The high striker

I created this hero prop over the span of 2 weeks. I decided on creating a clear design using a lot of reference as I wanted to focus my time on the texturing part of this project. Most of the details were created in the textures, with the hammer being the only piece I worked on in ZBrush. Though I enjoy using sculpting as part of my pipeline, I wanted to challenge myself and see far I could get using only Substance Painter for the most part. I am very happy with how it all came out and only wish I had time to create even more props in this theme.

I created this hero prop in the same theme as our 7th game project as it lays close to my heart. I thoroughly enjoy everything colorful and whimsical, and I don't mind adding some horror elements to it, so when it came to choosing the theme of our 7th game project I quickly suggested the amusement park attraction - the fun-house. I enjoyed letting my creativity flow when it came to the props of this game and I wanted to spend more time with it.

A little lore:
The high striker is one of the older amusement park attractions and I was drawn to how mischievously they were handled back in the 1930s. The machines were often tempered with by the operator. A man of smaller stature would demonstrate how easy it was to swing the mallet and ring the bell. When a stronger man stepped up, the operator would have rigged the high striker so that it physically could not reach the bell, no matter how hard one hit - provoking the customer to try again and again to avoid humiliation. I felt this manipulative behavior suited the theme of the game well.