A hero should make you want to control him

When the second player joined the game in July, he was wearing borrowed clothes, until I could find someone to draw him. Those days are over: the Gravedigger now has a body of his own, drawn by Caronte.

The first thing I asked for was simple: he had to be a real hero. Not a teammate you end up with by default, but a character you actually want to pick. He also had to stand apart from Alaric at a glance, even in the thick of the action. Alaric wears wool and olive, with his lantern held high. The Gravedigger wears steel blue and a wide-brimmed hat, and holds a wrought-iron cannon out in front of him with both hands.

Eight poses before he moves

The cannon raised a real question. The shot comes out of its muzzle, so the muzzle has to stay visible in every direction: from the front, from the side, at an angle, and even from behind. A cannon hidden behind the shoulder means a shot coming out of nowhere.

So I suggested to Caronte that we start with eight still poses, one per direction, before animating anything. That way you check the silhouette and where the cannon sits on eight pictures instead of thirty-two. If something needs fixing, it costs far less at that stage. He went along with it, and here is what he sent me on 30 September:

The Gravedigger's eight still poses, one per direction: front, three-quarter, profile, back. The cannon stays visible in each one, and from behind it sticks up above his shoulder.
The eight poses from 30 September. From behind, the cannon sticks up above his shoulder instead of disappearing.

Thirty-two drawings for a walk

Next, each pose becomes a step: four pictures per direction, eight directions, so thirty-two drawings for a simple walk. No direction is a mirror image of another.

Caronte delivered the full walk in early October, then kept reworking it right up to the final version, especially the walk to the left and the walk seen from behind. These are details you never consciously notice, but they are what makes a character carry his weight on the ground instead of sliding over it.

The final walk, in all eight directions.

And now he walks by your side

This is where it all comes together. In the game, the Gravedigger never leaves you. If you play alone, the computer controls him: he follows you and shoots at anything that comes close. If someone picks up the second pad, they take control of him on the spot.

Alaric and the Gravedigger, together in the quarry.

From the very beginning, I wanted this second hero to always be there, on screen, fighting alongside you. Finally seeing him walk around with his real face is a milestone I am really happy about.

What comes next

Caronte is already working on the next part: the creatures of the first act, then the Ashen Wolf waiting at the end of Act 1. They are what is still missing before I can put a playable demo in your hands.