World-Building: Creating the Characters of the Anatolian Trail

Hi everyone. In my last update on The Anatolian Trail, I showed you all some of the scenes from the game demo that we’re building.

Today I’d like to showcase some of the character and asset artwork being created for the game. All of this has been done by an extremely talented undergraduate artist at UK, Martin Jimenez Gonzalez.

More soon, once the semester gets less hectic!

-Andrew

Lucas

Lucas is one of the two main playable characters in the game. Less outgoing and more contemplative than his sister, you’ll be using his skills as a linguist to decipher and speak PIE in the game.

Below you’ll see a close-up of his resting stance, following by a “turn-around” image, which will change depending on the direction Lucas is facing & moving.

Lucas
Lucas – Turnarounds

Gwen

Gwen is the other main playable character in the game. More physical than Lucas, she considers herself to be her brother’s protector in the world.

You’ll be using her skills as an archaeologist to figure out how best to interact with this strange new  (well, old; really old) culture.

Below you’ll see a close-up of her resting stance, following by a “turn-around” image, which will change depending on the direction Gwen is facing & moving.

Gwen
Gwen – Turnarounds

Páh₂usōn & Friend

The twins will meet many gods along their travels. The first they meet will be Páh₂usōn, the god of pastures and passageways.

Páh₂usōn is the likely PIE source of Sanskrit Pushan and Greek Pan. You can see that his goatly nature can be reconstructed all the way back to PIE. 

Páh₂usōn – Old Man Disguise
Páh₂usōn – Divine Form
Páh₂usōn’s Goat

Diana’s Journal

In the game, the twins will have access to two journals left to them by their mother, Diana. All of her research on the PIE language and culture lies within, and so these will be the twins’ most precious belongings as they venture in the ancient past.

Journal Cover & Pen
Bound Journal
Open Journal

Yamnaya Stele

The first thing that the players will see when they venture back in time is an ancient Yamnaya (PIE) stele, in mint condition. You can see a real example of such a stele in the images below. 

In-game Stele
Yamnaya Stele