Dev Log 04 - Zingo Swings in

The last main task I've been given currently to complete for the game is to work on another character that is featured in the GDD being a monkey called Zingo. Though in the GDD it doesn't refer to the species or of his origin only referring to him as "cheeky", so there is plenty to work with. This character I wanted to have a lot of fun with, I want him to have very unique look with him seeming wise and old so the use of riddles would fit in with the character as for the type of monkey and the overall look of his anatomy, I don't know yet. Below you can see the original sketch for Zingo which again is still very liberal with the design not giving off too much.

"Zingo is the cheeky monkey that wanders around the Fountain of Riddles. He looks very suspicious, but acts friendly and somewhat kind to Misho. In the story, he asks the main character two riddles and depending on the answers there are different outcomes. Zingo has magical powers that allow him to control a few monsters in the Fantasy Forest, including a huge scary minotaur."

The Original sketch for Zingo found in the GDD

Sketch provided by Lio

above you can see one of the sketches I felt presented Zingo in the best way, by this stage I had also been looking into to types of monkeys and felt like this design looked very similar to a Japanese Macaque which are commonly seen lounging in Japanese hot springs. This species fit in with the idea of Zingo in many ways for me, as he is described as wandering around the fountain maybe instead he could be bathing inside relaxing with other monkeys waiting for Misho to come. He also contains a few oriental designs which I had pointed out could be a fun thing to play with as it could present his wise side, giving off a wise old monk vibe though the use of smoking shows his more evil tainted side foreshadowing his future betrayal of Misho. Overall I love this characters vibe and what we could do with him, he has such a small role but they're can be soo much character and style attributed to him.

I've saved several videos of the monkey bathing to use further on as animation reference for Zingo bathing by the Hot springs and any other monkeys surrounding him. It will also come in handy for getting his fur placement and distribution spot on for when I place his hair cards down on the model.

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Bringing him to Life

Sculpting this character went the same as always, using the same method I felt I had really fell into using since the character I made for membrane. So plotting out this character was easy as always though I do feel it will take several iterations to perfect his look. As this character is the last on my list and the one furthest in production though I need to make sure work on him doesn't fall to much into crunch. Though the character even at this stage has taken several iterations so the plan is right now is to focus on my two hero character being Misho and his sidekick and leave a dedicated time to get this character right so he doesn't interfere with other characters deadlines and getting them into the game.

One of the main difficulties I had with this guy is getting his likeness to a Japanese Macaque spot on as this the first sort of animal I've sculpted, though obviously I don't want to lose the character and personality of Zingo through making him to close looking to a monkey.

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