WIP Gekkoday

Hello all you Rumblefans and WIP fans! It’s time to once again peel back the curtain and see what’s lurking beneath in WIP Wednesday…

This week we’re lifting the skirt on the wrestling ring like some kind of creepy wrestling weirdo. It’s a RUMBLESLAM kind of day!

RUMBLESLAM’s next expansion Tables, Ladders, Chairs is coming very shortly, and we already know of one new team heading to the ring in the future. We’ve also just had reinforcements for Gomorrah (including the Queen in Charge of Spiders). So what could we possibly have left to tease?

Well, I’ll tell you now: the next team to get a booster pack will be the Cold Bloods!

Today we’re going to pray to Rei to see what art She will deliver unto us.

We’re starting off with a new type of Gekko. We’ve seen a Brawler and a Grappler, but there are plenty of others!

The first thing to do when designing new models for any game is to look at the master spreadsheet. We have a lot of these. One of the most useful ones gives an overview of each faction and then a summary of each unit in that faction.

The RUMBLESLAM spreadsheet tells us that the Cold Bloods are very reliable, and the Gekkos are fast but weak. So with that (and a whole lot more info) we can see that what the Cold Bloods could do with is a Gekko who hits a little harder, maybe at range?

Then the concept goes to Rei who comes up with some designs and some poses. From there we pick what we like best!

For this Gekko we like a bit of both. The kneeling down pose looks good, and the shooting fire up into the air looks good. So Rei combined them! This way the miniature may be low to the ground, but that big ball of fire will be high up so you’ll be able to see what this Gekko does really easily.

At this stage we think about how the model will cast. The one arm is brought up to rest on the knee, and the tail is tucked in close to the leg. That way those don’t have to be separate pieces when its moulded.

After the pose is cemented, Rei carries on to get the line-work finished. She doesn’t always work like this, but most times we’ll see a greyscale image finished first. Rei says:

If I do greyscale, when it comes to colouring I just have to change one adjustment layer but keep all my details on the layers underneath. That makes it easier to change colours when you (Lewis) don’t like them. 😛

I can’t deny it! Quite often we go through the whole rainbow to find the right colours for a model. And 9 times out of 10 we’ll try everything and I’ll realise that the colours Rei did first time were the best choice. I’m a nightmare. 😉

Speaking of colours! The Gekko skintone is the same on both of the previous miniatures, so we kept it the same here. Orange with green accents is a nice combo. To lean into the hot look, the Gekko gets yellow shorts and a very firey mouth! I particularly like the fat throat, reminiscent of a frog. That’s where all the fire is kept, obviously.

And a Gekko Firebreather is born!

When we first decide what the wrestler is going to be, we fill in the overview spreadsheet to see how they loosely fit within the team. However, we don’t write the full rules until after the art is finished. That way we’re able to adjust the concept as we go, and the rules reflect the model.

We’ll sometimes jot down some ideas for specific rules (especially when they’re a bit weird), but it’s at this later stage when testing can fully begin. We’ll make mock-ups of the cards, since it’s much easier to test with full cards than hand-written notes.

And from there, we send the art off to a sculptor and all that stuff gets done. We’re not going to show too much off today though, sorry!

Are you excited to get your hands on more dinosaurs/lizards? Want a Gekko that breathes fire on your opponents? Seems a little underhanded, but what RUMBLESLAM wrestler wouldn’t try something like that if they had the chance?

We’ll be back to show more about this new team in the future. In the meantime, check out the full RUMBLESLAM range on the webstore, and let us know in the comments what other wrestlers you’re wishing for to join this new booster team!