Happy Ween '19! A Trigger Treat Update (Patreon)

Hey everybody! It's finally that time of year again. I can't help but go big when I celebrate, so here's a whole heaping helping of concept art I've done for Trigger Treat in the time since we started Tough Bippy. Although making the little rabbit jump around has been a pleasure in its own right, it's a much cleaner looking project than Trigger Treat. I get much more artistic satisfaction when I can really loosen up and make messy chickenscratch, so creating some horrific denizens to populate our Halloweenland is a welcome change when I nab some down time.

I make no secret of the fact that designing enemies is my favorite part of making games. Most of the spooks and specters you'll be fighting as part of Trigger Treat have already been established, but I always have more monster ideas waiting in the wings. I'm sure these won't be the last of them either!

Allies are important too, of course. They won't be anywhere as numerous as enemies, but there will be some NPCs helping the world of Trigger Treat feel populated and alive. Or undead, anyway. Here you can see a gaggle of ghosts and goblins, as well as some COPYRIGHTED CHARACTERS which will more than likely not actually appear in game. Apart from just being a fun thing to doodle though, interpreting these characters in the style of the game was good practice for zeroing in on the aesthetic I was looking for, as well as helping me to narrow down the parts of popular culture that make Halloween what it is.

That said, horror isn't the only thing to define Halloween! I'm having a lot of fun figuring out a story that incorporates influences from throughout the yearly cycle of holidays. These designs are still a work in progress, so expect more refined versions of these figureheads to come. What on earth could their presence in Halloween signify?

Trigger Treat has been a real challenge to design for, but the best kind. Just like the thrill of having to sneak by plastic corpses and strobe lights for a sweet reward, I've had a ton of fun navigating the hurdles of such a project. While I was very disappointed that we missed the original release date for the game back in 2016, I've come to appreciate how much time has gone by since then, it's allowed me to really distill the visual and story ideas I had in mind since the beginning. In the meantime though, Tough Bippy is still going strong, and I'm very excited to show you guys the playable test build coming out next month. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated, and it'll feel great to give you guys a tangible result of your generosity. Until then, have a safe night, enjoy your candy, and don't get spooked!

-Julian