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Crime scene analyst Jaiden Vargas discovers an unlikely connection between a new string of murders and several unsolved cold cases. Digging deeper they unearth a century old conspiracy of a group called The Heath; a cult whose members offer sacrifices to a deity known as the Honeyeater in exchange for personal gain. With the help of their friends and fellow investigators, Aurora Laval and Elijah Reeves, Jaiden resolves to bring the still active cult to justice. Heath is designed as a 2D side scroller point and click adventure game with animated cutscenes and gameplay elements from visual novels, platforming, crime investigation, and puzzle solving. For my thesis I am creating assets for this game and developing the style and story in a ‘making of’ style presentation. This includes in game assets like sprites, environments, and UI, along with in game stills. |
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COLOR SCRIPT
Character development
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Jaiden Vargas, Protagonist they/them Moving from city to city for most of their life, Jaiden has met many different kinds of people. They usually stay quiet in social gatherings, observing the interactions between everyone around them. For the main protagonist I pulled from classic detective/investigator designs with the big coats and also old gothic horror, Victorian fashion. They are primarily comprised of triangles because they are the most energetic and volatile character of the main team. Though there are some square elements because they are also quite stubborn. INSPIRATIONS: 
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The Honeyeater, Antagonist Stage One, He/They This is the merging of the leader of the Heath cult and their deity, the Honeyeater. A lot of sharp points; I made the human part emaciated and sickly to show that the body is being consumed and absorbed by the creature. I have the vines coiling around them and the plants breaking through the skin and bone to add to that idea. The blooming flower atop his head acts as a crown, so he can feel like a ruler before being completely overtaken by the real monster in charge.
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The Honeyeater, Antagonist Stage Two, They/Them This is the final form of the Honeyeater. I wanted it to look like a plant come to life, with some snake and insect influences as well. It's meant to be a representation of nature coming to take back the world that humans are actively destroying, though it also doesn't care about humanity's survival. It tricked the humans that worship it into thinking that they could be kings and rule over everyone and everything but really they were pawns.
sketches of the transformation process, plants burst through and destroy the human body from the inside out:
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Aurora Laval, Deuteragonist she/her Aurora grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere with her parents, 5 siblings, and dozens of animals. Her seeming ignorance of societal norms has often been a benefit for her getting the information she needs to solve tough crimes. Aurora's dressed simple, practical, but still with some personality. While she is very round, as the most approachable member of the team, she also has some solid squares to show she's dependable and strong. Being the eldest of many siblings, she brings that older sister role into her friendships too. 
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Elijah Reeves, Deuteragonist he/him Having lived in Auburn all his life, Elijah knows the city up, down, and inside out. A real charmer, he can easily diffuse a hostile situation. While he is good with people, he values his alone time to study and sketch. I wanted him to look like a charming young man who likes a bit of the finer things. A little pretentious, he projects a confident air but is actually quite an anxious person. He has a mix of book smarts and street smarts. He is mostly made of rectangles because he likes the safety of familiarity, change scares him. He is a foil to Jaiden in that way. 
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SIDE CHARACTERS
Police Chief, Secondary Antagonist
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Elijah's Grandfather
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Two of Aurora's Siblings
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Officer that Jaiden accompanies on their first case
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Granddaughter of the head of the Heath
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R'lyeh
she/her Jaiden's pet kitten, R'lyeh; named after the ancient city in H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Call of Cthulu'. She's a warm and comforting chocolatey Havana brown cat. She doesn't investigate with the team but she provides emotional support and gets up to her own mischief while Jaiden's away. I made her slim, smooth, and lithe to show her slippery nature. |
Background Character Exploration Thumbnails
Creature Designs
PROPS
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