This is a baby monster from the game I am working on. I was trying to draw some promotional concept art... I think this looks pretty terrible, though :\ I wish doing all this by myself was a little easier ;;; I didn't want it to look so cartoony, but the more realistic style was turning out bad, and this was easier to do and I was getting kind of tired of retrying it. I think in the thumbnail it looks cute though.

This is Fen... it's a dog creature that looks very plant-ish. Fen is somewhat wolf-like at birth, but like all monsters in the game, the way you train it will change its appearance.

I know I've mentioned this a few times, and so I'll try to make it a little more clear.

Monsters start as babies in the game. They are very easily influenced during this time. How you raise them, what you feed them, etc. will influence the things they are good at, the things they like, stuff like that. After they get so old, they will start to change in appearance. I don't mean this like a Pokémon evolution... rather, it will be more minor changes.

Fen and Skitter both change based on the type of activity they excel in.

Let's say you build a lot of running facilities on your farm and spend a lot of time practicing running and jumping hurdles and stuff like that (within reason--constantly spamming the same training will cause your pet to grow to dislike it) ... a racing-trained Fen may grow to be taller and thinner. Skitter, likewise, will get a smoothed exoskeleton and a 'flatter' shape (and its feet will start to split into two...)

On the other hand, you may practice weight training and fighting a lot. You could end up with a Fen that is bulky and stocky. Skitter could grow a thicker, more shield-like exoskeleton. And likewise, you could do a lot of studying and brain-training and end up with elegant/smart looking creatures.

In addition to different looks, each monster has a set of adult forms that it will grow into only when certain conditions are met. The look change for the adolescent form shows which track you are on. So a fast-looking Fen will turn into the fast adult, but only if when given the proper environment and nurture to grow into an adult. It may be that your monster never grows into an adult in its whole life. (Fen and Skitter will be easy to grow into adults, though!)

With the adults, the appearance is drastically different... they actually become a completely different monster. These are more similar to an evolution like you see in games like Pokemon, I guess. Except there is a little difference.

For example, with Fen, there are three adult forms (every monster has three adult forms): One is like a whippet, one is like a wolf, and one is like a fox. (Can you guess which is the 'fast' one, 'strong' one, and 'smart' one? It's pretty easy to guess, right?) In adult form, the unique traits of the pet will flourish. The plant-like look of Fen will be more interesting in these forms, like with leaves, vines, or flowers on the body.

Skitter is similar in that it can grow into a tarantula, beetle, or centipede. Note that in this design, I wanted to create a generic "buggy" creature that didn't really look like any type of bug in general, and have it turn into three completely different types of arthropods :) Much like how Fen turns into three different types of canines (though the phylum of arthropoda is much more diverse than the family canidae... most people would toss all kinds of arthropods into the same 'bug' category).

With other monsters, you may have a much tougher time figuring out how to get them to grow into their adult forms. It will not always be as simple as focused training. Some may have certain adult forms that are easy to get to, and one that is hard to get to... the game will have a lot of discovery involved, and will definitely focus on the way you care for your monster... so depending on your playstyle, your monster could easily be very different from your friend's, even if you choose the same monster and even if you train it in similar areas!

Also, I am very happy to announce the dedicated Project: Skitter team is now 3 people!

Oh, and there may be a final name coming soon. It will sound so different from "Skitter" LOL.