STOKADI: BEHIND THE SCENES
With the Stokadi unlocked by our Kickstarter stretch goals, the hoped-for launch set of species is complete!
We’ve mentioned before that we aimed at a “breakfast club” set of characters: a bubbly one and a big jock, a slacker and a mischievous misbehaver and a nerdy type… the set would not be complete without a shadowy goth.
In the very earliest of the documents, these were actually just nicknamed “the shadows,” for lack of a better name. But we drifted fairly quickly towards vampirism as a trope, since a) well, they’re popular and we are not shy about pandering and b) there’s a strong aesthetic there.
But we found ourselves wrestling with the fact that in the real world, gothy looks are mostly about fashion choices. Well, and pale skin. And that meant that our first tries were all very much just… purplish humans with angular features. It wasn’t getting across what we were looking for.
We explored a few alternate directions trying to break away from the basic issue that there wasn’t enough distinctive in the physical silhouette to make the species really stand out. Some of our experiments had a lot of character, but didn’t stand out enough from either the basic human, or possibly even the Fae or Elioni at a distance.
We also experimented a bit with a look that in the end felt too fishlike, like it overlapped with the Hansians.
Eventually we hit on the idea of using bat wings as signifiers and trying to use them in various ways to make the head shape more distinctive. I am particularly amused by the bat wings over the eyes – not very intimidating, it instead looks like they won’t be able to see where they are going. Maybe they use sonar, I dunno.
The idea of using the head to really make the Stokadi distinctive led us to explore much more vampiric head shapes, something that pushed more in the direction of classic movie monsters.
The trick here is that stats show that for whatever reason, people tend to prefer to play attractive female characters, even if they don’t mind playing somewhat monstrous male avatars. So we would need to find a way to make the female version work.
We still have work to do to pin down the way the Stokadi will look. We have been exploring going with really big bat ears, rather than using bat wings as headgear, but to be honest we aren’t really ready to show some of that art just yet. That’s why they were the last of the stretch goal species to be unlocked!
[h2]HOMEWORLD: REVENIA[/h2]
[h3]CULTURE[/h3]
The Stokadi have certainly learned what it’s like when people live in unfair circumstances. Their homeworld was covered in a perpetual fog, and powerful oligarchs had robbed ordinary people of riches and resources. After entering the Garden, many Stokadi are focused on making life fairer for everyone.
Stokadi fashion reflects their sense of humor about the weather. Darker palettes are a “true reflection of the world outside,” while more colorful ensembles are displays of “wearing one’s optimism that tomorrow will be brighter.”
The powerful Stokadi oligarchs slowly amassed Revenia’s precious resources over several centuries. As they took control over the meat supply, the rural clans rose up against the city-states. The skirmishes between the two over meat, called the Flesh Wars, were hard fought and seemingly endless, and the have-nots continued to starve. Entering the Garden gave the Stokadi the much-needed resources the oligarchs had stolen from them.
Weirdly, they’re into hyperpop music.
We’ve mentioned before that we aimed at a “breakfast club” set of characters: a bubbly one and a big jock, a slacker and a mischievous misbehaver and a nerdy type… the set would not be complete without a shadowy goth.
In the very earliest of the documents, these were actually just nicknamed “the shadows,” for lack of a better name. But we drifted fairly quickly towards vampirism as a trope, since a) well, they’re popular and we are not shy about pandering and b) there’s a strong aesthetic there.
But we found ourselves wrestling with the fact that in the real world, gothy looks are mostly about fashion choices. Well, and pale skin. And that meant that our first tries were all very much just… purplish humans with angular features. It wasn’t getting across what we were looking for.
We explored a few alternate directions trying to break away from the basic issue that there wasn’t enough distinctive in the physical silhouette to make the species really stand out. Some of our experiments had a lot of character, but didn’t stand out enough from either the basic human, or possibly even the Fae or Elioni at a distance.
We also experimented a bit with a look that in the end felt too fishlike, like it overlapped with the Hansians.
Eventually we hit on the idea of using bat wings as signifiers and trying to use them in various ways to make the head shape more distinctive. I am particularly amused by the bat wings over the eyes – not very intimidating, it instead looks like they won’t be able to see where they are going. Maybe they use sonar, I dunno.
The idea of using the head to really make the Stokadi distinctive led us to explore much more vampiric head shapes, something that pushed more in the direction of classic movie monsters.
The trick here is that stats show that for whatever reason, people tend to prefer to play attractive female characters, even if they don’t mind playing somewhat monstrous male avatars. So we would need to find a way to make the female version work.
We still have work to do to pin down the way the Stokadi will look. We have been exploring going with really big bat ears, rather than using bat wings as headgear, but to be honest we aren’t really ready to show some of that art just yet. That’s why they were the last of the stretch goal species to be unlocked!
[h2]HOMEWORLD: REVENIA[/h2]
[h3]CULTURE[/h3]
The Stokadi have certainly learned what it’s like when people live in unfair circumstances. Their homeworld was covered in a perpetual fog, and powerful oligarchs had robbed ordinary people of riches and resources. After entering the Garden, many Stokadi are focused on making life fairer for everyone.
Stokadi fashion reflects their sense of humor about the weather. Darker palettes are a “true reflection of the world outside,” while more colorful ensembles are displays of “wearing one’s optimism that tomorrow will be brighter.”
The powerful Stokadi oligarchs slowly amassed Revenia’s precious resources over several centuries. As they took control over the meat supply, the rural clans rose up against the city-states. The skirmishes between the two over meat, called the Flesh Wars, were hard fought and seemingly endless, and the have-nots continued to starve. Entering the Garden gave the Stokadi the much-needed resources the oligarchs had stolen from them.
Weirdly, they’re into hyperpop music.