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"Possibility Particles"

Outer Wilds (2019) Mobius Digital Games

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Chat, do we fuck with Carnelian??

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Did some sketches of concept designs for the Nomai and one for the Stranger's Inhabitants, stuff that I thought was stand out or endearing

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Having read through this book thoroughly, it makes me yearn to see some of the scrapped ideas they had come to fruition, but of course I completely understand why they were scrapped in the first place. Outer Wilds is a game that succeeded as greatly as it did because the team set out to make a game centered around one idea in particular: camping in space. They stuck by it so hard, making sure not to deviate from it, even by the slightest margin, and it makes the game far more cohesive and consistent for it. They made sure to not fall into the trap of just putting in pure sci-fi stuff just for the sake of it looking cool and space-y. Even though some of the ideas in there were absolutely enchanting and magical from the looks of it, they could not sacrifice their vision, and that's admirable. They balanced spectacle with substance, questions with answers, aesthetic with logic, and mystery with payoff.

Yet, I still mourn the more fantastical ideas and concepts they tried to work with, cause I'm a whimsical little bastard and a fiend. 😂

Finally got my art book!

[khascoil]

Having read through this book thoroughly, it makes me yearn to see some of the scrapped ideas they had come to fruition, but of course I completely understand why they were scrapped in the first place. Outer Wilds is a game that succeeded as greatly as it did because the team set out to make a game centered around one idea in particular: camping in space. They stuck by it so hard, making sure not to deviate from it, even by the slightest margin, and it makes the game far more cohesive and consistent for it. They made sure to not fall into the trap of just putting in pure sci-fi stuff just for the sake of it looking cool and space-y. Even though some of the ideas in there were absolutely enchanting and magical from the looks of it, they could not sacrifice their vision, and that's admirable. They balanced spectacle with substance, questions with answers, aesthetic with logic, and mystery with payoff.

Yet, I still mourn the more fantastical ideas and concepts they tried to work with, cause I'm a whimsical little bastard and a fiend. 😂

Finally got my art book!

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Finally got my art book!

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The Larynk

(An old concept redesigned and given new life)

The Larynk explores the concept of a species that predates the Hearthian/Nomai/Inhabitant universe, ie. beings from the previous universe. The whole idea centers around the concept of the Eye being malleable in all aspects, including how it appears to observers when it comes time to collapse the possibilities. Therefore therein remains the possibility that the Eye was not always the Eye of the universe, but its form was influenced by those who observed it, as well as the signal it emits.

The Larynk was designed based off the appearance of whales, and the common loon, to a much lesser extent. The goal was to encompass the creatures absolutely known for their eerie and melancholic songs to be a sample for the next quantum signal. Their name was chosen as such because the rule for naming Outer Wilds species appears to be based on their most characteristic attribute, and the Larynk tend to sing a lot as a social custom, with the word being derived from "larynx". (Nomai are nomads, Hearthians are from Timber Hearth and proud of it, and the Inhabitants are simply just that: inhabitants of the Stranger, for their home is no more at this rate.) The color palette and singular large eye would become the basis for the next form for the anomaly that transcends space and time to preserve the cycle of the universe.

As for their story, I could figure that they are a more primitive species, much like the Hearthians are in terms of space travel, who grapple with the fear that they are truly alone in this vast, old universe. They search and scan the stars, but to no avail. Perhaps their tech is too basic to pick up signals of intelligent origins from so far away, perhaps there really is no one out there. Maybe it is a universe where they are the only living things in all of this universe's existence, which would make the stakes of continuing the cycle even higher than before. There is the possibility that the anomaly senses this, and so before the spark of curiosity is extinguished within the Larynks' souls, it sends out a signal. It sounds so… organic, but it's strong enough to be picked up by the Larynk. After all this time of the Larynk calling out to the stars and getting nothing in return, they finally get a response. They dub this signal the "Friend of the universe" and put all their time and resources into locating its precise location. They find it out in the middle of space, much like a rogue planet, just half a light year away from their home system, and devise a plan to reach it with haste, knowing now it's lonely, too. When they reach it, they all enter inside together, for no one should ever have to be alone in this cold and oftentimes cruel world, and they bring forth the new universe with the knowledge that theirs was truly empty and devoid of life, but at least they had each other, and they sang one last time in sorrow and union.

[khascoil]

The Larynk

(An old concept redesigned and given new life)

The Larynk explores the concept of a species that predates the Hearthian/Nomai/Inhabitant universe, ie. beings from the previous universe. The whole idea centers around the concept of the Eye being malleable in all aspects, including how it appears to observers when it comes time to collapse the possibilities. Therefore therein remains the possibility that the Eye was not always the Eye of the universe, but its form was influenced by those who observed it, as well as the signal it emits.

The Larynk was designed based off the appearance of whales, and the common loon, to a much lesser extent. The goal was to encompass the creatures absolutely known for their eerie and melancholic songs to be a sample for the next quantum signal. Their name was chosen as such because the rule for naming Outer Wilds species appears to be based on their most characteristic attribute, and the Larynk tend to sing a lot as a social custom, with the word being derived from "larynx". (Nomai are nomads, Hearthians are from Timber Hearth and proud of it, and the Inhabitants are simply just that: inhabitants of the Stranger, for their home is no more at this rate.) The color palette and singular large eye would become the basis for the next form for the anomaly that transcends space and time to preserve the cycle of the universe.

As for their story, I could figure that they are a more primitive species, much like the Hearthians are in terms of space travel, who grapple with the fear that they are truly alone in this vast, old universe. They search and scan the stars, but to no avail. Perhaps their tech is too basic to pick up signals of intelligent origins from so far away, perhaps there really is no one out there. Maybe it is a universe where they are the only living things in all of this universe's existence, which would make the stakes of continuing the cycle even higher than before. There is the possibility that the anomaly senses this, and so before the spark of curiosity is extinguished within the Larynks' souls, it sends out a signal. It sounds so… organic, but it's strong enough to be picked up by the Larynk. After all this time of the Larynk calling out to the stars and getting nothing in return, they finally get a response. They dub this signal the "Friend of the universe" and put all their time and resources into locating its precise location. They find it out in the middle of space, much like a rogue planet, just half a light year away from their home system, and devise a plan to reach it with haste, knowing now it's lonely, too. When they reach it, they all enter inside together, for no one should ever have to be alone in this cold and oftentimes cruel world, and they bring forth the new universe with the knowledge that theirs was truly empty and devoid of life, but at least they had each other, and they sang one last time in sorrow and union.

[khascoil]

The Larynk

(An old concept redesigned and given new life)

The Larynk explores the concept of a species that predates the Hearthian/Nomai/Inhabitant universe, ie. beings from the previous universe. The whole idea centers around the concept of the Eye being malleable in all aspects, including how it appears to observers when it comes time to collapse the possibilities. Therefore therein remains the possibility that the Eye was not always the Eye of the universe, but its form was influenced by those who observed it, as well as the signal it emits.

The Larynk was designed based off the appearance of whales, and the common loon, to a much lesser extent. The goal was to encompass the creatures absolutely known for their eerie and melancholic songs to be a sample for the next quantum signal. Their name was chosen as such because the rule for naming Outer Wilds species appears to be based on their most characteristic attribute, and the Larynk tend to sing a lot as a social custom, with the word being derived from "larynx". (Nomai are nomads, Hearthians are from Timber Hearth and proud of it, and the Inhabitants are simply just that: inhabitants of the Stranger, for their home is no more at this rate.) The color palette and singular large eye would become the basis for the next form for the anomaly that transcends space and time to preserve the cycle of the universe.

As for their story, I could figure that they are a more primitive species, much like the Hearthians are in terms of space travel, who grapple with the fear that they are truly alone in this vast, old universe. They search and scan the stars, but to no avail. Perhaps their tech is too basic to pick up signals of intelligent origins from so far away, perhaps there really is no one out there. Maybe it is a universe where they are the only living things in all of this universe's existence, which would make the stakes of continuing the cycle even higher than before. There is the possibility that the anomaly senses this, and so before the spark of curiosity is extinguished within the Larynks' souls, it sends out a signal. It sounds so… organic, but it's strong enough to be picked up by the Larynk. After all this time of the Larynk calling out to the stars and getting nothing in return, they finally get a response. They dub this signal the "Friend of the universe" and put all their time and resources into locating its precise location. They find it out in the middle of space, much like a rogue planet, just half a light year away from their home system, and devise a plan to reach it with haste, knowing now it's lonely, too. When they reach it, they all enter inside together, for no one should ever have to be alone in this cold and oftentimes cruel world, and they bring forth the new universe with the knowledge that theirs was truly empty and devoid of life, but at least they had each other, and they sang one last time in sorrow and union.

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A line-up of my own interpretations of the Hearthian travelers outside their suits. From left to right: Riebeck, Gabbro, Hatchling (or as I call them, Onyx), Feldspar, and Chert.

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A line-up of my own interpretations of the Hearthian travelers outside their suits. From left to right: Riebeck, Gabbro, Hatchling (or as I call them, Onyx), Feldspar, and Chert.

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Oh my god, I just realized that Ember Twin doesn't have a projection stone wall when I was doing some writing. They have a projection pool, the one right next to the High Energy Lab, but no wall. So then, tell me, if you will, how in the world was that exchange between Pye and Ramie with Poke even made possible? This is the pivotal message that kickstarts the main mechanic of the game, the error report that changed everything.

Let's go over the details here before anything else.

I checked all over Ember Twin for a projection wall, none were found.

This is an Ember Twin stone specifically, which means this was an exchange between Brittle Hollow and Ember Twin exclusively.

They couldn't have made the message with the projection pool because if that were the case, then projection walls would be unnecessary altogether.

They couldn't have made the message on Ash Twin because there was no developed Ash Twin at the time.

Translating the whole conversation on Brittle Hollow reveals that all the spirals are blue, which doesn't make sense for a projection wall log because it's a long distance conversation and any incoming messages would be orange, not blue. There ain't no way they would have all been at Brittle Hollow because that defeats the point of a projection stone.

There's no possibility that they would have deconstructed whatever projection wall they had on Ember Twin because why would you get rid of your only form of textual communication for off world conversations??

At the end of the day, I recognize that this is just a mere oversight by Mobius in an otherwise logically sound narrative, because good lord this game has a lot to juggle and you're bound to forget to account for a few things here and there. They have done that before, and they fixed them with updates, so maybe if this becomes evident to them, it might get patched like the others.

We're all human at the end of the day, even professionals of their craft, we've all overlooked multiple errors and fallacies and typos in our stories because we were tired and weary and just wanted to get it done and published.

I just think that it's amusing because any possible explanation to this just ends up sounding ridiculous and convoluted, and sometimes Nomai do bend over backwards to justify the means to an end.

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Oh my god, I just realized that Ember Twin doesn't have a projection stone wall when I was doing some writing. They have a projection pool, the one right next to the High Energy Lab, but no wall. So then, tell me, if you will, how in the world was that exchange between Pye and Ramie with Poke even made possible? This is the pivotal message that kickstarts the main mechanic of the game, the error report that changed everything.

Let's go over the details here before anything else.

I checked all over Ember Twin for a projection wall, none were found.

This is an Ember Twin stone specifically, which means this was an exchange between Brittle Hollow and Ember Twin exclusively.

They couldn't have made the message with the projection pool because if that were the case, then projection walls would be unnecessary altogether.

They couldn't have made the message on Ash Twin because there was no developed Ash Twin at the time.

Translating the whole conversation on Brittle Hollow reveals that all the spirals are blue, which doesn't make sense for a projection wall log because it's a long distance conversation and any incoming messages would be orange, not blue. There ain't no way they would have all been at Brittle Hollow because that defeats the point of a projection stone.

There's no possibility that they would have deconstructed whatever projection wall they had on Ember Twin because why would you get rid of your only form of textual communication for off world conversations??

At the end of the day, I recognize that this is just a mere oversight by Mobius in an otherwise logically sound narrative, because good lord this game has a lot to juggle and you're bound to forget to account for a few things here and there. They have done that before, and they fixed them with updates, so maybe if this becomes evident to them, it might get patched like the others.

We're all human at the end of the day, even professionals of their craft, we've all overlooked multiple errors and fallacies and typos in our stories because we were tired and weary and just wanted to get it done and published.

I just think that it's amusing because any possible explanation to this just ends up sounding ridiculous and convoluted, and sometimes Nomai do bend over backwards to justify the means to an end.

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A selection of some V.I.N (Very Important Nomai) that I did traditionally and then edited digitally, such as color correction and cleaning up.

My mental process below:

It was rather difficult, trying to design a plethora of Nomai while still trying to remain consistent to their aesthetics and anatomical format. The most important philosophy I wanted to implement within each design is hierarchy. I tried to reflect that by making their outfits more elaborate the greater the role they served in the project and clan as a whole; stuff like make-up, accessories, and clothing.

Obviously, Nomai are a community based species where everyone, at least once, gets to deliver their input on something, but with the apparent concept of a clan leader, with one Nomai definitively *owning* a Vessel, I think it made sense to have it roll over to these stranded Nomai as well. With any group project, someone needs to steer the wheel while others change gears or press the gas.

To me, it seemed obvious that Yarrow was this generation's Escall, albeit more responsible and well-informed. So I designed him in such a way that evoked an image of him being the Lead Director of the clan. I wanted him to look regal, but not necessarily righteous or superior. Clary, his lover, gets to share in some of that indulgence by proxy, while not really being the leader of her department (that would be Poke, of which she inherited the Forge from Annona).

Ramie is second in command to Yarrow, being the co-director of the ATP and sole leader of the High Energy Lab after Pye was reassigned to the Sun Station. Pye and Idaea being the constructors of the Sun Station. And so on and so forth.

Of course, I toned down some characters based on their personalities, such as Poke, who much rather prefers not being the center of attention despite being the creator of an advanced warp core.

I had fun with certain details, like drawing in hints of graying (since all these pictured Nomai are well middle-aged by the time the Interloper arrives), making the known siblings resemble each other somewhat, and even some personal ideas/concepts like making Daz look like the memory statues, and making Idaea golden like the sun (while also looking like he hadn't slept in 5 days).

I just finally wanted to put some faces to names so that I can draw them without setting my brain on fire every time I have to come up an informed design on the spot.

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Two ghosts of both past and future

Each other, they hold close

As this story comes to its conclusion

And their parts, they played well

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Two ghosts of both past and future

Each other, they hold close

As this story comes to its conclusion

And their parts, they played well

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Man, the Eye held a lot of faith in the people of the universe to be a potential observer and engage in the creation of the next universe. The kind of faith that wasn't always reciprocated by the ones who sought it for its bizarre nature. It ran into betrayal by the Inhabitants, who locked it away, and a steady decline in interest by the proceeding generations of Nomai trapped in a star system, who then had their lives cut short by an unpredictable force of nature.

By the time the newest contender for observer came around, we were already staring entropy in the face. This person, the Hatchling, was the Eye's last hope, as the universe crumbled around them, could it trust them to finally press the button and move on?

In the end, it was a real close call. I wonder how many close calls the Eye had to endure in previous universes? How many betrayals and unfulfilled potentials? Clearly all of the rituals were a success to make it up to this point, but there had to have been some tension in some of them.

Maybe to the Eye, it's just another day of aimless hope in an uncaring universe.