Card Trader - Illustration and 2D Animated

Card drops in the game are very rare, but they became a fun in-game element as you could do many things like using it as your avatar, making statues in your map and etc! Also brag rights. Now we needed an NPC where you can gamble away your in-game credits (essence; you get them as you play the game) into some nice cards.

The initial direction was a bit more sinister and creepy as you can see. I was thinking more of a blackmarket or druglord first.

But I soon decided to make it cuter and likable since he was trying to make you spend money. Fat cat from Moroccan desert traveling around and selling illegal goods felt like a good direction.

As I started to visualize, I really didn't like the angle of the camera bc it killed the depth. (rectangles on the left you see the UI placement)

So here I twist the angle a bit and the space has more depth. But he's so untrustworthy looking...

I adopted two stray cats around this time, and they were my biggest inspiration. First-time cat owner!

I tried doing a quick facial animation test but quickly decided against it because it would add risk of getting it right and surely add many more frames.

Finished illustration. I make sure to keep the effect and layer layers divided for the animator.

Quick UI overlay mock-up. I was really focused on making the illustration look colorful and eye-catching on the right, bc left side was going to be crowded with the card icons, which were going to work as a roulette.

How it looked with Vaank's animation. I asked for ear twitches and tail movements etc for liveliness.

Background for the random roulette card "gacha" moment. Get that gambler's high!