a crow's nest

Here are some of the Paint sketches Toby drew to help me with specific Tenna poses! I love seeing his drawings LOL, genuinely really good and evocative 👍

There was a time when I was struggling to capture what he wanted for these specific Tenna poses… Until Toby acted them out himself, and I thought, "Ah, it's like that. I understand." and then I was able to make them just how he pictured them.

When looking through the renders and choosing what to share, I laughed at these two… Remember when Tenna had a gun? Remember when he bent over in a very specific way that might remind you of another, different image? No? Maybe you don't…? Well. Don't worry about it.

These ones are cute… Tenna is pretty cute sometimes! Has anyone ever thought this? Actually, before people knew he was going to be a strange 3D sprite the Whole Time, I was worried people wouldn't like the style and it'd sour people's views on him. I'm glad that didn't happen.

Toby thought it would be funny to have Tenna do some really smooth, mocapped animations sometimes - specifically free to use ones that often pop up in other things. An extra funny part to me is how many frames these take up in the game, and how his tails are stuck to his legs…

Speaking of mocap, Toby wanted Tenna to use custom mocap animations as far back as 2016 - Ten(na) years ago! I got an Xbox Kinect at the time and learnt how to set this up, but then never used it. Here's a look at messing with mocaped stuff again in 2022. So Normal.

Don't bother trying to help him here, he's just being dramatic 🙄

I particularly like these poses - I think I improvised most of these just based off the context they get used in… I always liked posing his tie and coat tails as if they were also parts of his body he could move. Which I guess they are?

After I rendered out the individual poses in high quality, I'd force the color palette to be limited to just a few shades and then I'd shrink the result down to pixel sized sprites. Like these! I'd tidy them up a little, but they'd really get improved on at the pixel scale by Clairvoire.

As well as Tenna's sprites, I also worked on his intro "movie"…! Seeing people be completely overloaded by this on first playthroughs would always make me laugh. In game, there's a ton of extra editing done by Everdraed, but my unedited cut looks like this ⬇️

This was the entire storyboard I had to work from, and I'm realizing now that there's the note "put him in car etc" that I never did and actually don't know what it would mean exactly. Working on this had me listen to the accompanying audio many times, but it's good so it's okay.

Here are a bunch of random clips of the Maya project for Tenna's intro movie. This is how movies get made, I think!! Yeah… Just like this.

Say it with him, folks!!

For the 3D Ralsei clip from the intro, Toby really wanted it to look a certain way, and drew more sketches for guiding me with this part than any other. They genuinely helped.

Remember how Toby's original storyboard has the note "covered in slime and shrinks"? That meant I had to learn how to make 3D slime. You can see my tech advancing here.

I'm really happy with how the final Tenna animation at the end of the intro movie turned out! It wouldn't look as good if it wasn't for some 2D animation to reference from SmallBuStudio, so thank you to them for the help! Tenna is cute… Huh, I already said that…?

Here are some of the Paint sketches Toby drew to help me with specific Tenna poses! I love seeing his drawings LOL, genuinely really good and evocative 👍

There was a time when I was struggling to capture what he wanted for these specific Tenna poses… Until Toby acted them out himself, and I thought, "Ah, it's like that. I understand." and then I was able to make them just how he pictured them.

When looking through the renders and choosing what to share, I laughed at these two… Remember when Tenna had a gun? Remember when he bent over in a very specific way that might remind you of another, different image? No? Maybe you don't…? Well. Don't worry about it.

These ones are cute… Tenna is pretty cute sometimes! Has anyone ever thought this? Actually, before people knew he was going to be a strange 3D sprite the Whole Time, I was worried people wouldn't like the style and it'd sour people's views on him. I'm glad that didn't happen.

Toby thought it would be funny to have Tenna do some really smooth, mocapped animations sometimes - specifically free to use ones that often pop up in other things. An extra funny part to me is how many frames these take up in the game, and how his tails are stuck to his legs…

Speaking of mocap, Toby wanted Tenna to use custom mocap animations as far back as 2016 - Ten(na) years ago! I got an Xbox Kinect at the time and learnt how to set this up, but then never used it. Here's a look at messing with mocaped stuff again in 2022. So Normal.

Don't bother trying to help him here, he's just being dramatic 🙄

I particularly like these poses - I think I improvised most of these just based off the context they get used in… I always liked posing his tie and coat tails as if they were also parts of his body he could move. Which I guess they are?

After I rendered out the individual poses in high quality, I'd force the color palette to be limited to just a few shades and then I'd shrink the result down to pixel sized sprites. Like these! I'd tidy them up a little, but they'd really get improved on at the pixel scale by Clairvoire.

As well as Tenna's sprites, I also worked on his intro "movie"…! Seeing people be completely overloaded by this on first playthroughs would always make me laugh. In game, there's a ton of extra editing done by Everdraed, but my unedited cut looks like this ⬇️

This was the entire storyboard I had to work from, and I'm realizing now that there's the note "put him in car etc" that I never did and actually don't know what it would mean exactly. Working on this had me listen to the accompanying audio many times, but it's good so it's okay.

Here are a bunch of random clips of the Maya project for Tenna's intro movie. This is how movies get made, I think!! Yeah… Just like this.

Say it with him, folks!!

For the 3D Ralsei clip from the intro, Toby really wanted it to look a certain way, and drew more sketches for guiding me with this part than any other. They genuinely helped.

Remember how Toby's original storyboard has the note "covered in slime and shrinks"? That meant I had to learn how to make 3D slime. You can see my tech advancing here.

I'm really happy with how the final Tenna animation at the end of the intro movie turned out! It wouldn't look as good if it wasn't for some 2D animation to reference from SmallBuStudio, so thank you to them for the help! Tenna is cute… Huh, I already said that…?

Many of these stories feature beings called Matoran: the biomechanical worker-beings of a vast, artificial world. The Matoran were designed as automatons by their creators (an enigmatic group known only as the “Great Beings”) but later evolved by unknown means to become self-aware and self-actualizing while still keeping to their original programming as maintainers of the world. Alongside Matoran are the Toa—powerful elemental warriors who are sworn to serve and protect—as well as the Turaga, elders who guide and govern the Matoran (and who were formerly Toa themselves). An array of other creatures and species are present as well, with their own special characteristics and functions in keeping the great Machine of the World running.

Many of these stories explore themes related to the emergence of self-actualization, culture, and emotional complexity amongst the Matoran and the other beings they share the universe with. A similar theme of these stories is “forbidden knowledge”, dealing with cases where the creatures of BIONICLE gain some knowledge about the nature of their world and are forced to grapple with it, sometimes with disastrous results. Themes of death, loss, change, companionship, betrayal, curiosity, obsession, and the weariness of duty may also be found.

Some stories are set within specific moments of the larger BIONICLE narrative, both past and future, and feature established characters and settings from the lore, while others feature entirely original characters and settings.

The final story in the anthology is different. It is not set within the artificial world of the Matoran, but instead on the world of the “Great Beings” themselves, called Spherus Magna—a planet which was shattered and then remade by the machine-world of the Matoran (which took the form of a planetoid-sized robot). The story is set long after the conclusion of the story of BIONICLE proper, in a time when the inhabitants of Spherus Magna have moved on from the destruction of the past in many ways, but remain nevertheless fascinated by the mysteries buried beneath the surface of their world . . . with some even attempting to unearth those mysteries, for better or worse.

Ayha pulled back on the protosteel bowstring, eyes snapping between targets as his Sanok glowed to life. The fire brightened in the distance. A shape writhed at the heart of the smoke, high above, hurtling northward, toward the City.

"I see it!" he hissed.

"On my mark. Hold until—"

"There!"

The bow-string twanged metallically. The arrow needled upward into the clouds, straight into the silhouette of the massive Rahi….

A dull clang echoed over the sea as the dart splintered on one of the mask-like scales that covered the beast's hide. A miss. More flame belched from the dragon's mouth, and burning, intelligent eyes fixed upon the small rock.

"Zyg," the Air-Toa cursed, reaching for a second arrow. The dragon turned sharply into a spiral. Higher, higher….

"Range is increasing," said the Ice-Toa. "Now 75 bio—"

"Think I can still hit it," Ayha said.

The stranger ignored him.

"Signal the other Toa of Ice," she said to Tylnen. "Tell them to array along the shoreline."

"But…hey!" The Air-Toa recoiled as water washed over his shins. The sea had risen suddenly, submerging their rock. The stranger was already knee-deep. Her hands were stretched out, one toward the sky and one toward the surface of the ocean.

Ayha regained his balance, almost spoke, but then saw the slight shake of Tylnen's head and thought better.

Above them, higher even than the winged shape of the dragon, clouds were moving, spinning, darkening further…but not with smoke.

Below, the Silver Sea had also become restless. Strange waves crisscrossed its surface, resolving into a spiraling shape: a whirlpool to match the nascent vortex of storm above. Dragon-fire billowed and swirled as the beast passed over their position and flew onward.

"What's this all about, stranger?" Ayha blurted out at last. "Showing up out of nowhere and giving orders…You said you were no Toa!"

"I'm not."

"What is your plan?" Tylnen asked. "I've signaled the other Toa through my frost-wards. They are ready."

The stranger's hands were still outstretched, motionless. Her eyes were open. All focus.

"The plan is the same," she said quietly.

Clip its wings.

Fingers clenched, clawlike. In the distance, a mass of seawater flashed upward like steel, and a deluge of rain pierced downward, laced with lightning.

Liquid teeth closed upon the serpentine shape, and a wall of spray and mist obscured the horizon. Ayha's eyes went wide. Tylnen blinked once, very slowly.

"No Toa, eh? Zyga, I say." Ayha clapped his hands together, grinning.

The stranger turned halfway toward him.

"Then you'd better learn what a Toa is, and quick."

"Look there." Tylnen pointed.

A ragged shape was falling against the sky, tumbling, wingless, toward the City, trailing smoke.

Glittering glaciers of ice were already forming along the shoreline as the other Toa prepared to meet it.

The Air-Toa's smile widened further: "Hah! They'll make a legend out of this. All our names will be carved on the Walls of History. I'd bet on it. Now, stranger, how about you us give your own name—"

He stopped. The rock was empty. The sea was receding back to normal levels.

The stranger was gone.

"Well..." Ayha said after a moment, "maybe not all our names." He shook water from his armored feet. "No legend for you then..."

"...only for Toa," Tylnen replied.

"What's that?"

The Ice-Toa shook his head, turned and began to fashion a skiff from elemental ice. Ayha shrugged, started to twirl another arrow on his fingers as he waited.