Toodles, y'all! o/
Wight the water-spirit goes way, way back to my very first draft of Kastor. At that time the game was a room-based world with JRPG-like controls, a little like the original Legend of Zelda game. Wight was intended to be a test character, a placeholder for the heroes in the final build.
(The original Wight sprite (Gah, that rhymes) compared to a later sketch)
I wanted to have wight explain the game mechanics to the player, in a more interactive tutorial than the one currently in the game. However, time restraints kicked in and I had to abandon that plan, leaving Wight free to be used in other projects.
At first he seems an unlikely companion for Kole, as the game's whole premise is about escaping water. But wight is in just as much danger as his best friend: The seas he used to call home have turned against him, threatening to swallow the only known landmass in his world. As the story unfolds, Wight will realise he no longer has control of the tide, prompting him to join Kole in his quest to save the island.
At first I was going to render Wight as a sprite (there's the rhyme again!), using still frames rendered from a 3D physics engine. While the animation managed to portray the fluid, ever-changing nature of a water-spirit, the 3D graphics looked horrendously out of place beside the hand-painted style used in the rest of the game.
(A very early test to determine how a water-spirit's physics would appear. A very early test)
After a bit of messing around, I eventually decided to use a particle system to simulate his form. While not as "drippy" as the test render, it still comes across as being fluid, and constantly in motion.
(Wight's current style)
Having the ability to hover, Wight will be a great help to Kole as he tries to stay above the tide. I can also imagine some fun mechanics to implement if he becomes a playable character (Or rather, when he becomes a playable character [:P]).
