Hi there! My name is Warren Marshall, Art Director on Town Star, back with another in the “Designing” series. I think these sorts of peeks behind the curtain are fun for people who aren’t involved in game development and are curious about how things get created.
This one is interesting in that it’s a lesson in how creativity and inspiration can come from unexpected places. Great! Let’s get started.
Initial Idea
We knew that we wanted to add a tesla coil unit to the game, something that could generate power for the town and do it in a stylish way.
We also decided that we wanted a character to be associated with the highest tier of this new tesla coil because characters are fun!
My initial design was based on the man himself … Nikola Tesla. I was basically reimagining him as a Town Star character. The initial mood board looked like this:
You’re probably imagining him in your mind right now and I know exactly what he looks like … in your mind … it’s weird, but I bet I do!
Unexpected Inspiration
But then one of the newest members of our team said, “Hold up”, and showed us a napkin sketch he was working on for a character whom he described as a distant relative of Tesla, young and interested in the family business!
As soon as we saw these doodles, we knew we were changing direction.
Cute! Fun! These are things I like.
We quickly came up with a name for her, “Nikole”, which just feels right in every way and it was time to start designing her for real.
Locomotion
Before getting to the visuals we did have a question or two to answer. Since a tesla coil isn’t a building, she can’t go inside when she isn’t needed on the playing field. It was quickly decided that she would maybe just sit on her hoverboard and listen to music or something while she waited.
What’s that? Oh right, her hoverboard!
My initial thought for her was to give her a skateboard so she’d be able to get around easily. She’s young, and it seemed fun, but the team felt it was a little low-tech for a girl like this.
Team: “What about a hoverboard?!” Me: “ … Fine.”
Initial Sketches
Now, I wasn’t about to let a little kid play with a tesla coil — not on my watch — but I was willing to let a teenager do it. So we aged her up some.
The first round of concepts came in and looked great:
But something wasn’t feeling entirely right.
She seemed … too old. The pendulum had swung too far. So I took the ideas from these sketches and frankensteined a new version. Keeping the sass factor high, I moved the age dial a little to the left. I think this strikes a good balance between her being a kid and being an adult.
My initial paint-over feedback looked like this:
The artists took those notes and created a final version of her. As a wise man once said, “Pretty good!”
Wrapping Up
Working on characters like this is always a blast. I love the collaborative process that this team does SO well. Here’s a bonus shot of the object of Nikole’s affections — the Legendary Tesla Coil!
See you next time!
Tesla Coils will be hitting the Town Star store very soon, so prepare your towns for some serious juice!
She’s almost here. She may not be the hero you expected, but she’s the one you deserve. Nikole’s Great Great Grandfather may have been ahead of his time with ideas and inventions of wireless electricity in the late 1800s, but Nikole Tesla is right where she belongs: At the shocking edge of a 21st century energy renaissance.
We have been waiting patiently to reveal this incredible video. We have resisted the temptations of the leakers, as well as the pokes and prods of the most enthusiastic members of the team… you know who you are.
Now without further ado, feast your eyes on a quick video as hot as any live wire.
…And now (to your frustration and dismay) we will NOT yet reveal the time and date of the Tesla Coils’ release. Rest assured that they are coming SOON.
Don’t miss the LIVE Town Star Dev Stream —Friday, November 5th at 12pm PT, featuring the following members of the Town Star team…
Director T. Elliot Cannon Art Director Warren Marshall Community Lead Carrie Allen Writer Chris Roberts
It was a quiet night on the streets of Industrial Parkway. The land of abandoned warehouses and archaic factories was only a few short miles away from the bustle of night commuters, taxi cabs, neon signs and shop windows. Here it didn’t smell like the rotting garbage that lined the streets or the sticky summer film that somehow creeped up through the sewers and lined the curb. Instead it reeked with the enchanting aroma of diesel fuel and the memory of assembly lines that hadn’t been running for decades. This was Nikole’s refuge and her sanctuary.
On a one-of-a-kind hoverboard of her own invention, Nikole Tesla took her turns at a reckless and breakneck speed, dodging potholes and blasting EDM on her earbuds as loud as she could stand it. She sometimes wondered why they even bothered to power the street lights in this deserted part of the city anymore. There was never anyone here, and Nikole loved that about Industrial Parkway.
Speeding past the worn down fences and broken windows that she’d seen hundreds of times before, Nikole thought back on the hard day that had preceded this glorious night. It was time to make a difficult decision, but she was ready.
Few people in the world are even aware that the great Nikola Tesla had any direct descendants. Famously quoted as saying things like “I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men,” the inventor was an unlikely candidate for companionship. The idea that he had a lasting secret affair in the early 20th century that resulted in a son was incredibly far-fetched to biographers, historians and scientists. Tesla had claimed that this alleged love affair was actually with a pigeon he was fond of, and his closest friends considered him eccentric enough to believe his story. The mysterious lady had died young, less than a year after childbirth, so Tesla kept her identity a secret even from her own son.
Tesla passed on a great deal of his knowledge of science to his young protege, Nikole’s Great Grandfather. When he died in 1943 at the age of 86, Nikola was all alone. This was because his only son was drafted into World War II in 1940. Nikole’s Great Grandfather spent a bloody five years fighting overseas until the Allies defeated the Nazis in 1945.
Nikole’s Great Grandfather returned home after the war, never surfacing as a descendant of the late inventor. The unknown heir to Tesla’s genius blended into mid-century American life, eventually finding a wife and raising a couple children of his own. In the late 70s, his son Theo had a son named George, who met Nikole’s mother at college and produced the great scientific genius destined to revive and rekindle the name of Tesla and bring something extraordinary to the world.
Nikole’s parents made sure that she understood her roots, all the way back to the Tesla family from Serbia before Nikola Tesla’s immigration to the United States. They educated her with all the secrets that had been passed down from generation to generation, and they filled her head with all the dreams and ambitions of any child of the 21st century. With today’s technology combined with the passed down genius of her ancestors, Nikole had always excelled in school. She graduated from high school at fourteen and was currently attending the Blakeman Institute of Technology, one of the most prestigious schools for inventors in the world. After three years at the Institute, Nikole had become bored and restless, tired of learning and ready to make a difference.
A young man at school named August had been enrolling in Nikole’s classes and becoming especially interested in her studies of electromagnetic engineering. At first Nikole had hoped that the young man fancied her, but earlier today she learned his name and realized the truth. His name was Edison. He was a direct descendant of Thomas Alva Edison, her Great Great Grandfather’s nemesis and the infamous rival who had bested him in the race for hundreds of patents. She was utterly unwilling to sink into a retelling of Nikola’s sad story, and she was out riding tonight to make a fateful decision surrounding the future of her family’s inventions.
Nikola Tesla once said “I don’t care that they stole my idea… I care that they don’t have any of their own.” Perhaps he was a better scientist than Nikole, but she didn’t care. There were still inventions to be made, patents to be claimed and lives to be changed. The Tesla family would still make a mark on the world, and Nikole would make sure of it. She was not looking for a nemesis. She was looking for a purpose, and to find that purpose, she would have to leave the city of her home.
Nikole killed the engines and stepped off the hoverboard, then pulled the noisy headphones from her ears. Standing there under the yellow glow of a streetlight and hearing the night noises of a deserted industrial graveyard after dark, she suddenly felt giddy with excitement and couldn’t contain herself. She raised her arms to the sky and let out a wild and boisterous laugh. She felt powerful like never before. In fact, she could swear that sparks flew freely from her extended hands.
Don’t miss the LIVE Town Star Dev Stream — Tomorrow, November 5th at 12pm PT, featuring the following members of the Town Star team…
Game Director T. Elliot Cannon Art Director Warren Marshall Community Lead Carrie Allen Writer Chris Roberts
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Many of us have struggled with or lost loved ones to this terrible disease, but with proper awareness, routine screening and early detection, we can beat it. That’s why Gala Games is spreading awareness and raising money in the best way that we know: Gaming assets.
The month may now be over, but breast cancer awareness doesn’t end when October ends. That’s why we are now releasing a brand new charity skin set that will be available until the end of the year.
#TownStarPink
From now until the end of the year, a unique set of Town Star skins will be available in the Town Star store. Unlike the per-building Mirandus-Themed Skins currently being sold in a series of 10 different packs, the Breast Cancer Awareness Skins will be sold as a single gigantic pack containing 26 different skins! When deployed, these skins will turn your town a delightful shade of pink. Townsfolk will suddenly change their outfits in a makeover that would make Aerosmith proud (in reference to the 1997 hit, Pink).
All Profits for Charity
100% of the profits from the limited-time sale of these skins will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.NBCF is on a mission to “provide help and inspire hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education, and support services.” Gala Games and the Town Star team are excited for this opportunity to raise money in the fight against breast cancer.
Tweet for a Chance to WIN!
The Alfa Fountain OK
In addition to this awesome charitable initiative, Gala Games is prepared to award Alfa Fountain NFTs to some lucky participants who share the initiative on Twitter.
Share an image or video on Twitter, showing off your favorite Pink Town Star skin. or just an image of something pink.
Thank you all for your incredible support, and good luck on your Town Star builds! Stay on the lookout for some huge game-changing Town Star news, coming at you very soon. Stay safe out there, Gala gamers!
Derek Attler was a simple man. He worked his land, he feared the Lord, and he loved his Gloria. His farm was a modest little piece of the countryside, not so low that it would flood in the rainy season or high enough to get bit by the spring gusts. It nestled nicely right into the plains on a little hill, Derek’s own picturesque patch of paradise.
He loved his horses almost as much as he loved his Gloria. They were well fed and well cared for. Derek used to go riding with Gloria, she on her brown spotted Appaloosa, Gerty, and Derek on the jet black Arabian that he called Midnight. They’d spend whole evenings out meandering and watching the fireflies, reminiscing about the old days when their love was young.
Derek grew what he could on his land and he was good at it, but nothing was ever big enough for him. He envied the local boys who took home the blue ribbons from the county fair for their gigantic and perfectly shaped squash, melons and pumpkins, and he swore one day he’d grow something bigger than they’d ever seen. Gloria used to laugh at what she called his pumpkin dreams, saying “pretty big’ll get you there, long as there’s enough to share.” Gloria always had a way with words.
On a terrible stormy night one December, the Lord took Gloria suddenly and quietly in her sleep. Derek was never quite the same after that. His fear of the Lord turned overnight into bitter resentment. He still had his horses and his land, but no one with whom to enjoy his patch of paradise. To pass his remaining time, Derek set out to accomplish the one dream he had left: To win the blue ribbon at the county fair.
Derek decided on pumpkins to go for the prize. He had always been fond of the way they grow, and the fall was his favorite time of year. He made a vow to himself that he’d grow the biggest pumpkin not only in the county, but in the world. He knew it would be tough, but he didn’t care. Darik spent years practicing and failing, growing pumpkins that didn’t quite cut it. Some were misshapen and others were too small. Some had worms and others’ lives were cut short by garden sabotaging varmints who came in the night.
At the local feed store, Derek bragged to the local boys whenever they’d listen about the pumpkin he would make before long, how big and glorious it would be, how it would show them all. Sometimes they’d laugh in his face and call him Ol’ Pumpkinhead, a name that cut to his soul like the edge of a dull and rusty scythe. He’d walk away grumbling with his pumpkin seed pouch in hand, fantasizing about rolling over them with his combine, crunching straw hats, moustached faces and overalls into a ghastly fertilizer that would finally make his pumpkins grow the way he wanted. Five years after Gloria’s death, Derek was a bitter and broken man.
One day in late summer an afternoon hailstorm came out of nowhere and decimated Derek Attler’s pumpkin crop when he had been sure this was his chance to win the ribbon. The hail broke the vines beyond repair, and there in the sloshy muddy aftermath, Derek fell to his knees and cried the salty and stinging tears of a defeated man. He pounded the pumpkins with his fists, he threw them into the air. He smashed them open on one another and watched the undeveloped guts spill out onto the muddy ground. He kept at it like a madman for ten or twenty minutes, until his muscles burned and he could barely lift the damn things. Finally stepping back and surveying the destruction of his favorite garden, he felt a glimmer of giddy satisfaction.
This was it for Derek Attler. Without his pumpkins, he had nothing left. Since Gloria died, everything good in his life had vanished. If he could just win the godforsaken blue ribbon at the county fair, then Derek could leave this world. But how could he do it? He went over to visit his horses, who had been curiously watching his tantrum from the fence line. They were the only friends he had in the world and maybe they could bring him some comfort and reassurance, the way Gloria used to do. Ol’ Midnight just nodded and whinnied toward the driveway, where a rickety horse-drawn wagon was approaching with a hunched old driver and a small covered load.
The driver pulled to a stop not far from where Derek stood, and there he waited motionless. Midnight took off like he was spooked by something unseen and ran to the other corner of his yard. Derek started to make his way toward the stranger and his wagon.
The wagon looked like it came from a different time, like it had been through the storm of the century and in some places, like it had been on fire more than once. The horse pulling the wagon was a majestic creature, blacker than Midnight. It stamped and dragged its hooves on the ground like it was in a hurry to carry the dark stranger off to other important business.
The stranger was old, older perhaps than anyone Derek Attler had ever seen. The old man cleared his raspy throat and Derek’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly found himself afraid and wished he was holding a weapon. Still he continued approaching the old stranger, his curiosity taking complete control. The cloaked old man turned and looked at Derek. His face was wrinkled as the stones at the quarry and almost a solid shade of white. His eyes were bloodshot to the point of almost pure redness. His mouth opened into a painfully wide grin, revealing several missing teeth. The man slowly reached out a vile and bony hand toward Derek Attler, looking for a shake.
A handshake was everything where Derek was from, and he wasn’t about to shy away from this one. Hoping the old man didn’t have some contagious leprosy, he reached out and clasped the white hand. Firm shake, his daddy had always said. When Derek clasped this hand, he swore he felt bones cracking beneath his grip, but the old man revealed no pain or discomfort.
The stranger spoke his name simply in a voice that would haunt Derek’s dreams for decades. “They call me Scratch,” he said.
“Wagon’s worse for the wear I see,” Derek replied to Scratch, attempting to break the old man’s awful gaze. It didn’t work. Scratch laughed and coughed, but kept staring with his piercing red eyes deep into Derek. “Alright,” he said, “what you got for me old man?”
“Pumpkin seeds,” said Scratch. “But not just any pumpkin seeds. These are the pumpkin seeds you been waitin’ for boy.”
“Alright,” said Derek. “I figure one of the guys from the feed store put you up to this. I’ll take your damned pumpkin seeds. How much?”
There was a pause that lasted a long, long time, then a cold wind blew over the fields, causing Derek to shiver to his core. Finally Scratch spoke. “Your immortal soul.”
Derek wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t find the energy. Instead he replied “Fine, friend, but you’ll have to guarantee these seeds will make the biggest pumpkins anyone in these parts have ever seen.”
Scratch chuckled and spoke again. “A hard bargain, boy, but throw in your favorite horse and you got a deal.”
Derek Attler reached out and clasped the bony and nightmarish hand once again. As soon as he did, there was a flash of powerful blinding lightning and the loudest thunderclap he’d ever heard. Then the stranger and the wagon were gone. He was all alone, and in his hand were six pumpkin seeds. Assuming he was in some kind of dream, he walked over to the garden field where his desecrated pumpkins were strewn, tossed the seeds onto the ground and kicked some dirt on top of them, sealing his eternal fate.
The years turned into decades and the decades faded into the past. Some old farmers still tell stories of the magnificent pumpkins grown by ol’ Derek Attler and how he sold his soul to the devil. The old mansion was later built on the little hill and since deserted. They say that under the old mansion’s porch is where Derek first sowed those evil pumpkin seeds. They say that he still haunts those grounds, a headless ghost carrying pumpkins forever. He rides the horse that was part of the bargain and his only friend, Midnight, and only the devil knows when the Headless Horticulturist will be free.
The Haunted Mansion is a set of modular NFTs currently for sale in the Town Star store. Each comes with in-game benefits (Passive oil and more), and each is eligible for Town Star Play-to-Earn daily rewards!
