epsilon is still the adviser of the new Overseer Upsilon he makes takes up the more thoughtful and calculating plans for their domination of Sigmus. Epsilon has always loathed Zeta ever since he was assembled and the feeling has been mutual with Zeta constantly calling him his "butler" and "mommy".
"I found Epsilon to be my favorite in personality and in making his design, however difficult it was. His gentleman like stature with his Greek character of Epsilon just gave me a vivid picture on how to implement it into his design. I thought of him bursting out of frame would add to his manipulative and powerful aspect which would be shared along with Upsilon as well. From what is shown, his character can be seen in his face as well as his hands, the body itself also has the symbol as well."
Upsilon: The new Overseer of the factory and the main antagonist of Sigmus. Upsilon came to realize after so many times being reassembled his advice for the Overseer always fallen short of being heard, only Epsilon would be the one to give respect to these ideas. As time waned on and the Overseer continued his updates Upsilon realized that the Overseer does nothing. All he does is take heed of his advisers and chooses out of them; never coming up to his own conclusions; so why have him? From this Upsilon desired to take power into his own hands and he asked for the aid of his closest partner Epsilon, and the dimwitted Gamma into his plan. In their usurping of the Overseer, Upsilon gained all information of the overseer and made his first effort in power to expel the Marked A.I. out of power; all except for his two loyal accomplices. Upsilon and Epsilon came to deliberate over what they seek to do with this new power and from Epsilon came the plan to conquer all of the Factories of Sigmus. This plan was accepted wholeheartedly by Upsilon, but it already started with a snag; the assembler had very little resources to create an army; and with what resources it did have was made to produce Zeta. So Upsilon decided to abduct and dismantle the drones of the Factory to build their army of monstrous machines. By this point Alpha would cause his Resistance, and being unable to reassemble Marked A.I. as his slaves he chose to banish them, in disdain from Epsilon. But with the A.I out of the picture Upsilon continues his effort to build his army and make Sigmus into his image.
"At first Upsilon was a very simple design but I decided in the very end to give him more of a intricate design. It was once again with him being centered and supposedly symmetrical I found once again my measurements were off (I really have to work on that). But in the end the final details seem to work in favor of his overall image of how he is. His character is the shape of his head. The rest of his body is connected to the Factory so with that he uses drones flying drones with different equipment and attachments to act as his hands.
*Sigh* another long winded description but most of it is about Kaidan's story so it's not all me (but still). If anyone read all of this, or just took the time to simply scroll to the bottom, either way thank you once again for viewing and, in all sincerity, have a wonderful day.