Toy Dogs

I really don't care for recording myself in a video stream, too much work.
Screenshotting and documenting my thoughts in written words, now that's my language. 🤌

I'm solid enough on the visual direction I want everything in this game to go that I'm beginning to model the main characters of the game this morning. It's 11:09am on Monday, 9/22/25 for my own reference back to here when I inevitably read this over and over again to inspect my own work with a fresh mind again. I feel like that's an important part of the process I was refused during any of my past employments. Being able to slap something together on a page or screen to walk away a while and come back with a fresh mind, seeing it without the taint of burnt in colors and figures already there - important. I need time to digest away and flush out the preconceptions and come back without the dirt clouding my lenses.

11:09 am~
So anyway here are some legs.

When I wrote/drew my original concept for the art direction for myself to follow for the dogs in this game themselves, I wrote "stubby little fuks with big heads rigid legs that move almost uncannily toy-like". 

Look, the sauce is delicious okay and I get lost in it.🌴

No matter the game in Roblox, a common factor that is seen time and time again is that every game that takes off feels like a toy. It can be utter visual rubbish or it can be polished and high fashion but it MUST speak to the inner child of those playing it by being bright, rounded, huggable, comforting, playful and boy it better be loud.

I want the dogs in this game to basically look like mass-produced toys you'd find at Miniso or Popmart in a blind box. When animated, they'll have visibly disconnected joints but the toe beans will still wiggle independently, subtly. I want them to have the imaginative life that Toy Story gave to the toys in it, with just that little gentle kiss of wtf as a final touch. I don't know if anyone else can make sense of that garble but it's my conviction and I'm sticking to it. 

12:00 pm ~
It looks dumb as fuck but I promise there's a big headed puppy in there i'm still chiseling out from this geometry. It's giving inflated Solgaleo rn but it's aimed toward the direction of kawaii big head if I can manage to navigate it there.

Will I update this? Probably. But also I need to do laundry. Maybe I'll make a pt. 2 and 3 and 4 and so on and and and.

Update: I updated this.

There's a face there now. 

It's starting look squishable. 
That's important because the best thing about puppies is that they go *squish* in the face.

Maybe. 

Needs more puppy carving.

2:04pm~
I don't usually like to document this phase of me working and it's frankly another reason I don't like streaming as well. Part of creation is the struggle, the puzzle to solve to get to what it is you want underneath all that rubbish that's in the way. I compare it to chiseling out a marble statue with guard rails because there's an undo button if I really fuck up most of the time.

Puppy is getting to a place that I kind of like, but it's definitely not there yet. This feels like it will be a multi-day endeavor and I'll need to shift focuses for a refresher, to life stuff and other aspects of this game's development.

Changed its legs a bit in shape to make the toes more petite. Tiny toesies are more pleasant and even Hiro's chonky-ass paws come to a cute little point. Not done. Not even across toes. More refinement to do.

Also going to bother a bunch of friends for their feedback once I'm happy with it so they can smash it to pieces and help make it better, too.

9:56 pm~

I went through a roller coaster of thought seeing the eyes from this perspective. At first it looked so silly that I probably freaked out any neighbor walking by with my pbbbppttp. 

But then I was like it kind of looks like icing. I kinda like it it looks fluffy like those fluffy Japanese pancakes. It looks like it should have that jiggle and might even be tasty but it's gonna come alive so it should lend itself to toy, as I intended and... idk.

Ask me again later.

The body was rotten tripe so i ditched that mf in the bin. But this silhouette, as of 10:37pm EST, I effs with. It looks just the right amount of dumb cross cute on the legs. The head still needs work.

And then I said... there he is. 
11:43pm

That THAAAAAT is a toy that my 7 year old self would DIE for and thus... the shibe mascot and character stylization is born for my game. 

💙💙💙