Starfield: Creatures
All images property of Bethesda Game Studios.
A non comprehensive collection of creature art I created as Lead Character Artist on Starfield.
We had a tall order on Starfield to try to fill hundreds of planets with diverse alien lifeforms. As always we had limited time/resources and abundant expectations.
I worked closely with Concept Art, Tech Art and Animation teams to build “blob” meshes to establish proportions for each of the 15+ shared rigs we would use to build the hundreds of creatures we eventually made. This was an iterative process working back and forth as we tried to narrow down the proportions, limb structure, balance, and realism that would allow many diverse creatures to be built on the same rig. I eventually polished most of my blob meshes into full creatures and these served as guidelines for the creatures that would follow.
We needed proportions that were grounded in the reality of our natural world, but that would also allow us freedom to create more exotic xenobiology.
We eventually built rigs for:
3 flavors of quadruped
Octopede
Hexapod
Biped (theropod style)
Mantid
Manta
Flyer
Floater
Larva
Swimmer
I also had a hand in prototyping a few more rigs that were not used.
In addition to creating these creatures and establishing master proportions I also ended up creating and applying the 30+ tiling detail normal textures to most of the 200+ creatures to allow them to hold up at close scrutiny. I also made most of the variant textures for the creatures in the game to allow them to look natural in many diverse biomes.
It was a lot, but this sort of imaginative grounded work is my favorite :).
My approach to creating character art is very production focused and not flashy. I try at all times to do enough to sell a concept but I don’t get lost in the seductive high poly sculpting details. I try to leave micro detail to the eventual texture and materials pass. I love getting lost in a crazy sculpt too, but i keep my eyes focused on what is best for the game overall, and for Starfield creatures that was speed and volume.
Only the creature meshes/textures/materials are mine. Animation/rigs/backgrounds etc all done by my amazing teammates at Bethesda Game Studios.
Images property of Bethesda Game Studios
Orchid for the biped rig. Created from a rough concept by Lucas Hardi (I think.) wanted something that looks plausible but also inscrutable, with bright colors.
Vuvuzelisk. For the Mantid rig. Created from a rough concept by Lucas Hardi. I had the idea to turn the large antlers into musical horns and let it make silly noises. The dumb name was my idea too :)
The Brainsprout. Built for our low to the ground quadruped rig for things like gators and lizards. This guy is definitely somewhat of a horror creature and is intended to be a bit upsetting to look at.
Cagebrain created on the high quadruped rigs (somewhere between a sauropod and a giraffe). This was my own design and I documented a complex reproductive cycle for this weirdo.
Nightmare on biped rig. Never loved the name. This was meant to feel a bit of a flora/fauna hybrid with lots of exposed organs for external digestion.
Siren on mid quadruped (meant to cover the enormous range from rhino to big cats.) Concept by Ray Lederer. A blind armored creature with large exposed ears for echolocation.
Seabat for the flyer rig. Just a fun guy. Enjoyed designing the strange head shape and mouth parts.
Sunflower for hexapod rig. My design, this was intended to blur flora and fauna. Tree-like limbs with intestinal roots running through them. A cavernous petal ringed mouth. Head like a parasitic isopod.
Artichoke. Cute little floater was my design. Delicious with butter.
Lattice Floater. My design. Wanted this one to be really out there.
Radar Face for the Mantid rig. Concept by Ray Lederer(?)
Radar face again, I wanted to hide some fun weirdness under the shell-like wings.
Nautiloos floater. Wanted exposed organs under a clear membrane.
Giant Moth flyer.
Hammersaur for biped rig. Concept by Ray Lederer. You can tell a “master” creature when it uses every possible part. 4 arms, 3 tails, two kinds of jaw.
Crocalypse. Low quadruped rig. Fun alien croc.
Snuffler for larva rig. My own design. Art director hated this guy :)