Making a Fanart: Correct Anatomy of a Vorticon

VortiLion · Post by **VortiLion** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 15:08

Hello fellow Commander Keen fans, name's "VortiLion" and I am an artist.

And one of my current projects is the creation of "modernized" and hi-definition digital artworks of the Commander Keen universe.

One of my particular target right now is the Vorticon race - which made me curious so I want to ask if anyone knows the answer to this?

How many fingers in each paws does a normal vorticon supposed to have? Perhaps it would be better if someone would tell me how exactly their creators (id software) designed them. I just want to make sure that I will correctly draw them in the way they were original made - hoping to remain as faithful to the original Keenery as possible. Thanks.

Sincerely yours in dispensing intergalactic justice,
VortiLion

Mr. 314 · Post by **Mr. 314** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 16:00

i might just join in on this

i always thought they had two fingers and a thumb, but i could be wrong. after all, i just recently found out i've been pronouncing 'shikadi' wrong all these years

VikingBoyBilly · Post by **VikingBoyBilly** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 19:53

The end screen picture shows the vorticon's hand.

guynietoren · Post by **guynietoren** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 20:01

I vote 2 fingers and a thumb from the artwork.

Roobar · Post by **Roobar** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 20:07

Well, I vote for 4 fingers. E.T. has four:

Two or three would be too few. I would also go further and say they also have a fifth undeveloped one.

Mr. 314 · Post by **Mr. 314** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 22:31

hmm yeah, he's doing the rabbit ears, so his other fingers, if any are probably hidden behind keen's helmet. i still think they have at least two fingers and a thumb, but mebbe at most three and a thumb. also, they're canine-aliens so they'd probably have similar physiology and anatomy

Grimson · Post by **Grimson** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:50

I thought it said somewhere in the Keen games that they do have only three fingers (including a thumb). The fingers are pretty chubby, as you can see on the picture above, so there's simply no room for more fingers.

I'm sure the same applies to toes.

guynietoren · Post by **guynietoren** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:41

Hmm. Well I did some copy paste work on the mostly visible hand. Could be 2 fingers and a thumb, or 3 fingers and a thumb (somewhere behind the 3)

Post by **Levellass** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 0:52

Funny this should be asked, this came up quite some time ago indeed with a Keener called RocketJess. After some debate Mr hall was contacted (The old fashioned way, email. We didn't have no facenook or mytwitter or whatever you youngsters are using nowadays!)

I no longer have what he said sad to say (That email address has been destroyed.) but his response to us was that they had three digits mostly because that's all that could be easily fit into the low-res graphics Keen uses, but he didn't really care one way or another how many they had. They also have very small, fluffy tails. (Which you will notice in Jess's artwork.)

I personally like less digits, as it's different from the usual cartoon hand of four. I also suggest looking at Jess's and BT's artwork for some awesome vorticon-ness.

guynietoren · Post by **guynietoren** » Wed Jan 16, 2013 20:19

I'm going to work on a Vorticon picture. Trying to make it in a similar style to my Garg and Yorp one. It'll probably end up looking similar to how BT drew his.

Post by **Levellass** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:38

In a related question, what would people say a Vorticon's skull looks like?

chrissifniotis · Post by **chrissifniotis** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:43

Well, what does a Vorticon look like? I've always seen a Vorticon and a humanoid dog, so I'm gonna say the skull seems like that of a dog, but a much bigger cranium.

Post by **Keening_Product** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 15:42

chrissifniotis wrote:Well, what does a Vorticon look like? I've always seen a Vorticon and a humanoid dog, so I'm gonna say the skull seems like that of a dog, but a much bigger cranium.

Isn't it described as that somewhere in one of the games?

guynietoren wrote:I'm going to work on a Vorticon picture. Trying to make it in a similar style to my Garg and Yorp one. It'll probably end up looking similar to how BT drew his.

Looking forward to it!

chrissifniotis · Post by **chrissifniotis** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:23

Keening_Product wrote:
chrissifniotis wrote:Well, what does a Vorticon look like? I've always seen a Vorticon and a humanoid dog, so I'm gonna say the skull seems like that of a dog, but a much bigger cranium.
Isn't it described as that somewhere in one of the games?
...

If it is, I would've forgotten about it; I play the Goodbye Galaxy games much more than Vorticon.

Post by **Levellass** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:34

I recall no such description, and my cursory lookover shows no description of them as dogs.