Treetops Village

I had the fun opportunity to work on a kid's game for a short bit. It was in the 'blue sky' phase without a clear idea of what the content would be. One of the ideas on the table was set in a forest.

Treetop villages became the focus of this direction. To begin exploring stylization I tried making the leaf clumps into ball shapes and giving everything a whimsical design/feel.

There was some concern that boys might not get into this, the palette and style was a bit faery-landish. I tried out some architectural ideas that might bridge that gap. Some were still fantasy oriented but with mechanical elements, one was a tree that grows into the shape of a house, another a castle in a tree. The ideas that stuck were extreme versions of existing theme-park tree houses - maybe whole maritime-like villages that were built into the trees.

I added in some fun bits that could be different interactive zones; wind chimes, gears, etc. My favorite is the shark bowl with the spout and diving board. I also fleshed out the surrounding ground areas a bit.

Timing only permitted me to begin thinking about what the interiors might look like - inside the tree trunk, inside one of the houses.

Island Villages

This sketch is from one of the other directions for the game that was being floated. I was inspired by the reveal shot of Neverland in Disney's Peter Pan.

© 2008 Perpetual Entertainment