Chess Dressing Dorothy Dreadfuls
Added 2020-08-04 00:13:22 +0000 UTCDear Insane Children,
Who knew we needed another Alice dress? Not I! But Omri thought that, based on the design work we're doing for The Chess Realm, a new dress themed after that realm might make sense. So here we have (main image, above) a WIP concept for a Chess Dress. Interesting!
I've written some backstory for this realm so that our artists have something to work with. Here's a sample of that writing...
The Chess Realm is a place within Depression but we don't need to "theme" it entirely after the concept of "depression" as an emotional state. It's got its own mood and character away from what you might typically think of when you think "depression." Please keep that in mind.
As I have said before, The Chess Realm is a place where the inhabitants have learned to live in harmony with the notion of Chaos. This (harmony with Chaos) is one of the central requirements to resolution of Alice's journey in this story. But when she's first introduced to the notion she will resist it.
The Queen of Hearts (Card Realm) and The Red Queen (Chess Realm) are engaged in a hot war against each other. The Queen of Hearts stands hard on the side of ORDER. But the Red Queen is NOT a pure proxy or representative of CHAOS... she's occupying the middle ground between Order and Chaos. She represents a BALANCE between Chaos and Order. Though from the perspective of the Queen of Hearts, any allowance of Chaos is tantamount to the Slippery Slope towards complete Chaos.
A fitting motto for The Queen of Hearts would be "You're with us or against us." Highly conservative. A fan of the 1% Doctrine ("if there's even a 1% chance of Chaos taking over, we must root out and destroy all Chaos").
A motto for The Red Queen might be "Live and let live." Think "Libertarian" as opposed to completely liberal. A believer in the natural balance of things - in a open marketplace of ideas.
Now... The Queen of Hearts knows that their "blade" of Wonderland (the version of reality in which they live) exists within the unchanging mind of Child Alice. If Alice's mind were to merge with Adult Alice (to undergo transformation) then their reality would be destroyed. As such, The Queen of Hearts wants to keep Alice locked in stasis. Hence the Snow Globe, and keeping Alice busy in The Circus Realm (Denial).
The Red Queen recognizes Alice's role in the natural transformation of things. And is willing to accept Change as an unavoidable fact of existence. She knows Alice must change and that the result will be the destruction on this version of Wonderland.
The Chaos is actively working to change Alice - to kick her out of the Snow Globe reality so that she can be reconnected with her adult self.
Since the Chess Realm is divided into two sides (colors) we can explore the idea that Alice will encounter resistance (they're trying to kill her) from one side. But she'll get support and things of value (information) from the other side. There can be an internal war raging between the two sides of the chessboard over their stance on Alice and the situation of their world. This backdrop of internal politics and power struggle should provide some interesting narrative for The Chess Realm.
Expect to see more concept artwork for the characters and locations in this realm as Dario and Omri continue their explorations of these themes.
We're also seeing some rough sketches done to define our "Dorothy" as a main character in a narrative based on Oz. Omri says of the "Lara Croft" version he's rendered (first image, above)...
I see her as a strong and deep character, not a victim like Alice. not only i think we ought to differentiate her from Alice i also think she really is an explorer, a strong female character. i'd even go as far to say a "hunter" she also becomes a "Princess of OZ" so she's a leader in a sense. I also think she needs to reflect the "all american girl" i'm sketching out an idea on top of a conceptart of Lara Croft. i thought 70's will work but honestly the clothes were too sexy and looked stupid. so this is the look i felt is initially correct. don't love her but it's an idea.
Meanwhile, Jen shared a quick doodle of her ideas (second image, above) and said...
I think we should take some notes from Elizabeth from Bioshock mixed with "pretty farm lady" @Omri @American McGee and maybe give her a prosthetic leg of some kind. Like she was the last iteration but suffered a problem from too much gene editing and it gave her a withered limb that they didn't fix before everything fell apart?
We have a number of threads going back and forth where there's discussion around characters, setting, themes, and more. Of all this, I told the team...
I see this stuff and am still digesting. This early in the exploration I try not to give too much feedback/direction for fear of messing up the brainstorming. That being said, we're exploring the "tech" side of this concept... a theme park gone wrong. At some point you two might want to also explore the "magic" side of this... as in, if an Oz theme park existed... there'd be a huge number of kids (and people in general) going there for the Harry Potter-esque elements (wizards, witches, spells, magic) and dressing for that part.
So... maybe also try a Dorothy character cast as The Wizard of Oz (or at least a Witch)?
Again, expect to see more sketches and concepts flowing forth as we work to define the foundation elements of this story.
And we're also breeding rabbits! Lots of rabbits.
These are the long-eared "heart stiched" rabbits. Very cute.
And these are the long-eared "what the eff are you looking at do you want me to punch your nose in?!" rabbits. They're a tiny bit angry.
We did not ask the factory to produce "pink" versions of these, so I have no idea what they are doing that. But, hey, as we've said before, their mistakes are our Crowd Design content... so I guess I should be disappointed that these turned out so close to the original concept drawings!
Let us know in the comments below YOUR feedback on all this stuff. So much stuff!
I know the world is a crazy place right now but every day I wake up to find our team producing fun new content is a good one. Once again, I have to say THANK YOU to all of our Insane Children for providing the support required to make all this creativity a reality. Without you, the world would be a lot less creative, crazy, and fun.
From Shanghai Waiting for Hagupit (that's a typhoon),
-American
Comments
Oh man. That Lara Croft reminded me of a post in Russian I read ages ago... Hey guys, maybe someone would be interested in translating this for American? They might get some ideas from it. https://www.diary.ru/~glumoff/p197923464.htm
Karolina Belomestnova
2020-08-07 13:12:17 +0000 UTCI love the cute white rabbit plush!
2020-08-06 11:07:01 +0000 UTCI really like this one
2020-08-06 03:27:34 +0000 UTCI love the idea of having a American McGees Wizard of Oz, that would be great. With the same nightmare touch like Alice.
2020-08-05 21:31:10 +0000 UTCI like the Dorothy on the left. Not as mech/space-age as the other one.
Stephanie Groth
2020-08-05 02:09:39 +0000 UTCI have faith in Font Lord. I think Valve (via the environmental story-telling of games like "Left 4 Dead" and "Half-Life") and Bungie (via "Halo") have demonstrated that story and shooter can work together...they may be the pinnacles of those game styles, but might as well shoot for the top!
2020-08-05 02:00:19 +0000 UTCI like this. And it would be something that would appeal to certain "requirements" that we've heard put forth by potential financiers. All the money guys desperately want to fund and own their own Fortnight. So any sort of "shooter" with online team play... big plus. The idea of an Oz squad of fighters... yep. Could work. The question is whether or not anyone should try moving into that insanely crowded and competitive arena. And whether or not our story stuff gets diluted by shooter stuff or vice versa. We'll talk about this on the next stream - IF Martin bothers to copy your comment into the Questions document. MARTIN?
American McGee
2020-08-05 01:45:57 +0000 UTCI will share from the Discord my absolutely insane “Oz” pitch to inspire or start a concrete “not like this” point to work from: make it a team tactical shooter. Dorothy “Tornado” Gale leads a squad of hard-nosed soldiers (with ridiculous names and call signs like Jacob “Tinman” Williams, Jill “Scarecrow” Kennedy, and Ed “Lionheart” Lyons) each with special ultimate abilities (for example, Dorothy can send out Toto - a vicious assault dog - to one-hit-kill a target, “Tinman” has throwing axes, etc) that enforce the law and suppress dissent against the ruling government of Oz…until one mission goes horribly wrong, they’re betrayed, and realize the government has been using them and they are now public enemies. They then begin an insurrection to topple the corrupt leaders of Oz and ally with the people they’d once oppressed. Want some twists? What if this Dorothy is a clone of the “original” Dorothy, and is in fact part of a whole line of clones manufactured in an attempt to use her ability to escape Oz and conquer “the other world” since Oz itself is becoming an industrialized hellhole of pollution, crime, and decaying infrastructure? Maybe one of your squadmates turns on you (say, the cowardly lion) for money or to save their family? Maybe the squadmates are also all genetic experiments (a robot, a beastman, etc)? And in the end the “other world” that seemed so appealing and fantastical is as troubled as their own and maybe we all learn a lesson about blind loyalty to authority, taking care of our planet, the measure of artificial lives, and so forth.
2020-08-05 01:29:13 +0000 UTCDorothy seems to be a bit hard to pin down. Is she cyberpunk, steampunk, farm girl, futuristic, or somewhere in-between all that? Almost feels like we're throwing Dorothies at a wall to see what sticks, and whatever design elicits that "a-ha!" reaction will inform how the story concept spools out.
2020-08-04 23:14:01 +0000 UTCLove the dress and hair, and absolutely LOVE the rabbit!!!
2020-08-04 23:07:08 +0000 UTCI love the chess dress and the rabbit plushie witg ❤️ On tummy haha
Angel Ellis
2020-08-04 16:01:39 +0000 UTCI LOOOOOVE this dress omg ♥
2020-08-04 15:15:58 +0000 UTCSo many things going on, it's fantastic! Firstly love the new Alice dress, looks excellent. The rabbits are actually quite cute in pink, although the second ones look a little bit like Sweep from Sooty and Sweep 😂. I like both versions of Dorothy and am torn between which way it should go as I can see great stories for either version. Sorry I seem to just be loving everything this morning and not helpful in the slightest
2020-08-04 08:07:28 +0000 UTCI'm going hunting Rabbits! hehehehehe and I'm gonna get me some of those :-)
2020-08-04 05:42:21 +0000 UTCwow, I really love the design of that dress and the rabbits are super cool! awsome
St. Thomas
2020-08-04 04:50:33 +0000 UTCThe backstory on the Chess Realm sounds awesome! The dress also looks very cool, can’t wait to see it finished. When it comes to the Queens, I think it would be cool to see their decision-making processes reflect the games they represent. So the Red Queen (Chess) would be more thoughtful, tactical, and a few steps ahead. Meanwhile the Queen of Hearts (Cards) would be more emotional, reactionary, and prone to playing the hand she’s dealt. Although it kind of sounds like they’re already being written this way. Everything with Dorothy and Oz also sounds very cool.
2020-08-04 03:54:41 +0000 UTCI think that we need to move in a new direction for Dorothy. I do like the modern look for her and I think that this story could benefit from a modernish Dorothy character! I do think still that she should be a black character tbh. I think it could work with her design really well. Then maybe some bell bottoms a leather jacket and gingham print shirt? I im curious to see what the narrative for this version of Oz will be. Its it futuristic? (Since my previous concept on the other post was more grounded in the world of the books) Will we have a resident evil type storyline where the people of Oz are trying to genetically enhance humans to create witches? Perhaps all the previous "Dorothys" have failed. This Dorothy wakes up in an abandoned Oz lab and things have changed. Perhaps like Jen suggests she has a defect. But that's what makes her stronger than her previous selves! Anyways just a concept!! Kinda spooky tho. I do think it works tho I've never seen a version of Oz grounded in sci fi and fantasy!! x) but back to Alice! I am IN LOVE with this version of the depression dress! I think its fantastic im even more excited to see it all finished! The world of the chess peoples is really shaping up and so far its becoming one of my favorite worlds! I love the Queens dynamic on both sides! Hopefully soon we'll get to see what they will look like fully for this game! 💘
2020-08-04 03:48:34 +0000 UTCSo exciting to see the new ideas!
Therese
2020-08-04 03:31:38 +0000 UTCWe're trying to steer away from steampunk definitely.
2020-08-04 03:12:27 +0000 UTCI love the new dress, and the ungry rabbit. :) not sure about Dorothy like before... let see xD great work like ever!
2020-08-04 02:58:51 +0000 UTCThat's a long read. Honestly ill just say that I am happy that you are thinking of Ozomby and the ponytail on alice is amazing.
Saleh Abu-Rashid
2020-08-04 02:57:09 +0000 UTCI REALLY like the characterization of Dorothy they're both giving her, as far as personality and motives go, but Omri's pass looks like Dani from Game of Thrones trapped in Detroit Become Human. Jen's sketch has some good ideas, definitely pullls from a time-frame closer to the Oz books. I think if you keep going down the tech road, you're going to bump into more comparisons to work like Cyberpunk and it's going to be at a time of the bad kind of over-saturation just like Ozombie hit at the worst possible time to talk about Steampunk and Zombies.
2020-08-04 01:45:03 +0000 UTCoverall I am i love with and living for this chess dress BUT can we not put the crown thing in front of her crotch?
2020-08-04 00:59:08 +0000 UTCI love the angry plushie it’s so cute 😂 but I like both
2020-08-04 00:58:09 +0000 UTCAbout Dorothy, I agree that she should be a more active player in contrast to Alice who was always very reactive but Dorothy Croft it's a bit too much, I wouldn't believe she was raised on a farm.
2020-08-04 00:57:36 +0000 UTCI love the new dress!! It's so elegant 💕
Jen
2020-08-04 00:56:20 +0000 UTCI don't really like the dress, it looks like there is a bit too much going on. Maybe it's the red centerpiece, I don't like how it fits with the rest of the dress. I also would prefer if the socks were black and white
2020-08-04 00:55:19 +0000 UTCI lovvvve the first rabbit plushie with the huge button eye and no eyebrows
2020-08-04 00:50:54 +0000 UTCI LOVE the dress I DEFINITELY want the lighter bunny bc I think my current AMA bunny needs a partner and they would look so cute like chess squares next to each other. Also my bunnys name is Stephen King, the cat is Alfred Hitchcock, it would be great if I could add Dorothea Dix to the collection. (If you don't know who that is, Google it extensively)
Sarah Heist
2020-08-04 00:44:56 +0000 UTCLong Eared "Heart Stitched" = Adorable!
2020-08-04 00:42:36 +0000 UTCGreat design of this dress.
CobaltBlade
2020-08-04 00:39:57 +0000 UTCNot really feeling the "Tomb Raider" look for Dororhy at all.
2020-08-04 00:32:21 +0000 UTCI like Omri’s idea of a strong “Hunter” like Dorothy, but I do feel she needs a wee bit more “Oklahoma Girl” in her. The Rabbits are beautiful and the whiter one is nice. The Chess realm sounds interesting and I love the idea of more are themed Alice dresses.
2020-08-04 00:32:12 +0000 UTCI'm very sure the Chess area of the game will be one of my favourite parts.
Death of Ink
2020-08-04 00:18:03 +0000 UTCI love her new dress!! 😍
2020-08-04 00:15:15 +0000 UTCSO CUTE
Abelwyn Connelly
2020-08-04 00:14:58 +0000 UTC
