Tyler Brown

BFA in Art & Design

Links

Tyler's Online Art Portfolio
Tyler's Art Instagram

Amicia

Popular role-playing video games (RPGs) like Final Fantasy and The Elder Scrolls have established a precedent for the level of quality players expect when playing an RPG. Unfortunately, this precedent includes the use of limiting and sexist views of their women characters. Not all RPGs include these harmful tropes, but because these games are represented by the market leaders in the gaming industry, it is important to challenge what is considered acceptable. Amicia aims to subvert the narrative in RPGs where women characters are killed off to give male characters story development, known as the woman in the refrigerator trope, by preventing the player from using violence in encounters. You play as Amicia, a Resplendency Court Mage tasked with venturing into the wilderness to gauge the spread of an all-consuming fungus and heal the infected creatures with light magic. All life is sacred in this harsh, rainy world, and it is up to Amicia and a variety of companions to stop the fungus’ spread and discover its origins before it reaches their home, City Blackbell. Influenced by her research on mythology and folklore, Tyler creates unique stories and character designs that are used in her illustration, animation, and video games.
ID: An illustrated picture drawn from the inside of a dark room lit by gold candles, looking out four arched windows. Outside of the windows is a city skyline glowing similarly to the candles with storm clouds overhead. On the bottom left of the illustration is the title of the project, Amicia, followed by the author’s name, Tyler Brown. End ID.
ID: An illustrated character spread sheet featuring Amicia, the main character and Mage of the Resplendency Court, drawn twice. In her first pose on the left, she is standing with her right hand held outwards and gold, magic fireflies fly around her. The next pose on the right, she is standing and stretching her arms across her chest. In both illustrations she is dressed in a blue and white dress decorated with gold stars. There is a text box on the right most side talking about Amicia, it says: “I work hard to protect those who can’t.” Confident and compassionate, Amicia was mentored underneath the highest Resplendency Court Mage Begonia and raised alongside Crocus. She tirelessly works to balance her life as a protector and adventurer. While on excursions, Amicia dawns her glowing mage regalia and her glass flask filled with magical fireflies that she wears on her hip. When encountering an animal infected by the Sun-Eater Agaricus fungus, she uses her magic infused fireflies to quickly spread light and carefully heal the animal. Having seen the worse of the fungus’ spread, Amicia strives to find its source and stop it before it harms those she loves. She hopes to one day see the fabled nighttime stars that she holds dear to her. End ID.
ID: An illustrated character spread sheet featuring Crocus, lassoer companion to Amicia, drawn twice. In their first pose on the left they are stretching their arms above their head and a lasso dangles from their hip. Their next pose on the right shows them running with the lasso in both hands, ready to throw it. In both illustrations they are dressed in red leather armor, dark blue pants, and a small blue cape on their hip and over their shoulders. There is a text box on the right most side talking about Crocus, it says: “Every day is a new chance to change yourself and the world for the better.” Sent away to the Resplendency Court at a young age, Crocus has known Amicia all of their life. They are reserved and thoughtful to passersby, but kind and friendly underneath. Their role as lassoer is dangerous: they are responsible for getting close to infected creatures and using glowing rope to bind them and allow Amicia to properly heal. Crocus therefore trains whenever they can to remain confident in their ability to keep harm at bay. Their outfit is bright and distracting, functioning both to protect them from fungal infection and to keep the infected animal’s attention away from Amicia and their companions. Crocus know how hard Amicia works to help others and hopes to one day stop the fungus so that the two of them can enjoy their own passions to the fullest. End ID.
ID: Nine monochromatic environment thumbnail illustrations are aligned in a 3x3 grid on a dark gray background. Each one shows a different environment for the game Amicia. The first three depict mountains, valleys, and waterfalls. The second three depict a river, a forest, and a grassy plain during a rainstorm. The final three depict different areas in the City Blackbell. End ID.

ID: Two scanned paper documents depicting the first collection of character design thumbnails are aligned on a dark gray background. On the left, the characters are drawn haphazardly all over the page and on the right character designs are more finalized and organized into a 3x2 grid. Both collections of characters are drawn loosely in orange marker and details are finalized with black pen. There are handwritten research notes on naturally occurring light sources written throughout. End ID.
ID: Three scanned paper documents depicting the second collection of character design thumbnails are aligned on a dark gray background. There are nine different character designs, finalized from the last design thumbnail document, in a range of witchy and fantasy style outfits. All characters are drawn loosely in orange marker and details and hatching are finalized with black pen. End ID.
Back to Top