Animating for games is something that I am also highly interested in so I felt it would be useful to have game cycles in my show-reel if I wanted to apply for the games industry.
I am working on a game project called Chorus which features 3 robots interacting with the environment through sounds. There is the main player robot(which is quite fluid and flexible in its movements), a small robot( that moves quite stiff and is there to assist the player robot with puzzles etc) and a big robot( who is slow and strong in movement but aids the player character in lifting heavy gates and opening doors).
I am in charge of animating the small robot so I thought it'd be good for me to do some concept sketches and research of the small robot so I can get a feel for his character more. The character details I have been given by the game students is that they imagined the small robot to have a 'man on a mission' and straightforward personality as well as being impatient.
Below is some of my very early sketches :
I have taken bits of concept from my initial sketches to finalise two designs for the humanoid small robot. I also thought it would be an interesting feature to add an antennae to the design. Having the antennae move in animation gives it an interesting and detailed touch.
Final Design 1
I personally really like this design and colours but feel its more on the cute side than a robot who is more of a 'man on a mission' type character.
Final Design 2
I feel this design suits the personality more of the small robot but the colours seem a little too similar to iron man's costume.
Overall, I am quite happy with how they have turned out and the lead artist mentioned that she will integrate some of these ideas into the final design.