Maplestory Animations
3D Illustration, 3D Modeling, 3D Animation — 2022A series of animated scenes inspired by classic Maplestory, a massive multiplayer online role-playing game.
Art Direction, 3D Modeling: Nicole Garcia3D Animation, Rigging, Sound: Eric Ruperto
Process
Look Development
For the Bloctopus scene, we wanted to include many of the environmental elements found in the game.
References from the original Maplestory game
The final set of models for the Bloctopus scene
For the Robot scene, we wanted to recreate the toy machine found as a background element in the game. The limited, analogous color palette served as a nice contrast to the colorful, vibrant palette found in the Bloctopus scene.
References from the original Maplestory game
Unlike the Bloctopus scene, which featured elements of various shapes and sizes, the Toy Machine scene required more similar-sized elements fitted together. As a result, I blocked out the models in advance in order to understand general shapes and forms before adding details.
The blocked out model of the toy machine
As details are added, the blocked out shapes take form
Animation
For the first animation, we designed the scene to feature the purple Bloctopus in its natural habitat. As a result, we wanted the animation to emulate the natural motion of the character.
After trying out a few different animation methods, we decided the most straightforward approach would be to rig each of the legs individually. With this, the legs would respond to the movement of the character’s head. The result closely matches the character’s motion as found in game.
Bloctopus, standing with rig
Bloctopus, crouching with rig
The legs were rigged to allow for more natural movement in the animation
Unlike the Bloctopus animation, which felt more natural and organic, we wanted the Toy Machine animation to feel more mechanical by contrast.
The design featured many different elements that worked in tandem — the teeth chomping, the conveyer belt churning, and the Bloctopus characters transforming from toy to gift. We fine-tuned the animation so that each element felt offset appropriately, while still working together collectively.
A variety of cameras captured different shots of the animation.