Skate Bear
2D Adventure Platformer | January 2025-May 2025 | Animator, Game Artist
Skate Bear is a 2D adventure platformer created by replacing the assets in Super Ubie Island 2 for my class 2D Animation for games.
Process
Character Concept Sketches
Refinement Sketches
For this project, I wanted to create a game centered on a character for children, so I began sketching out ideas for a friendly character with a unique design. I chose the skateboard bear character because I could easily visualize his color scheme and the different environments he could exist in. I then created refinement sketches, which helped me finalize my character's proportions and explore his personality. This exploration also gave me a general idea of how I wanted to animate him.
Walk
Idle
Dash
Jump
Double Jump
Fall/ Glide
While animating in Procreate, I looked at many references of people skateboarding and performing tricks to get an idea of what poses could be done for my jump, dash, and double jump animations.
Idle
Walk
Death
Enemy Concept Sketches
I then began sketching out concepts for my enemy. Many of the designs I created felt like potential bosses, but I wanted to focus on a common low-rank enemy. I chose design 5 for its distinct design and simplicity.
Environment Thumbnail Sketches
Full Color Environment Mock-Up
When sketching thumbnails for my game environments, I wanted to place the main character and enemies in multiple places where both bears and skaters could be found, such as cities, forests, subway stations, and junkyards. I chose this environment because I ultimately visualized the game taking place in a city. Using this specific cityscape, compared to others, made it easy to create assets for a parallax background and an environment mock-up.
Coin Idle
Coin collection
Item Exploration
Piggy Bank Idle
Piggy Bank Breaking
Item Boxes Exploration
Designing a collectible item and an item box required me to reference my refinement sketches for the main character. I chose to designa spray paint coin for my collectable item because it can serve as a collectible in any environment, in addition to showcasing the character’s love for graffiti, and a piggy bank for the item box due to it being unique compared to a classic box shape.