MANAS

ROLE

2D Artist

DESCRIPTION

Manas immerses players into a medieval Central Asian realm filled with mountains, valleys, and the rich tapestry of nomadic culture. Drawing inspiration from the 9th Century Kyrgyzstan culture, history, and featuring the mythical hero Manas, this game invites you to protect your village from merciless invaders alongside your loyal companion, Akkula. Experience the commencement of Manas' extraordinary adventure through captivating visuals and groundbreaking mounted combat system.

Manas is a 3D Unreal Engine 5 Action RPG developed by a team of 35 USC students for the Advance Game Project (AGP) course.

As a freshman not yet enrolled in the AGP course yet, I volunteered to participate as a 2D artist focusing on creating paintover illustrations and designing characters. Apart from participating in a weekly meeting and tracking work on Codecks for a year, I also had to communicate with many others in the Art department to ensure the quality of the visuals, such as the Art Lead and 3D artists.

YEAR

2022 - 2023

GENRE

Adventure

PLATFORM

Windows

ENGINE

Unreal Engine 5

ITCH PAGE

https://uscgames.itch.io/manas

Character Design

Aima

"Aima is a hard-working and crafty weapon-maker in the village. She is sharp and clever with her words, and enjoys teasing others for fun. Aima also lives vicariously through Manas by making his tools and weapons of war. She is incredibly reliable when it comes to her craftsmanship and always creates high-quality weapons for Manas to use in battle. Although the Oirats do frighten her, Aima maintains a relatively jovial and optimistic mindset, knowing that the village is protected by strong warriors who are armed with her top-notch tools."

I discussed with the Art Lead and Producer of the team and illustrated the turnaround, pullouts, A-pose, and color key for this NPC. Later communicated with individuals in the 3D art team for them to better model her.

Aima A-pose

Aima Turnaround & Pullouts

Aima Color Key

Variation #2 was then selected by other members in the art team.

Manas' (players') interaction with Aima in game

Enemy Archers

These are the ranged enemy NPCs in the game where Manas has to combat with, and can be found within in-engine cutscenes and gameplay. The design of the enemy archers are based on Oriat Mogol Archers with none to light armors.

I discussed with the Art Lead and Producer of the team and illustrated the turnaround, pullouts, and A-pose for these NPCs. Later added short notes and communicated with individuals in the 3D art team for them to better model them.