Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Initial Ideas
3. Game research
4. Concept research
5. Costume research
6. Concept: Storyline/worldbuilding
7. Inspirations
8. Character 1
9. Character 2
10. Character 3
11. Concept design
12. Moodboard, inspirations
13. Silhouettes, Sketches
14. Idea Exploration
15. Proof of concept
16. Schedule
17. Risk Assessment
18. Next Steps
19. Funding
20. References

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Project Overview

Logline – to design three characters based in a moon colony within the Cyberpunk 2077 game universe. Model 1 character in 3D and pose them.

Overview – My goal for this project is to create several characters set within the universe of Cyberpunk 2077 game. The characters would be residents of an area that is not accessible in the video game, more focused on bioware than cyberware modifications.

Target demographic – The demographic for this project would be the players and enjoyers of the Cyberpunk 2077 game universe as well as people who are interested in the futuristic/dystopian aesthetic. This project might also intrigue people who are interested in space exploration. The game includes graphic scenes and covers heavy ethical themes and has an age rating of Mature (17+)

Unique Selling Point

The characters I intend to design will be residents of a moon colony within the Cyberpunk 2077 game universe. They will represent the elements of the tabletop game that were not yet explored within the video game adaptation. The concept also includes designs for life in space.

Project Goals

Minimum Viable Product

• High concept design of 3 characters in Cyberpunk 2077 game style
• Costumes for space environment
• Posed 3D model of one character

Stretch goals

• Environment design and model for the character
• Animation or special effects

Software and tools

• Procreate/Clip Studio Paint/Photoshop for concept designs, sketches, textures, editing renders
• Maya/Blender for 3D modeling, sculpting, texturing, rigging and animating
• Substance painter for texturing and baking
• Marvelous designer for modeling, sculpting and animating clothes
• Unreal for lighting, rendering, setting the scene

Initial Ideas

Over the summer, I had time to come up with several ideas for the project. Of all the ideas I was most interested in designing an AI character that could be seen in a holographic advertisement in a world of future technology. I felt that this idea represented a realistic scenario of what is currently happening and how marketing will look like in the future. I thought the character could be an artificially created celebrity, part of an idol group designed to appeal to the masses and influence people.

After discussing the idea with my tutor, Amil, I was introduced to the Cyberpunk games and as they have a similar dystopian, twisted future aesthetic. After looking into the game, I was inspired and began developing the idea more to fit within the game universe.

Although the video game is based around Night City, I wanted to explore other areas and aesthetics of the game universe and imagine what foreign characters would look like in this game.

Initially, I wanted to try designing a character with a biological physical modification that would stand out from the game’s distinct cyberware look. As the idea developed, I got curious about the moon colony that was mentioned in the video game as well as the animated adaptation of the game Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

Emotional tone

Watching the show and the content made by players I was able to understand that the appeal of the game is not only in the colorful futuristic visuals but also in the way it clashes with the harsh reality of living in a dying world. The players are constantly faced with difficult decisions and the scenarios often explore heavy themes contrasting the beautiful scenery of Night City.

This is something I would need to consider when developing my concept as the feeling of dread and hopelessness seems to be a pretty big part of what makes the game so interesting and immersive. The emotional tone of the game is somber, twisted and conflicted. The contrast between the rich and the poor is very apparent.

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Game Research

Game research

As I was not familiar with the game I had to look into the lore and gameplay to have a firm foundation for my concepts. I watched gameplay, read sourcebooks for the original tabletop game and watched people break down the scenarios they got or easter eggs they found in the game and analysis of the game.

To have a decent foundation for my concept I researched the lore of the Cyberpunk 2077 and the original tabletop game. My interest was in the situation outside of Night City and especially areas that focused on bioware over cybertech. Europe and space colonies seem to some of such places.

I also found interesting developments in areas like EES(Europe), Japan, NSSR, UK, Korea and the space colonies like Tycho moon colony or the Crystal Palace as they offered a different view on survival in dystopia.

After brainstorming and looking through my notes, I figured out that I am most interested in making characters that would be living in a space colony. I learned that within the game they are called Highriders. Next, I would need to look into what life in space would mean for my design.

Images

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open world action RPG game that follows the story of V, a mercenary surviving within the dystopian Night City. Players are able to customize V’s appearance, gender, occupation, and skills and can make decisions to reach different endings. The video game is based on a tabletop game set in a dystopian future where the world has run out of energy sources and devastated by nuclear warfare, pandemics, and mass extinction. The technological advancements allowed to produce an alternative energy source as well as methods to equip the human body with cyberware. It allows people to modify their physical appearance and abilities and has the risk of causing cyberpsychosis when overindulging. With major corporations overpowering the law and order and unrestrained dangers lurking everywhere, medical care and safety became a luxury reserved for the rich.

Game appeal

What most players seem to love about the game is the open world exploration with the player’s choices affecting the development of the plot. The story covers heavy topics and moral dilemmas while being surrounded by the mesmerizing view of Night City. It is a balance between a sense of inevitable peril and the desire to belong. The game explores the wonders of thriving technology within a decaying society.

Style Analysis

• Dystopian, futuristic neon lights, dark backgrounds, contrasting bright colors muted, desaturated tones
• Cyberware and bioware enhancements crime, drugs, violence, explicit consumerism, corporate domination high tech, urban cityscapes
• Attention to detail, scientifically informed, social commentary, future predictions, relevant concerns

Religions and Cults

I want to include religions within the concept if possible as they add an interesting nuance to the story.

Digital Divinity – believe that humanity’s destiny is within the net as that is the only infinite man-made creation. Popular religion

Technohumanism – believe in that man controls the evolution and that humanity is currently fusing with technology to evolve, with a chance for better future

Countries – EU, NSSR, Japan, Tycho moon colony, Crystal Palace

Radiation, cold and microgravity. Bioware centered character

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Research: science

Bioengineering

As the game’s worldbuilding is informed by some scientific elements and I wanted to explore characters that would reside in space or on the moon, I had to look into the science that I could build my ideas on.

It was surprisingly challenging to find resources on how to genetically modify humans for space or harsh conditions, possibly due to the ethical dilemmas and difficulty of such research. There was, however, plenty of YouTube interviews with scientists or professionals helped me find direction anti-radiation melanin cream, similar to in game UV radiation sunscreen suits for outdoor activities vs indoor underground residents’ muscle and bone affected by microgravity

Warhammer

One of the bioware inspirations (as suggested by my tutor) was from the Warhammer games where marines are raised and genetically modified specifically to combat difficult enemies. The process includes replacing organs, injecting bone strengthening serums and all sorts of modifications for optimal soldiers. A surgeon made content where he would fact check these methods and offer closest analogies that humanity is currently working on.

Research takeaways

The possible modifications I could include would be injections for Fabrics that could be grown in harsh environments One of the downsides of cybernethics, similar to the game world, is that they would require medication to sustain. Preference for bioware could be explained as a way to prevent cyberpsychosis. Bone issues from life in microgravity, near-sightedness

World lore

The EEC area has a preference for discreet enhancements and disposable clothing (fast fashion)

Inspo

Costume design

In this project I wanted to emphasise futuristic fashion, fabrics and textures. What would rich people wear living in dystopian space Vegas wear? I looked into different patterns, shapes, textures and designers

• Thierry Mugler
• Balenciaga

Concept

After gaining an understanding of where my characters would reside and figuring out the areas to keep in mind

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Concept Development

Mind maps, notes

A group of characters that live in EEC and look into the activities of big corporations. The EEC area has a preference for discreet enhancements and disposable clothing (fast fashion)

Location

To begin with the context for my concept I had to first determine where in space would the characters be located. Would it be in one of the moon colonies where tourists gather and companies mine for resources? Would it be one of the space stations of the Highrider Confederation? Would it be in Crystal Palace, the Las Vegas of the space? Or would my characters have their own independent space station? Wherever it would be, it had to be a self-sufficient location with technologies that allowed for protection from the radiation and cold as well as provided air, food and water.

The location that makes most sense in my mind is the moon colony where they have regular jobs and secretly work for the organization. The Tycho moon colony was built underground to shield from radiation and extreme temperature changes on the surface of the moon. The colony is self-sufficient with farms that help provide food, fabrics and air, and technologies that use and recycle water obtained from the frozen pools on the moon. It has a population of over 50,000 people. Space suits and moon rovers are needed to move on the surface of the moon and travel between colonies.

community

[The residents have a thight-knit community. The fashion within the city itself is more comfortable, with different colors representing different tribal communities. Spaces are allocated for farming, security, medical technologies. Education is important within the colony as it is with most residents of space areas.]

[Although there are occasional tensions between separate groups, the moon colony is not ruled by one authority, and it is not dominated by corporations. The common interest of the population is survival and development of the moon colony into a more habitable and safe space. With the population growing the technologies are developing to accommodate for the rising need for living space and air and resource distribution. There are different departments responsible for expansion, medical care, technological research, education, farming, production and trade with the Earth. Space tourism produces income.]

What will my characters wear? Will my characters need to wear spacesuits? If they were to walk on the surface of the moon or outside the space station, they would need to, but in the residential areas they would wear more casual clothing, probably temperature regulating clothes. As they are part of one organization, they could have a discreet way of identifying themselves like code names or emblems. Maybe engraved rings. The organization would have a logo that looks like a tree with branches representing different agendas and subgroups. The costumes would be temperature regulating. If they live in more secure underground environments, they wear regular, casual clothes.

Within the colony residents can dress casually. Regular cyberware tends to deteriorate due to radiation so the preference is for specially made cyberware or bioware produced in orbital factories and popular in Highrider communities.

What roles would my characters play? The residents of space are either highly intelligent, wealthy or desperate. Residents are educated and have tight-knit communities. Wealthy tourists come to visit the moon and Crystal Palace. The desperate come to earn money to pay off debts.

I want to have each of the characters to have their own personalities, motivations and origins. One would be born and raised in space, intelligent and determined to reach their goals and make a difference. The other would from Europe, where education and training is available to become a Solo. The last person would be an androgynous character skilled in net-running or tech. They could be from Hong Kong or Busan that had been devastated by pandemics, abandoned by people and eventually suspected to house robots and AIs.

Organisation/Cult

After the conflict between big corporations led to the destruction of the already struggling ecosystems, most animals had gone extinct and having a pet or eating real food is a luxury reserved for the rich. Eventually, regular people would come to eat mostly synthetic foods and corporations would guard the technologies to grow produce and clone extinct animals to make a profit. In different countries, people who tried to resist the corpos would not be able to do much damage, and those who did would not be able to live for long. However, the frustration with corporations persisted and the movement began developing loyal followers, working in secret to gather intel, spread the truth and sabotage corporations. After finding skilled leadership the group began to move more strategically and radically. In the present day, the organization has several branches in different countries and even in space.

The ultimate goal is to one day create a safe haven, with reclaimed lands and animals genetically modified for survival to be reintroduced to the environment. Latest missions include running interference on the delivery of SovOil grains and stealing samples of extinct animals from Biotechnica research facilities.

The branch in space has access to research facilities that study genetic engineering, and biological modifications. The characters have regular jobs within the colony, but their hidden agenda is to research and develop genetically modified species that could safely survive in the present world. Other branches collect information about crimes committed by corporations and expose them to the public via a broadcast.

From my research, I know that there are climate activist groups that are trying to fight against the companies further ruining local environments, some of which are violent, and there are also groups of people like Green Thumb, trying to reconnect with nature in their own way.

Based on these dynamics, my characters could be part of an organization that has radical views and would go to great lengths in their raging resistance against corporations and corrupt governments that have led the world to its demise. They do so by sabotaging missions and exposing schemes on the broadcast. It is a big multi-national movement led by people devastated by the current events.

Why are they in space? One of the branches of the organization is located in space, where corporations still exist but have limited control over. Highrider Confederation maintains neutrality, but the organisation function independently in the shadows. From space, they are able to elicit an exchange of information with and between bases on Earth and findings are reported on a broadcast through veiled messages.

[One idea was to have them be an idol group performing in the Crystal Palace, or a celebrity and their accompanying entourage. Then I thought a resistance team would be a bit more interesting to work on. They might disguise themselves as regular workers that lead the resistance in the shadows. One would be the face on propaganda posters or news reports. A mask could be worn in advertisements with a symbol of the resistance.]

The organization was started from movements in different countries where people quietly enraged by corporations began rebelling and sabotaging corrupt officials or companies. The movement gradually grew and developed into a more sophisticated organization with a goal of exposing crimes against the people and the environment. They release broadcasts with veiled messages, report findings and compromise operations of big corpos. For their own survival, the group excels at discretion and hiding their tracks.

The right goals are not always achieved by the right means. Their actions grew radical in response to ruthless corporations and their passion and dedication to their goals invites both admiration and unease. Some branches are more violent than others.

The emotional tone of this concept is meant to have a vigilante group with noble intentions but sometimes questionable means and consequences. The persistence, sacrifice and loyalty can be ominous when pursuing a goal no matter the cost.

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The characters that live in EEC and look into the activities of big corporations

Function – form – aesthetic

I want to design character that would feasibly survive the cyberpunk world. One would be born and raised in space, intelligent and determined to reach their goals and make a difference. The other would from Europe, where education and training is available to become a Solo. The last person would be an androgynous character skilled in netrunning or med tech. They would be from Hong Kong or Busan that had been devastated by pandemics, abandoned by people and eventually suspected to house rouge robots and AIs.

Combat in space is mostly reliant on cold weapons as firearms are a safety hazard. Due to regular cyberware being damaged by radiation in space, all cyberware is specially manufactured in orbital factories and the bioware became a more popular choice being more efficient and available. The combat abilities of space dwellers are lower relative to people on Earth, but they are often more skilled in martial arts, highly intelligent, level-headed and determined.

Character 1

This character was born and raised in the Highrider Confederation. Her parents, like is common in the tight-knit space community, put emphasis on education and intelligence. While learning about the old world and all the conflicts that led up to mass extinction and environmental devastation, this character was enraged with the corrupt corporations that still wreak havoc in the world and strived to make a difference. Over time, the character got involved in an anti-corporate organisation, helping report on the crimes committed on Earth and in space that are being hidden from the populace.

Established media reporter. A journalist with a medtech background that decided to dedicate their life to uncovering the secret crimes committed by corporations

Character 2

This character was born in Europe (France/Germany/UK) where he was educated and trained to be a qualified Solo. After growing tired of doing the government and corporations’ dirty work, this character moved to doing independent jobs illegally. After being hired to protect and accompany a wealthy client belonging to the organisation on their trip to space, they will eventually be recruited into a team in space and work for the organization.

A hired muscle that grows attached to the client and the pay

Character 3

Androgynous character that comes from a family of wealthy and skilled net-runners/med technicians in Busan/Hong Kong (Ghost World). Like her ancestors, skilled in net-running and helps in communication between the colleagues on earth and the base in space. After losing their relatives in the pandemic that quarantined their city this character’s surviving family became engrossed in avenging their loss(?). Joined the organization since they believe corporations caused the disaster in their home city. After hearing about signs of AI or robot life in the quarantined cities, they started believing that maybe there is an afterlife in the digital world.

The characters are involved in researching and sabotaging corporations’ involvement in events like climate disasters, pandemics, and human rights violation.

The moon colony’s policies are tied to the residents’ origin as researchers and scientists. The order is managed with the understanding of the common good and survival, open and transparent research practices and critiques, prioritising safety and disease prevention. There are advertisements on the importance of physical exercise and education, entertainment areas have a separate less regulated space, each tribe has their own muscle who work together as police force, researchers and medics. Maintaining order through a council of dedicated representatives.

I would like to imagine the characters that would look good in microgravity, like giving them hairstyles, clothes and accessories that would look good floating or would not float.

I had different ideas on which roles the characters would have and at some point thought about placing the characters in Europe, on Earth as I was doubting how I would place the characters in space and how they would be able to live there but after being advised by my tutor Amil to look into games like Mass Effect and Starfield for designing costumes. Start the design with the story and discussing possible ideas I have, i decided to keep making the characters that would be living on the moon. Discussing my ideas and doubts encouraged me to keep going with my concept as well as possible sources of inspiration

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Character 1

An avant-garde character in luxurious clothes and with a glamorous lifestyle

A character born and raised on the moon. Her style is more practical and competent, but relaxed, playful and comfortable at the same time. During the reports, she dresses in a more fashionable and formal attire. Likes styling her hair in different ways.

Behaviour

This character operates on a chaotic good personality type, they have a strong sense of justice but also a sense of their priorities. Having lived a relatively peaceful life within this broken world but has a strong sense of justice and desire to take action against the corporations that take advantage of the masses. Cunning, outgoing, intelligent, confident, determined, friendly

Physical traits

Slender and tall build due to growing up in microgravity. Prefers trendy outfits. Knows how to blend in and befriend people. Bioware Highrider, EEC resident relatives

Occupation

Media/ medtech Hosts a popular news broadcast on relevant issues and concealed crimes. Previously exposed a diner for elites that supplied meat from human protein farms. Currently working on investigating the

Research Notes

• Highriders – residents of space
• A third of Highriders are of African descent.
• Living in space resulted in adaptations for microgravity and radiation
• Highriders prefer biological modifications to cyberware due to radiation
• Slender, bone enhancement, bio-optics/cyber-optics?

Beliefs

Shinto or nothing? The presence of Kami is within all things. Science

Emotional tone

This character is supposed to seem friendly and outgoing, maybe a little naive, just

Inspiration

Anok Yai, Yaya Dacosta’s character in Lincoln Lawyer

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Character 2

A combat centered bodyguard/butler character?

Behaviour

Lawful neutral, follows a strict code of rules, skillfully fulfills his duties. More relaxed off-duty. Perfectionist, professional, meticulous, guardian

Physical traits

Discreet cyberware, groomed appearance, suit and tie. Office worker/butler style Bioware bone enhancements

Origin

Techno-humanism Born and raised by family that believed that biotechnology is the next step for human evolution. Injected with bone strengthening serums and raised to be a solo

Occupation

Solo – bodyguard All of these characters are part of a growing organisation of climate activists? They work with climate activists, med-tech researchers and etc After completing their training and working for the corporations they decided to team up with the c1 and feel the responsibility to protect them. For the right price.

Beliefs

Techno-humanism Humanity is in the process of evolving, fusing with technology

Emotional tone

This character is supposed to seem strong, professional and reliable.

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Character 3

An androgynous character with a more introverted personality

Behaviour

This character is responsible for gathering intel and giving leads to c1. Chaotic neutral. Distant with strangers but dedicated to the job

Personality

Love the vampiric aesthetic, follows Japanese musical groups, at times manic. Inspired by subculture popular in Japan, dresses like a mech/character/spirit? Had to leave Japan due to the aggressive corpos and having her close ones affected. Wears feminine or masculine clothes depending on the mood, pronouns they/them. Distant with strangers, coy to close ones.

Physical traits

Androgynous, loves the vampiric aesthetic. Teeth modified to be sharp, style is dark and gothic.

Occupation

All of these characters are part of a growing organisation of climate activists? They work with climate activists, medtech researchers and etc

Beliefs

Digital divinity. Hopes to one day visit the Ghost world

Emotional tone

This character is supposed to create a mysterious but cooky impression on the player.

Ethnicities and culture

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Concept design

Mood boards

Costume sketches

After sketching out the silhouettes and some costume combinations from the mood board, I am trying to think about the shape language and what could be exaggerated to highlight the characters’ personalities.

• I am trying to add more circular and triangular shapes to character 1 to show bubbliness and competence. I’m experimenting with the balance between patterns and fabrics to make the style polished but unique.
• I am trying to add more squares, edges and symmetry to represent character 2’s perfectionism, reliability and aggression. His colors would be more muted, and textures could be slightly more extruded to show the brutalist but formal style.
• I am trying to make character 3’s design more triangular, asymmetrical and add contrasting textures to show their distinct style and curiosity. Colors would be slightly more vibrant or the fabric could be more deconstructed.

The costumes for the characters are based on current space station demonstration videos as well as other games set in space. My tutor recommended games like ___ to look at the style and suits.

As I was considering making the character reside in Europe instead of a moon colony, there are some sketches of the regular clothes. These sketches still help me with the aesthetic direction that I am going for with each character. I want the solo to look more polished like a bodyguard or butler, the reporter to look competent and approachable and the net-runner to look mysterious and playful. I need to think on how to incorporate these elements into my design for the indoor/outdoor suits.

I also looked into interesting fabrics and textures that might be used to make clothing in space. Mutated plant products.

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Proof of Concept

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Schedule

To plan out my project I found that writing down all my tasks and adding deadlines on a physical and digital calendar worked better for me than using an organization app. I plan to combine digital reminders as well as a visual timeline placed in my workspace to make sure I have a clear idea of how much time I have to complete my subtasks and to-do lists.

I am also going to check in with my tutors on my milestones whether I am on time or running behind.

Tasks

Planning (Oct-Nov)

• Idea Generation by 17.10.24
• Project Proposal by 22.10.24
• Background research by 12.11.24
  • Game research (lore, mood, audience)
  • Scientific basis for concept (moon survival requirements, etc)
  • Inspirations (artists, style, story)

Concept development (Nov-Dec)

• Script by 21.11.24
  • character storyline
  • organisation
  • location
• Mood board 12.11.24
  • costumes
  • colors
• Rough Sketches 21.11.24
  • silhouettes
  • shapes
  • values
• Concept Art 15.12.24
  • turn arounds
  • character sheets
• Costume design 15.12.24
  • character 1
  • character 2
  • character 3
  • versions
• Present concept to peers/tutors, get feedback 11.12.24

3D Modeling (16 weeks) Dec-Mar

• Asset list by 15.12.24
  • body, hair, innerwear, outerwear, trousers, boots, accessories
• Blockout in ZBrush/Maya by 16.12.24-20.12.24
• Body detail sculpt in ZBrush by 20.12.24-28.12.24
  • face
  • hands
  • skin detail
• Break 28.12.24-03.01.25
• Clothes in Marvelous Designer or Clo3d <- learning 06.01.25-26.01.25
• Hard surface accessories in Maya by 27.01.25-09.02.25
  • belts, accessories
• Hair cards 10.02.25-16.02.25
• Retopology 17.02.25-02.03.25
• UV Map 03.03.25-05.03.25
• Texture 05.03.25-16.03.25
• Rig and pose 17.03.25-30.03.25
• Animation, background 30.03.25-10.04.25

Post-Production (1 week) Apr

• Light, render in Unreal 31.04.25-06.04.25
• Final edits 07.04.25-13.04.25
• Submission week 14.04.25-17.04.25

Approach

• Work on journal every Sunday,
• Experiment with workflows,
  • Work 3 hours a Mon-Fri
  • Saturday journal, blog work
  • Sundays off
  • Holiday week 3 hours every other day
• Check in with tutors, inform of schedule and if you are behind

blocking character, clean geometry, sculpt details

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Risk Assessment

Swot analysis

Strengths

• I have a decent understanding of the 3D modeling and sculpting process.
• Established lore to explore. The video game is based on a tabletop game that has several sourcebooks on the worldbuilding of the game and they cover a range of areas including countries outside of what can be seen in the video game. There is also a lot of content from players showcasing unique endings or easter eggs found within the game, so I have a plenty of resources and ideas to look into.
• I am working in a classroom with tutors and other students who I can discuss my work with or ask for advice.

Weaknesses

• As I am working on this project by myself, I have to organize my own time and make sure I am not doing too little or too much. To prevent delays, I am combining digital and physical reminders (on my phone and in my workspace), scheduling breaks to avoid burnout and experimenting with working styles to figure out what works best for me.
• I tend to get struggle to ask for help when I get stuck, so it is important that I update my tutors regularly on my progress. In case I get too anxious, I plan to contact university support teams.
• Managing expectations. I tend to spend too much time perfecting each step when the best choice might be to move on. I intend to allocate time for each stage and move on once the time is up. A picture of my schedule in my workspace will help me have a clear picture of where I am supposed to be at.

Opportunities

• Develop my skills and learn to work in softwares used in the industry like Marvelous Designer and Unreal. I have a chance to finally figure out how to use Marvelous and have the work in my portfolio.
• Researching and creating several characters that I am interested in. I wanted to be able to create realistic characters for a while now and I could finally learn during this project. I also like researching for concept design, exploring lore and building characters.
• Learn how to manage a project on my own. I plan to experiment and find ways to organize and work on my projects more efficiently. Time management is my weakness, but this is also a chance to work on it.
• Large fanbase passionate about the game. A lot of content from the community and I could ask online for advice on my script/character stories

Threats

• Learning a new software. There could be possible complications or delays while I figure out a Marvelous Designer. I am trying to manage my expectations, schedule more time on this and ask for advice if in doubt.
• Technical difficulties. To avoid issues with lost progress I am saving and backing up my projects as often as I can and loading them on One Drive. I am currently searching for a hard drive that I can put my work on as a more secure storage option.
• Designing characters for an existing game. The game already has its own style and story that I am trying to fit my characters into. This is a high standard that I am trying to reach, and I have to manage my expectations and be thorough in my research.
• Cultural appropriation. I am designing characters from different cultures and although they are set in a fictional dystopian world, I need to be mindful of the unconscious biases and the design choices that I make. Guest speakers in our lectures that touched upon this topic advised speaking to the communities you are trying to represent. I need to ask for further advice from tutors

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Next Steps/Critical Appraisal

For my next steps, I would present my characters to my peers and tutors to get feedback on the designs as well as ask which character seems more interesting to model in 3D.

Research

I spent more time than I anticipated on research and reference collection for my concepts as I kept feeling I needed a deeper understanding of the game lore and more ideas to build my concept on. During this process I got to experience how valuable it is to ask for outside opinions to help me find direction for my ideas or stop myself from overthinking.

Process

I need to develop and experiment with my time management and organisation skills as that is the biggest threat for my project. Planning out and scheduling the project helped me to figure out how to keep track of my progress but I also need other people to keep me accountable for my milestones. I intend to check in with my tutors and my mentor weekly during study times so I can keep them up to date on my progress. I also asked my friends to check in with me on important milestones. Starting and structuring the journal for Element 2 early also helped me visualize where I am with my progress, and I intend to update or edit it weekly to make sure I check in with myself as well. Possibly post my progress on social media to keep track and keep myself accountable while also being active online.

I also tried making daily logs to help organise my time as it helps me see how much work I had done and how much more needs to be done.

Feedback

I need to reach out and ask for feedback from people when I am stuck, uncertain or just as a general practice. One of the opportunities in this project is having access to people who can share their expertise and give constructive feedback and ideas. My anxiety is holding me back, but the best way is to practice it.

Presentation

I am trying to think more about how to present my finish product, like how the final render would look, the pose and the vibe depending on the character. I tried some thumbnails for concept art for the characters that I could develop and print into an art book for my exhibition. The artbook could include a brief character description and rendered drawings.

For my 3D character I plan to pose and render them in a style of the character screenshot in the game, or an advertisement with a hidden message for the members of the organisation.

I will continue planning how the work would be presented during the showcase. My plan is to pose and minimally animate the completed character as if they are in an ad for their official occupation. I could print cards or a small photobook in the shape and style of a datashard from the game which would contain information about the character’s or organization’s secret agenda and rendered high concept designs. I would probably need a screen where I would display the ad.

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References

Youtube

• Actual Space (2023) Moon Life: Is It Possible To Live On The Moon? 02.05.2023 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• Adam Srayi (2023) Cyberpunk 2077 in a world of ads. 05.03.2023 Available at: (Accessed: 26.10.2024)
• Curious Archive
• Game with Dave () Cancelled moon dlc
• Generation Films () What is happening in rest of the world lore, 
• Kazuliski () Orbital Air Lore
• LayedBackGamers (2024) The Cults, Religions, & Phylosophy of Cyberpunk 2077 Lore. 13.09.2024 (Accessed: 17.11.2024)
• SPACEJB (2023) The ‘Aliens’ aka Highriders 05.06.2023 (Accessed: 16.11.2024)
• TED (2016) How humans could evolve to survive in space. 21.04.2016 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• TED-Ed (2018) Could you live on the moon? – Alex Gendler. 05.06.2018 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• Thane Bishop (2023) Cyberpunk 2077 and loving a world that hates you. 04.02.2023 (Accessed: 26.10.2024)
• The Space Race (2022) What Life In a Lunar Colony Will Be Like. 26.02.2022 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• Tomorrow’s Build (2023) NASA’s $93BN Plan to Colonise the Moon 28.02.2023 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• VideoFromSpace (2012) ISS Tour: Kitchen, Bedrooms & The Latrine. 21.11.2012 (Accessed: 11.11.2024)
• WiseFish (2024) How to survive Cyberpunk’s night city. 23.08.2024 (Accessed: 16.11.2024)

Books

• Costume design
• Pondsmith, M (1989) Near Orbit. Publisher: R. Talsorian Games. Available at: drivethrurpg.com/en/product__
• Lurie, A () The Language of Clothes
• Dyhouse, C (2010) Glamour: women, history, feminism. Publisher: London & New York by Zed Books
• Mugler book

Websites

• Background on Cyberpunk game
• Wiki
• ‘European Economic Community’ (2024) Cyberpunk Wiki. Available at: cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/European_Economic_Community (Accessed: 20.10.2024)
• Reddit threads
• Articles
• Life in space inspiration
• Animals that would survive radiation
• NASA (2024) Living and Working on the Moon. Available at: nasa.gov/feature/living-and-working-on-the-moon. (Accessed: 10.11.2024)

Images

Pinterest boards

Art station