Super Nova Players: Inside the Initial Design Process of the Rising Stars

The design for the player has undergone a journey stylistically, just as Super Nova Stadium’s development has.

The game’s earliest objective was steering an ‘FPS’ game away from a violent theme, as many popular FPS games deal with themes of war, death, carnage and other dark elements. For character design, this meant steering away from human representation. Robots, geometric rayman bodies, aliens, so long as it wasn’t humans holding the blasters.

The original style of the game initially took inspiration from Superhot. A VR game with a clean, low poly style. This first thought gave rise to the shape-head players with floating robotic body pieces. However, the artists of Boneless Chicken desired for more detail for both the character and the environment.

Left: VR Game Superhot

Right: Shape-head Player Concepts

Taking an explorative turn with inspiration from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch alien races, the Super Nova Players took on a lizard look and alternatively a hairless faun-like form as well.

Above: Lilo and Stitch aliens

Below: Concepts for Lizard player (left) and a Reptile Faun player (right).

The Fauns took lead in popularity, since the various horn styles could give players added customizability to their avatar.

In addition, a jumpsuit, similar to the advertisement-riddled suits of NASCAR drivers, accentuates the sports vibe that the game strives for.

Left: Concepts of horn styles for the player

Right: A full body pose of the player in suit and helmet

Working in tandem with Tommy Xiong, our blaster designer, I placed concept blasters into the player’s hands to test the stylistic synergy between them which then informed the need for detail on accessories such as decorative armor pieces, teleportation pack, and a recharging mechanism on the player’s arm.

Left: Colored concept of player with added accessories and concept pistol

Right: Basic player with drone and concept rifle

Above: First concept of the sports alien within an environment

The most important piece of all the gear for the players is of course the blasters that they utilize! Our next post will go into the concepts and development of Super Nova’s Blasters.