Gearing up for changes, Octopie Friends, and Killer Smiles
In a past Open Kitchen article, our talented Pieland artist, Ryan, shared how he leveled up the Rainbow trait, one of the many possible features of an Octopie. Here, we look at some previous artwork changes that Ryan made to the world of Pieland.
There are various Slices (think of these as factions) of the Octopies. Some traits are exclusive to a Slice. In this example, we feature one of these exclusive traits — a literal headgear. The initial version (below, left) looked like a cog and was a good start, but then the gears started turning in our heads. Ryan gave the Octopie an updated steampunk feel in the second version (below, middle) with more definition and a new material. We weren’t done yet though. After a comprehensive exploration of the perspective, the next iteration allowed the cog to “fit in” better, now correctly following the flow of the Octopie body (below, right). Finally, we had found the right gear.
Octopie slices aren’t the only ones getting an upgrade. Octopie companions, like this sheep, started as a cute feature. As our Pieland artwork progressed and our puns got worse, we gave more life to Sheepie- yeah, that’s right, we gave this cute little sheep a name! Ryan reduced the thickness of the lines to add more details and allow for more light and character around its face. From the first version (below, left) to the second (below, right), our sheep now has a lively little face and thick wool to stay warm. Baaaaaah, Octopie friend!
Here at Pieland, we spend a lot of time phyllosophizing about Octopies and their fates. In the earlier version (below, left), this purple Octopie looks happy though it lacked emotional, and dare we say, intellectual, depth. We fixed this by adding distinct smile lines to the corners of the Octopie’s mouth. “Sometimes, the smallest changes can have the biggest impact,” explained Ryan. With this extra detail, you can tell this Octopie is busy dreaming about pie charts made of purple sweet potato pie.
These changes and upgrades have been applied across the board for a range of different traits. A lot of these won’t even be noticeable to the community when looked at individually. But the overall impact is a world of high quality Octopies, Cogs, Sheep, and more!
We’ll be showing off more of the Octopie Traits and Slices next week — and this Sunday, January 23rd, on National Pie Day, we’ll be announcing our launch date. So get ready to bake!
