Here’s an old sketch of a scene for when you're playing as a futa character. Once the character creator is up and running, you’ll be able to choose between male and futa.
This frame is from the first reveal where you find out you have something under your skirt :3
The goblin queen handles your package with a curious, mischievous glint in her eyes. This is the beginning of a scene that’ll be added toward the end of the prologue. :3
Rumors of the sneak peek series' death were greatly exaggerated because we're back with another one!
This time we've got sketches from quite a while ago featuring the mysterious slimegirl merchant of the cast, Pellet.
She's said to be emotionless, but that looks like an awful lot of expressions to me. =w=
Today we're taking a look at the city you'll come to call home in Mana Quest — Hoppe! Between world-hopping sorties, you'll spend your time in this vibrant hub of commerce. Across its districts and outskirts, Hoppe is home to a bustling marketplace, harbor and airship dock, arena, brothel, royal palace, and the ever-important Seeker's Guild.
Relaxing and enjoying the city's amenities isn't all you'll find yourself doing when you're not out questing. There's plenty of ways to get busy around town plying your trade as a merchant, working your own farm, and meeting a whole cast of lovely ladies.
Here's a peek behind the scenes at how Hoppe has developed over time as details were added and fleshed out:
And a look at the final version (with its nighttime details, no less!):
For an isekai protag, this is a pretty good roll for where to end up I'd say.
As a follow-up to the previous post, we're bringing you an in-game look at Hoppe! More specifically, the market where merchants and their customers from all walks of life gather to do business on the ground level of the city.
Being a merchant, you'll surely find yourself on this avenue frequently, whether it's for business or a night of carousing at the tavern. :3
For this week's sneak peek, here's a sketch from when Calma's expressions were being ironed out. This cute dullahan dork is an adventurer too, so you'll run into her on your travels. =w=
This one comes with a bonus sketch since her body has its own personality and "expressions" when her head is off its shoulders!
Check out this old animation test showing off Bonfi's dragon form. As you can see, the rest of the party hitches a ride on her back, and this WIP was one iteration in getting the scale of the sprites right.
Party members who double as transportation are the real MVPs of adventuring if you ask me. =w=
Every adventuring party needs its hardy frontrunner, and in Mana Quest that role is filled by the tough tomboy tank triple threat named Alna Mog'rak! This proud orc warrior and her big-ass shield were among the earliest designs for the game, so she's gone through a number of redesigns to reach her final form. In fact, she wasn't originally an orc at all, making her one of the few characters to change so drastically from her initial concept art! But that's a story for another day...
Once the rest of the game took shape around her, Alna's design was found to be in need of some work. If you've seen the other sneak peeks, you're probably familiar with this update to her appearance that was done a while back:
Multiple rounds of voting in community polls were done in order to help decide on some of Alna's design details, but in the end the "civilized" look just didn't fit her. A new sketch was presented that would take her design in a different direction.
She was given a bold tribal makeover to grant her a more feral, fierce vibe suitable for an orc. Not long after, her final final look as it now appears in-game was distilled from all the concepts:
She's been on quite the journey, but getting all of these big sweeping design changes out of the way early means Alna's content can be made and put into the game without the worry of future changes looming over development.
What do you think of her transformation? Do you perform an orc girl who's more tame or more feral? Does she give you more big sister or childhood friend vibes? :3