Devlog #2: The Doll Design Process

Hey everyone! 

So for this Devlog I just wanted to show off the process I went through to create the stop-motion puppets for this game since the actual game development process has been a bit slow.

The first thing I started on was creating the face for the character as that will define everything else. Originally, I was planning on 3D Printing the faces of models we already have that we scrapped, because I didn't think they really fit the game anymore. I underestimated how much I hate working with 3D Modelling software so I quickly scrapped that idea. So I went with the far longer process but the more enjoyable process of clay sculpting it. Luckily I had some experience with that from a pottery class I had in High School so the process was actually a bit easier than it would've been rather than going in blind.

I don't have any pictures of this process because when I was getting close to finishing the face, I would fumble really bad with the eye lids and mess up trying to fix it, so I restarted that process multiple times. At some point I got pretty fed up trying to work with the eye lids the way I wanted to, so I had to come up with something to make them work. Originally I was just going to make every character wear blindfolds and come up with a lore reason for that, and some characters do have that trait, but for the main character I would prefer if she had least had visible eyes. The compromise I came up with was Paper Mache, which I would cover over the face with, and I think it worked out pretty well because it gives her quite the unique look.

Once the face was done, I 3D printed something for the back of her head. I made a wire armature out of aluminum and some chicken wire, and then I modelled a torso around that and put some clay around the area that aren't supposed to bend. I used a large chunk of clay I had lying around (Sculpey) which turned out to really suck once it's baked because most of those crumbled after a tiny bit of pressure, including the torso, so I ended up 3D Printing the torso, but the limbs and buttocks were good enough to keep since they were going to be covered anyways. I got some quilt batting and wrapped it around the armature to create some proportions for her.

I would end up cutting some of this off as I underestimated how thick the stuffing was, and was under the impression that most of this would've been compressed by the body tape I would use to wrap it once again. The stomach area and the arm stuffing were pretty much removed entirely. 

Next I would go on to give her some hair, which was probably the most tedious part, which took even longer than making the face, because once you cut hair, you can't really reattach the hair!

I also started working on sewing the jeans waiting for the glue to dry between each weft. At the time of writing I'm actually not so sure if I want her to wear jeans anymore, might be too out of place for the style of the game, but I'm still trying out different styles, mostly for the top, because I'm not really sure what I want her shirt to be.  The problem is because of the design of her arms, they must be covered in some fashion, so I have to choose a style that constitutes a long sleeve style.

I also modelled some cool converse shoes for her to wear, which is probably out of place for the game, but I feel like with the way these are designed it doesn't matter all that much.
The reason I'm so hesitant to try another style for the pants is because that means I would have to remove the shoes which are hot-glued onto the wire armature. If I were to try another style, it would probably be jean shorts, with leggings and maybe some cozy socks to cover the shoes a bit, but, I need to take off the jeans at some point, to add belt loops and to make fake pockets and fake zipper area. All the clothes cut open in the back and kept tight and in place with velcro. So, doll clothes basically.
The current style I'm working on right now is a grey turtleneck-ish with a cropped blouse thing... not sure what's it's called, but it looked nice on the person who was wearing it on Pinterest!

Anyways, that's pretty much the process for making a stop motion puppet! Hope you enjoyed this devlog, and I'll see you next week, where I hopefully have finished the clothing for Evelyn, and perhaps will show you some behind the scenes for the set I'm making!