Source of Inspiration
It was interesting having to base our sketches on a general concept or object in our environment, but I was glad for the change. Once I saw it, I wanted to use the napkin dispensers in Farmers Market as a basis for my character. I decided to add to it in the design, but I still think that it served as a good basis for how I wanted to present my character.
I like how rectangular it is, yet how the slight curves add a bit of depth into it. I wanted to incorporate that more into the character I wanted to create, and I'm hoping that element of depth carried through well with the character I created. Here's more of a closeup image and the smaller details to it.
Sketches/Proof of Concept
I decided to make this character a cleaning robot, that has a limited amount of time to clean the certain area. He is very resourceful and uses his different tools that are stored in his body to clean the surrounding area of trash and clutter. Because of the character's curious nature, some of the trash he finds are reused to create more tools to get his job done faster. In terms of inspiration for the character, I can say the Chibi-Robo and Pikmin were big inspirations as I was making this character. After I finished the design, I came up with a good name for him, the "Spring Cleaner". Below are two renditions of my sketches I created for my character.
The game world I imagine is a 2D Metroidvania, where Spring Cleaner has to travel around a dynamic world in order to clean messes that people in his owner's restaurant has spilled. The game takes place in the restaurant after closing time, so it would have many different colors alluding to sunset and calmness. The faster you complete tasks for cleaning, the better. One of the mechanics in the game is the napkin mechanic, in which Spring Cleaner can hold only a limited amount of napkins before having to refill. There is a certain place or places on the map that hold it, but you need to continuously refill to take care of the spilled messes, which only causes the player to lose time.
Character Background & Game Theory
I want the way that he functions to be very unique in terms of mechanics, yet still similar to control or have a similar feel, so I hope that each description ties into how he functions.
Physical: Being that Spring Cleaner is made out of a napkin dispenser, despite having legs, he moves very slowly and is not that mobile. Added to the fact that his different upgrades affect his skills and attributes in different ways, he could increase or decrease in speed as he finds more trash to use as upgrades. Also, I had a base speed mechanic in that as he uses more napkins, the faster he becomes, as napkins are no longer weighing him down. This enables Spring Cleaner to get more tasks done, however, when you run out, you do have to collect more napkins to clean up messes, which adds a bit of challenge and strategy to playing the game.
Sociological: Spring Cleaner was created by his surrogate father and creator, a smart inventor and small business owner. As work got busy, he decided to make him to help clean parts of the restaurant after closing time. Spring Cleaner was "raised" to be a hard worker, which has caused him to be a bit of a perfectionist, being mixed with a demeanor to keep things clean, the dedication Spring Cleaner shows to keeping the shop clean is evident in how organized the shop looks after every closing time, even on the busiest of days.
Psychological: Spring Cleaner has a hard work ethic, and dedicates himself to cleaning the shop. Because of all of this, he hates to see trash anywhere in the restaurant, that he may go to lengths to keep the restaurant clean. Of course, this causes him to overwork himself in trying to keep the shop clean, and the mechanic may have to step in to get him to slow down.
Character Growth: As the player is controlling Spring Cleaner throughout the story, he learns to see the beauty in "trash" that he takes care of. After discovering that trash contains art, he slowly learns to take time when cleaning, that not everything has to be a rush in life. As that happens, the push to finish completely is not as big a focus, and the game starts to become more relaxing to play.
Character Development: Spring Cleaner learns to be more methodical with his time, as he goes so far to reuse some of the "trash" as new ways to improve his systems or his art later on into the story. Something he once did not want to associate, he viewed as a way to unwind. He will not shirk his responsibilities, but the trash collection taught him how to be more reliable with the time available to him.
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