Aidana - Your AI companion in Solarium

Hello everyone! This time I am back with another small pixel person. Say hello to Aidana, who is a popular artificial intelligence (AI) used in Solarium.

In the Solarium intro, I used a generic sprite for Aidana but as I was sketching out game mechanics before I start coding, I was trying to think about what role she plays in the game and how that should be expressed.

As I imagine Solarium right now, Aidana is the player touchstone to the world they've come into. I wanted her to also be influenced by Art Nouveau, as she is used by folks from Skygrounds. I wanted her to have a warmth and a whimsy to her. Aristocrats can afford whimsy and fun, even when the rest of a population is struggling.

In the end, I took inspiration from one of my favourite illustrators, Chéri Hérouard, who frequently illustrated the lifestyle (and erotic/risque) magazine La Vie Parisienne.

Because I'm working with very simple pixel images to start, it's obvious that they can't compare to the delicate shading and ethereal feeling of Hérouard's work , which in some ways very much embodies the idea of illustrations during the era of Art Nouveau. While he doesn't have the ornate borders and stylistic repetition that we often think of, he has the organic lines and the same inspiration in his depictions of faeries, mermaids, and general sense of enchantment with Nature. I believe more elaborate pixel work can embody this more faithfully, but for now I'll have to be content with trying to invoke what I can.

To that end, like Oona, Aidana uses a lot of hair ornaments. In her case, I imagine them to be sparkling in gold and star-like, rather than the flowers. Aidana's top I believe would be accented by flowering vines around her shoulders. While Oona is a bit shyer, Aidana as an artificial intelligence has the capacity to be programmed into a perfect embodiment of what the aristocrats think their society is like or should represent.

This brings me into the question of what I think it would be like to be an artistocrat in the world of @steempunknet.

One of the reasons I'm so drawn to Art Nouveau aesthetic in this project is because I think it has a more enchanting feeling than other near future science fiction. Steampunk as a genre is often expressed in browns and coppers with a warmth that contrasts the white and chrome we see in many futuristic aesthetics. I think Art Nouveau also has a warmth to it and the ornateness lends itself to being an aesthetic of pleasure.

In some of the @steempunknet materials, I found a reference to those in the Dark Zone being like Morlocks, which is of course a reference to H.G Well's The Time Machine. While I'm not sure exactly how I want to approach that idea in Solarium, this would mean that I could reasonably assume for narrative purposes @dehenne possibly found some correlation between the Eloi and the Aristocrats as well.

In the book, Eloi mostly feed, play, and mate as there is no need for them to do any physical labour (the Morlocks handle that). So I imagine them having a very playful energy and carefree. I think because of the competition set up by companies that run like little countries (even enforcing their own laws!) aristocrats in Steemopolis would have more killer instinct than the Eloi. Otherwise they wouldn't last long in the Clockwork Arena!

All these ideas influenced several design choices for Aidana. One, she could be like an interactive "La Vie Parisienne". She is a touchstone for the player that embodies the world of Solarium. Through interacting with her you can find out what hobbies they have, what they find important, how they pass their days. This can be more engaging than the player reading walls of text. Two, she should be unlike overly servile AIs. The feeling I get from people in Hérouard's illustrations is of people enjoying themselves in their lifestyle. Aidana should express those qualities too, along with that killer instincts somwehere (maybe she likes to watch the battles in the arena?). I think this makes her a more interesting artificial intelligence, rather than one that does not have preferences. Three, because Aristocrats in a way believe themselves to be living in a more beautiful, better world than folks in the Dark Zone... I wanted her to seem whimsical... Which is why I chose the merperson aesthetic. I feel like having a small AI hanging out with you who looks like a mermaid, likes pretty things, and has the kind of carefree energy of water sprites would automatically make a person feeling like they were experiencing a more whimsical reality than an AI who was a steel robot and does not have feelings. I am not sure if I will stick with the water sprite theme... She could easily be a nymph or a satyr as well and have the same feeling.

Aidana has a simple, but important function in the game which is to help the player achieve their goals. She serves as one of the first examples of how the world of Solarium and Steemopolis is different than our own. She will also guide you when you are lost. So I want her to have enough unique characteristics that she matters to the player, even if it is just background noise to the main searching and mystery-solving.

For the artwork, I made it again in the Piskel App.