Why The Devourer of Gods Resprite (aside from nitpicks) Is Great

THIS AIN'T YOUR AVERAGE TERRARIA PLAYTHROUGH! THIS IS TEH CALAMITY INFERNUM MASOCHIST LEGENDARY 1 HP MODE! PIPPY POOPY POPPY PLAYTIME!!!1!1

(end me)

~Sources~

Music:

ENWAY! - Playing with Firepower
DM DOKURO - The Devourer of Gods (Nonstop Mix)

Calamity Mod Team:

Iban Plays:

Background Footage:

Thumbnail by u/fishyfishyfishyf

#terraria #terrariacalamity #calamitymod #devourerofgods

[rebbysstuff]

Jesus there's a lot of comments. Unfortunately, I don't think I can respond to all of them in depth. I'm planning on making a response video addressing and even agreeing to some of these criticisms so please wait...

[bqeboxq]

Calamity community when it comes to hating on incredibly talented people:

[Silly_Billy]

I like how you can tell more easily that DoG is wearing draedon’s armor now

[polypoli_]

dog always felt like you were fighting an extended gravity coil so im actually really impressed with the resprite

[IbanPlay]

While I may not agree with every point being brought up here, I really appreciate the enthusiasm and interest displayed for character/creature design in this video! I'm glad to see other people analysing designs on this level. I got this video shared with me with a friend saying that my design was being compared to HPU's in the video, but i was pleasantly surprised to find the analysis around it a lot more fair than i was led to believe
Though as a note, i can't help but feel like the comparison with my design was a bit unfair, using the super sketchy sprite I made about it, and putting my P1 design in opposition to HPU's P2 armored design. I think a more fair comparison would have been to look at the two unarmored versions against one another, and then the two armored designs together: It's kind of a given that armor would confer a much more spiky and sturdy look to a design, and in that regard I think the work in progress phase 1 from HPU is also pretty light on the spiky/sturdy elements. (BTW, I never mentioned it publicly, but I had the idea to upscale DoG even back then, because I agree that having a larger DoG would just look so much cooler and imposing!)

Additionally, I'd like to explain a bit more of my decisions behind my design, because your video did mention some points about it that I agree with, but it misses the reasoning as to why I chose to do it the way I did. When I proposed my redesign, I made an entire screen long document about the reasoning behind all the design decisions, and it wasn't accidental that I chose to give his phase 1 a less threatening appearance
-The idea is that, in the lore, dog is at numerous points treated almost as a "normal" character, making deals with Yharim and co, having servants, exhibiting intelligence. In addition, he's supposed to be some legendary mythical wyrm. The change in facial structure was done to reflect his sapience, having an distinct smooth face to humanize him more, instead of him looking like yet another mindless beast.
In exchange for the oversized worm mandibles, I gave him long jaw-shaped horns to keep the devouring theme all the while giving him more of a draconic feel, complimented with the side protrusions on the horns making it look like a crown (reflecting ego in that regard). The removal of the big jaws was also was done because "worm boss with big mandibles" is really really common and I felt like it'd be nice for DoG to switch it up with a more unique head design, given his legendary status
-His phase 1 appearance being more slender, grand, pretty (as you described it accurately) is to reflect the fact that he is some legendary otherworldly being, and him showing up without armor at first was meant to reflect his overconfidence and narcissism: He thinks he's so strong he doesn't even need armor to defeat the player at first, and doesn't want to wear armor that would conceal his natural beauty. Again, he doesn't look too outwardly violent because I didn't want him to feel too much like a generic mindless monster. I've always liked DoG's personality and I wanted to go deeper with it through the design
-Then, his armor in phase 2 is adorned with a huge gleaming crown (as you pointed out), dons huge pointy mandible spikes (compensating for the lack of forward aggressiveness in his naked form. This is also why i'm a bit disappointed you chose to compare my P1 with HPU's P2, because my second phase armor is meant to compensate for the lack of jaggedness in p1. His helmet is literally a big bundle of outwards spikes, both threatening and radiating like a sun!). The rest of the upper armor also communicates more ideas, with the purple cape giving more ideas of royalty/ego, and the helmet being made of auric metal (in addition to the tiny Yharim insignia at the top of the crown) links him to yharim, while at the same time looking super shiny and eye-catchy. In addition, the body armor was designed to be more light and flexible, and was meant to resemble some sort of harness for dog's dimensional hopping shenanigans (you can still see parts of his naked body through the armor, which is more visually interesting imo)

Sorry for the huge wall of text!!!
Small feedback btw: I think some of the text slides, especially near the start, could go a little faster. I had the video playing at 2x speed because otherwise it felt a little too slow

[necronixgravedigger]

I personally believe Iban's design would perfectly fit the Primordial Wyrm, albeit with a bit brighter glow:
The Primordial Wyrm is a gigantic (though not as large as the DoG), Eerie, ghost-like Wyrm(essentially a serpent-like Dragon) which lives at the bottom of the abyss, (this may or may not be canon, but) with it's size and power enhanced greatly by the Goddess of Life's Soul/essence(?) (which would be ironic, considering to become a Goddess, she had to consume a Dragon's Auric Soul).

[raeann]

Me watching the first good portion of the video: * just taking in the information that is new to me *

Me at 5:12: “oh cool, a showcase of the design in action- *JESUS MOTHER OF GOD-“*

[Panconhuevo]

Well, while I really think Hearts design looks incredible, I fear that DoG might cause most PC's to explode, as someone who plays videogames in Venezuela, the new Re-Sprite could be quite problematic, even if the Devs said that it might not be a problem because there would be less segments, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GIVING HIM THREE TIMES HIS ORIGINAL SIZE

So, in conclusion... Nerf copper shortsword

[rebbysstuff]

I made a serious error at 5:48. I meant to say no one should harass people attacking heart. Do not harass anyone because of this video...

[TJ-hgop]

When you are in an arguing about pointless garbage and your opponent is the calamity Twitter community

[nevergonnagiveyouupnevergo]

I loved it when you talked about his immovable girth, you should talk about that more

[Vysterx]

The design process for phase 1 is actually incredible. It shows off dog’s anatomy with ribs visible through his slimy smooth skin. I love the outer mandibles looking like they ensure gods are being devoured while giving him a unique yet familiar look compared to other worms. Other small but cool details include the scar and the eyelashes.
Phase 2 on the other hand feels like it takes everything cool about phase 1. It’s literally just a HD version of the current sprite. While the sprite work is amazing, the overall shape/design is just bland. In reality it’ll just be just another worm but big but of course animations and how the fight plays will play an impact of the immersion of it. It’s certainly a good design, it could be better with a unique but it fits for the boss. But hey the music cover design is now canon so that’s neat!

[rebbysstuff]

Summary for people who don't understand the technical jargon in my video:

- High resolution is an invalid claim if the size of the sprite matches the pixel resolution of the rest of the scene. If one pixel of a sprite doesn't match the size of another then that is bad pixel art. To my understanding, DoG's sprite would fit the pixel resolution of the rest of terraria.

- Shape language is how shapes communicate the personality of a character. Squares communicate toughness and sturdiness, like a rock or wall. Triangles communicate danger and energy, like spikes or lightning. Sphere's communicate squishiness, bounciness, carefree energy, etc. Slender objects portray elegance, while square ones portray toughness. Heart's design is more square, reflecting DoG's more intimidating nature, Iban's is more slender, not really fitting an aggressive character.

- Size = Power. A bigger character is more intimidating than a smaller one. DoG's massive size makes him look more intimidating thus making the fight more epic when you eventually defeat him.

Anything else that doesn't make sense?

[HowLamp]

5:13 first time seeing DoG up in the actual game for a test of size, *WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT OH GOD ITS MASSIVE*

[DaRkLoRdZoRc]

Here's my big problem with DoG: No matter how big and edgy he is (and he's certainly lost a lot of his edge now that he doesn't call you 'kid' anymore, which is lame), he's still 'just' a worm boss. And yes, I know he was one of the two *original* worm bosses of Calamity, but times change, and more importantly, so has Calamity's boss roster: the Devourer is now one of the very last bosses, in a game that has over FIFTY bosses in total. How many other bosses like him do you encounter before finally reaching him?

1. Desert Scourge
2. Eater of Worlds
3. Perforator Hive
4. Aquatic Scourge
5. The Destroyer
6. Astrum Deus
7. Storm Weaver

And depending on how you progress through the game, you'll probably run into the Eidolon Wyrm and maybe even the Primordial Wyrm before him, as well as the Armored Digger miniboss. That's TEN OTHER WORMS before you encounter the showstopper that the Devourer is supposed to be. Yeah, he still has great music, and yeah, he's probably one of the most iconic and difficult bosses in the game, but very little of that is because of his design specifically.

While I love Iban's design, especially in his regal-looking Cosmolite armor, I'll admit I agree that Iban's base design looks a bit too gentle and elegant for the Devourer. What I really love about it, though, is that it leans more into the serpentine side of the Devourer's description. It makes him look more like a mythical dragon, which is a creature I can accept as being a literal god-eater. A worm, though? You can make him fill as much of the screen as you want. You can give him the Tooth Fairy's entire assemblage collected since she took up the job; he's just not scary or awe-inspiring enough to overcome what has become Calamity's most-memed boss archetype. He needs something more.

[devlyn]

I’ll be honest, I enjoy the look of the sprite, but my main gripe is just that the sprite, at least currently, does not fit neither vanilla’s nor Calamity’s artstyle, which is also my main gripe with a few other resprites like the exo weapons and desert scourge.

Don’t get me wrong, these artist are talented, and I understand that since old ones left new need to take their place, but it’s just so jarring to see what’s basically a PNG next to so many things comprised and colored by pixels. Hopefully there might be some insanely huge resprite update for both the calamity resource pack and the mod to nullify what I said.

[deltram]

Im interested to see how they would change the fight now that he is much larger, but i would've liked to see them break tradition and make the devourer much more 'Eastern dragon'-like, retaining its serpent like qualities, but now being similar in design to beings such as the Quetzalcoatl, which inspired Rayquaza's design. I think the DoG not only would have a lot more leeway in its moveset, but more importantly, it could stand out more distinctly than the other worms of calamity and even previous sprites of itself.

Ultimately i believe making the Devourer look more like an Eastern dragon than a worm could give it a lot more flair that the other worms of calamity simply don't have. He could have a massive mouth with some trace of a permanent smile to lean into his gluttonous characteristics, but also show off some flamboyant fighting style that leans into his arrogant side, because he is meant to be one of calamity's show-stoppers.
Let me know what you think of my idea?

[Maydnight]

I wish the calamity community was better while they are good folks in it, alot of it is very toxic, always so quick to harash people

[The_Hydration_Police]

It is a bit big and detailed, but that just means there’s even more room to bring everything else up to par with it!

[jacktheproslegend]

5:12 My pc would never be able to run that without exploding, but dear God this could feel like the most terrifying bossfight