Toto, We're Not Dorothy Anymore

totally agree!

Abigail Eldritch

david bowie didn't have heterochromia, he had a larger dilated pupil that made it appear darker. it's kind of....cheesy to use heterochromia. i have it myself, so i'm biased to like it..but in an appropriate way. like maybe give her brain trauma and a reason to have it like i did. not just "oh she's quirky she has two different colour eyes". i like Omri's opinions a lot. his character design choices always have great detail and reasons for them.

Abigail Eldritch

I like Omri’s version I like the blue outfit in the beginning and then if she’s in emerald city it be could be green. But I’m not a fan of the blonde or the bangs. I think she should have the ruby slippers at some point. I also agree that she is a simple farm girl and should gain her powers somehow like Alice.

Sarah McKeegan

Lady, your concern is noted. And we can talk about this in detail during the next live stream. But it's important to keep in mind that while we've worked on Alice: Asylum pre-production we've also done lots of other projects such as... Pirate Jam, making and delivering lots of physical goods, setting up Mysterious business operations in China, and bringing a new child (Lucky) into the world ... lots of this happening while there's a Global Pandemic raging. I actually LIKE to have more than one thing going at a time. The periods where my brain focuses on Project B is where I find there are lots of new ideas popping up around Project A (and vice-versa). Ultimately, we are committed to the delivery of the Alice: Asylum Design Bible and the continued effort going into Business Development on that project. In fact, we just brought on board a Biz Dev guy who will be dedicated to securing funding for Alice: Asylum. And having him on board is what frees me (American) up to have some cycles free for other ideas. It's a win-win. Yay!

American McGee

I have mixed feelings towards the ideas presented here and i don't seem to be able to articulate them at the moment so I will just say my own opinions: If the story is focusing on dorothy as a main character, i'd rather have her learning more to relatable rather than Laura Croft. I suppose since I can find so much relatability in Alice's story that i'd want something similar with a Dorothy. My more concrete thoughts on settings are: please don't do island survival, zombies/weird murder infections, or something relating to the concepts in Alice's story. I think island/wilderness survival settings are very played out and tired (at least for me). I also gotta say that I think that given everything, the last thing most people would want to willingly deal with is a story with some kinda infectious threat to life and sanity. I'd say go for a carnival or theme park thing, maybe in a Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury) sorta setting?

RedBreloom

I mean, its not like they're building half a house and then going to dig a neighbors pool with no roof or floors on the first house. It's a creative process that is in addition to a project they are already working very hard on. You really kinda come off sounding entitled and uninformed here.

RedBreloom

I understand that your very creative, however, can you focus your time, energy, and resources on finishing one project (Alice game) before going off and trying to complete a completely different project? The way you're going, you probably won't finish either.

Lady Charon

Try Dorothy as main villain/final boss.

Erin O'Loughlin

Love the heterochromia, not loving the blond hair, I'm biasen towards brunnete myself but actually liked the ginger sketches better. If she is the new "Oz" of the park, would imagine her wearing more green than eny other color.

Maybe the journey as she travels through the park is picking up the essences of her former companions, gaining some special ability or power each time she does so. (Maybe the different colored eye is one of THEIR eyes she pops out and replaces with her own) Perhaps she has gruesome encounters of her already dead or dying counterparts and perhaps some of them have gone mad in her absence, apocalypse or robotic defunct (thinking Westworldish on the last one)

Denise Sury

What I would really like is the protagonist was not Dorothy, maybe the Tin Man, it would really be a new thing. Maybe Dorothy became the new Wizard, or maybe the witch, so she is basically the bad guy, the final boss, and the Tin Man with his friends the Lion and the Scarecrow try to make her come to her senses or defeat her.

Juan Romero

I prefer the Omri version of the Dorothy character. The first one is interesting, but there's two things that put me off. One, because it incorporates so many elements from other Oz characters, as pointed out in the update, it loses Dorothy's own identity IMO. Two, I feel like I've seen this character before in various anime style settings. Even though Omri's version is inspired by a Timb Raider look, it seems more unique. Not to say the 1st one is bad because it isn't, but I think the 2nd one is more recognizable to me as Dorothy and using the "would you recognize it at a con" standard, I'd say the 2nd one would definitely be recognizable even if you weren't familiar with the game.

In my opinion, Alice is Amazing because she's a simple girl in a Mad World. And for me, it would be the same for Dorothee. She's just a farm girl sended in a World of Magic, with good and Bad people. She's not a witch. The witch is the Bad Guy.

Hey, a quick answer: the first is very country, so at least I prefer the omry colors and dress. In particular I like the long key of it. I noticed the cold colors of him and the full colored of Jen. So there is a choice here to be taken. XD Personally I prefer the first haircut, but I’ m not so sure about the ears cat shapes in its. Continue like so, bye!

I really like the crazy hair on Jen's one, I also like having the key be a staff like in Omri's one (I may be biased because Sailor Pluto). SUGGESTION: Maybe try Jen's one, but with the dress being blue? Not a great fan of the super high heals on either of them, but that's just because I haven't done heals for ages and they are now really uncomfortable for any length of time let alone a whole day.

Catheryn Alice North

So someone mentioned Victoria Modesta somewhere on here. If you guys get the chance check out the video "Prototype" of her! Shes so awesome she turned her disability into a super power! I think her style should be explored for how Dorothy could possibly look or alternate looks for her! https://youtu.be/jA8inmHhx8c

Will the game support crossplay, or which platforms are in mind?

The hair is fantastic on Jens version but I prefer the outfit on Omri's as for me it's more Dorothy that the brown dress and boots. The suggestion of a tin man leg or metal legs with shoes as part of them works for me and I think someone above suggestion that they turn red as they absorb blood from downed enemies is good. The similarity to the keyblade from kingdom heart should be avoided (I loved this games but the last one ruined them for me) as that was way to cutesy for this. Really great work

I'm pretty sure they're doing this in addition to Asylum. And that the advice to go with this plan was advised by their business guy.

RedBreloom

I really love the idea of this concept. It's so overwhelming in the best manners, due to how much room there is for exploration. With that being said, I would love to see this turn into some sense of a survival.. perhaps encountering the different elements of the island as your progress further in. It allows for so much growth in the wilds of Oz. Not only that, but that tomb raider sense of endemic life would be amazing to see. I like to idea of seeing her at the lowest point though. Its best to get the base of an idea started, for it will shape and meld a better creation for later. Loving everything.

Rough ideas. Looks promising so far. I hope that in a way you guys create a wonderful idea and use it instead of the current Alice Asylum idea. I very much love the idea of asylum, but not that its set in a prequel time (in her mind). An action-adventure story-driven game would lose most of its impact if the person knows the story. I know I sound negative, but I genuinely want the best for this series and the future of American Mcgee's games. Oh, btw. Dorothy looks amazing

Saleh Abu-Rashid

Keep in mind most of the colors in the movie were to show off Technicolor. Her hair in the books is blonde, and her shoes silver :)

One idea that we played with was a Prosthetic "Tin Man" leg hence the boots Omri has in the image :)

That was my thought to, kingdom hearts blade. Thats why I like the staff idea. I do like the idea of her being able to evolve because the concepts in Jens is neat i like how it incorporates the other characters into her overall design.

if you go with Jen's design...maybe add a jackolantern mask for certain scenes? Omri's design may be more "book" but more people are going to latch onto visuals from the movie (red verses silver shoes)...maybe they turn red as she defeats her enemies (absorbs their blood, sort of)? I just saw that you can't do red at all for trademark reasons...but maybe black would still work for this? What if she had a couple different false legs? like Viktoria Modesta?

I love Jen's rendition. Very fun and cute 😊

Jen

While I like the key idea. It does immediately make me think of the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts. Keeping her close to the original design at least at the beginning of the game will certainly make her more recognizable and later in the game add more options like with Alice? Perhaps even her hairstyles could change? Alice doesn’t really get that chance much.

Therese

BOWIE DID NOT HAVE DIFFERENT COLORED EYES. HE HAD Anisocoria

I think a cool idea would be for her to evolve and absorb elements. Eventually becoming like a chimera of the land of oz. Like Rogue from X-Men absorbing strengths/powers.

Stephanie Groth

I like Omri’s overall design more, but I think having defining characteristics, like two different colored eyes or more extravagant hair, is a good idea. I also like the idea of a “green infection” that changes her eye color. If the metallic legs stay, maybe she could’ve lost them by the wicked witch of the west? She could cut them off to keep Dorothy from putting on the ruby slippers and going home. But I haven’t read the books, and barely remember the movie, so this might be completely off base. Either way, can’t wait to see more!

My instant thought was she starts out in the typical Dorothy gear, the blue dress, then as she traverses through Oz, her allies can give her new outfits to wear that help her. Like the scarecrow dress can help her with puzzles, the lion dress gives her strength in combat, Tin man regenerates her health slowly... Something like that.

Thinking about it a little more, nice sized braids like Jen's design put on to Omri's Dorothy would be good, very similar to what people think when you say Dorothy but different enough that it's not directly ripping off the movies design. Also I'm thinking maybe a nice dark Auburn hair colour and big brown eyes? Or even, following the heterochromia idea, an emerald iris, kind of like a cybernetic eye or something?

Kane

This is great! I really like how the other characters can influence Dorothy’s physical makeup especially if she starts her adventure needing elements from the Tin-man, Lion, and Scarecrow to assist her on her journey (like in a power-up kind of way). Metal arm as a weapon, heart powers (health and stamina?), and Scarecrow abilities (speed and stunning enemies?) could all be very cool to integrate into her character and story path. I think keeping some basic common visual keys like brown braided hair, picnic dress, and maybe red shoes could help most players easily identify her (this also applies to casual people-watchers at cons) but I understand that too much likeness may be an issue. Either way I’m all about another crack at this! Fingers crossed for an adventure in OZ!!

We do not know yet. Brainstorming. Art and story are mixing together right now as we explore. Lots of ideas floating around.

American McGee

Yeah, we 100% avoid Ruby Shoes (any sort of red color footwear) because that's trademarked by MGM. Crossing this line would get us sued. The shoes were Silver in the original books.

American McGee

Yeah I was thinking more Burnett or black and maybe bright emerald eyes.

I like the key in Omri's version. Gives it a more functional staff feel vs just a bulky key being carried around. Wonder if introducing ruby shoes would help people instantly see who it is. Maybe even just a hint of it in the shoes but not make fully ruby if you're wanting to avoid that. *edit- I always forget that they changed her shoes for color tv. But yeah, dont want a lawsuit lol

Better. I guess I'm still not sure what the vibe is. Is it a theme park of robots? Why? Does the Oz we know exist in this world? Is this an evolution of it? Is someone creating an Oz based on it? When year is it? Does that matter? etc, etc etc. Still not instantly identifiable as Dorothy. Maybe this is speaking out of turn, but I'm curious what Norm would do if asked to make an original concept for Dorothy.

I personally love Omri's design more. The blue definitely helps with making it recognisable. Maybe changing her hair colour or hairstyle though? I could also see this look being put through a black and white filter, and then the vibrancy can change too perhaps? More washed out tones the darker the setting gets or something? Jen's design is super cute but it gives me references to so many other things that aren't Oz, like I see a bit of RWBY, I see a bit of magical girl anime, etc If anything, besides the cat ear hairstyle, it gives me more genderbend Scarecrow cosplay vibes? The colour scheme really makes me think of it.

Kane

No blonde Dorothy....

Stephanie Groth

I’m really liking the Omari design of the outfit. Maybe not the hair so much. But the overall outfit is simple but recognizable. The face still needs more girl next door Americana IMO.