HOME | DD
ultema β Phantasy Star IV Fangame - Rika update concept
by-nc-nd
Published: 2013-05-06 20:02:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 3814; Favourites: 40; Downloads: 25
Redirect to original
Description
Once again I wanted to modernize the PSIV characters for my fangame. Rika's design was cute back in the day but the fact that she was just wearing a leotard with some thigh-high high heels has made me cinch my brow in the last few years. I wanted to give her something a little bit more manufactured with a more solid theme while maintaining the idea as closely as possible. She's a bit more techy now and after wearing her costume personally, decided to take the stiletto heels off of her boots. D:Related content
Comments: 30
π: 0 β©: 0
nice concept for rikaγγγI just draw her a portrait someday ago οΌ
yeahΒ her cloth was too simple.
π: 0 β©: 0
That's looking great, what's that fangame you speak of?
I've been looking into modelling lately and really made me want to rebuild a couple of PSIV environments in UE4
π: 0 β©: 0
Okay okay! I have thoughts about Rika's design! Spooky thoughts! Scawy thoughts!
I wondered about the need for the leotard and stilettos myself. I had intended to redraw her with something else so I went about with coming up with her design philosophy which led me to some surprising conclusions.
I read up on a pencil and paper RPG system set sometime after PS4. It had Numan characters that one could roll up and play, but one of the quirks was that every once in a while, you had to make a roll, and if you rolled badly, your Numan just plain died from a "genetic fluke." And I'm thinking 'hmm, okay, bummer, but... -wait a minute- WHYYY is there a genetic fluke?!'
Let's think about it from the story's point of view. Seed, an advanced artificial intelligence with essentially limitless resources and 1000 uninterrupted years doing nothing but perfect a design that was already fielded (Nei). Rika, therefore, is genetically perfect. ALSO, judging from the fact that every subsequent online PS game has more Numans than Humans, there is nothing wrong with her genetics in terms of passing them on through generations, even if the only ones to pass them through are Human.. So, Seed made not just Rika, but all her progeny as well. Anyway, from a utilitarian AI's perspective, how is Seed going to ensure there are children? By deliberately sexually objectifying Rika. =/ Now, we could condemn the GAME'S designers for her battle swimsuit, but I do think Seed had a point... However, that's not to say she should KEEP the suit. XD
So what did I end up doing with my design? I turned her short white cape into a long white cloak with a hood, because apparently, Seed forgot they were on a post-apocalyptic desert planet...Β
π: 0 β©: 2
ALSO NICE TO SEE YOU"RE BACK
π: 0 β©: 1
Ahah Yes I totally know where you're coming from with the design, and truth be told that I have no personal issue with her old design, but at the same time the hindrances that stiletto boots would provide for a creature whose legs are not designed for stilettos (she's still plantigrade! Digitigrade and we could let it slide 
You'd think the easier route would have also been to work from Nei and then make her successor male since it's easier to impregnate many females more than it is to become the "brood mother" (Sega's words, not mine D
*brain aspload*
π: 0 β©: 1
Right, no stilettos on plantigrade creatures in the desert.
I do remember seeing her winter outfit in her settai. It was pretty okay, wasn't it? In terms of fangame planning, have you decided to use different outfits depending on what planet they're on? Cause that means more designing fun!
Sega actually used the term "brood mother"? Well, there you go. Numans have litters. Maybe Rui was just randomly the only one? OR THE ONLY ONE TO SURVIVE?? What else do we know about this? Because little details could clear up a few questions. (goes to look up heteropaternal superfecundation) Hmm... That could be too... Yeah, I guess Chaz and Rika were into being "one and only"
Oh man, I have way overthought the PS universe. You oughta hear my theory on Techs!
π: 0 β©: 1
OMG throw them at me some time! It's been ages since I really thought about any of this stuff because everyone I talk to hasn't even heard of the original PS series and it makes me so sad ahaha.
Sadly we don't know too much and a lot of people take the page of Rika and Rui as non-canon, but I remember the comment on it from the artist being that it was a "very sad existence" for Rika. D:
And man I would love for different outfits per planet! Design fuun wooohooooo~
π: 0 β©: 0
I'm digging it, except for the flank-windows.Β (is there a word for boob-windows on thighs?)Β One of my favorite things about Phantasy Star has always been that it didn't go out of its way to make any of the ladies sexy for no reason, they were attractive because they were awesome, not because they're "cute and useless" like a lot of RPG ladies tend to be. For me it always seemed like Rika's leotard and boots were a callback to Nei more than anything else, although I have no idea what the stiletto heels were shooting for.Β Β The leotard... well, she's agile, we see her do the prodigious leap thing against Lassic, so I can understand her preferring a gymnast's outfit to fight in, but if she's going to wear pants, what are the flank windows for?Β Β
That's my only nitpick, though.Β I'm stoked that somebody's doing a fan-game though, I know I've had pipe dreams of the same thing for probably over a decade at this point.Β If you're still working on it, anyway, looks like I'm a few months behind on seeing this post.Β I probably don't have any helpful skills for your project but I'd be happy to volunteer if I did!
π: 0 β©: 1
I find it interesting that just because something is a callback to a previous design, it gets a pass from being sexy for sexy's sake. I'm not necessarily sure I think that's fair. 
I mean, I get where you're coming from (fretting over women being sexy is a hot topic lately) but as a woman I also think that the huge stink around the clothing female characters get put in gets blown way out of proportion. If I have a problem with something, it's Nei's new redesign for PSII. Kind of is exactly what I'd call cute and useless with all of the bows and ribbons and demure, submissive body language they gave her. To me, changing the outfit AND the attitude is what turns a character from simply wearing something, into some kind of fetish/sex object.
Β Little panels of flesh won't inhibit her from doing what she wants/needs to do any more than her previous outfit does (and could easily be replaced by white panels later down the production road if I see fit, but right now I like them fine); they aren't there to be sexy, either - they are there to allude to the entirely bare thighs she had at one point without completely baring them but keeping the same spirit. Does it make 100% sense? Not at all, but it didn't in the first place, and I'm not trying to change her design so radically that it no longer at all resembles what she used to wear. Rika, herself, has no reason to feel shame or even question why she is wearing what she is wearing; maybe later in life when her naivety wears off, but 20+ years after the game has released, the leotard and thigh-high stiletto heeled boot combo doesn't hold up like it used to. I'm looking for something a little more streamlined and sleek without covering her up in her entirety like some kind of prude, because that's not the kind of person I am.Β
I've apparently had mono for the last 3 -4 months and a bacterial infection in my throat for the last 2, so it's been very slow going (We're a two man team). But we're still doing it!
π: 0 β©: 1
I think that's where we differ; I don't think I ever thought of her outfit being as sexy in the first place (although I know I'm in the minority there, it's basically an armored swimsuit with an ancient zettai ryouiki thing going on, plus the spike heels would just sink right into all that fucking sand) and I'm pretty sure it's equally unfair to equate wearing pants with being a prude; just saying.Β Β But random holes in otherwise fairly ordinary clothing is just something I find obnoxious personally, I tend to flash back to that one panel of Power Girl crying over her cleavage being her hero symbol because she can't think of anything better.
Nei's redesign is pretty damn awful, though, I agree.
Sorry about the mono, too, that's wretched; best of luck keeping at it, though, game projects are hard work.
π: 0 β©: 1
I never equated pants with being prudish; I meant covering her up for the sake of simply covering sake is prudish; she's already in a leather bathing suit for crying out loud! She is wearing pants here, they just happen to have some panels out of them on the sides. Her rear and crotch aren't hanging out (any more) and no sexual characteristics are being displayed, unlike boob window shirts on a large breasted woman. She just happens to have straps on her hips. 
And I'm far too old for this mono BS, I have no idea how I managed to contract it other than being around other people's wretched little spawn. Grr.
π: 0 β©: 1
Mono's one of those things that can be dormant in your body for years before it actually makes you sick, some people carry it and then just have symptoms occasionally their entire freakin' lives.Β If you didn't catch it from somebody's grubby kid running around now, you might have caught it from somebody's grubby kid when you were a kid yourself.Β It's super gross either way,Β I hope it passes quickly for you.Β In as much as a months-long illness can, anyway.
We may just have to agree to disagree on Rika's outfit(s) in general.Β Long story short I'd rather wear the boots with the swimsuit, myself.Β (Though preferably, not in leather 
π: 0 β©: 2
also what is English?
people thinking that it's appropriate to try and touch you on your ass and legsΒ when you wear such an outfit*
π: 0 β©: 1
That's so gross and I'm sorry that's a thing at all.Β But I concur.Β There was a time when leather pants were a thing in my life. I'm not real keen on getting my ass grabbed, and in the end, that was a major factor in deciding not to wear them anymore.Β (Also, living in Florida. Tends to put a damper on things. And by damp I mean oceans of fucking sweat.)
Here's to getting past bullshit illness, I hope your doctor/hospital office/shamanic healing lodge can help you stay on top of it.
π: 0 β©: 1
Oh man, I went from living in upstate New York to living in Austin Texas. I know that pain! Linen and breathable light weight clothing ONLY.
And thank you! I've had a whole week without a fever. Not to jinx it but things are looking up. X)
π: 0 β©: 1
I have hypothyroidism so I'm used to feeling under the weather all the time but wow. mono is a load of horseshit. I had never had it, nor strep (Oh, and coxsackie disease) until within the last two years as well as about of conjunctivitis and I'm just left here wondering why the hell my immune system has decided it's ten years old again. Here's hoping this pissant of a disease leaves me alone from now on.
Ahaha and that's fine. You're more than welcome to wear those, since I already have XD ultema.deviantart.com/art/Cosp⦠I have several days worth of stories involving people thinking that it's appropriate to try and touch on your ass and legs you when you wear such an outfit, so never again for me!
π: 0 β©: 0
Nice character design! Rika looks great!
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks! I hope to get around to modeling and animating her in the near future.
π: 0 β©: 1
You're welcome! Keep up the good work! As much as I still like the original outfit design that was used in Phantasy Star IV, this is also good looking! I like both designs equally, to be honest, though it's nice to have a new design, when necessary and possible! And by the way, if you ever consider making your fangame, I suggest making the original outfit design as an optional palette swap; at least if it's 3-D game of course.
π: 0 β©: 0
Phantasy Star... downloaded to iphone and enjoing now) Great game)
π: 0 β©: 1
Same spirit, but much more practical. Expertly done.
π: 0 β©: 0
cute and doesn't look like she stumbled out of a brothel! winwin situation X)
π: 0 β©: 0
Seed knew what would best to wear to get the offspring coming right away. :]
π: 0 β©: 0