Trowzer

Support characters were very much a staple of 3D platform games during their prime, and it looks like Playtonic Games will continue this tradition with the recent reveal of the first support character in Yooka-Laylee: Trowzer, the serpent salesman.

A business-snake whose career never took off, the smug salesman is apparently always willing to teach you some slick moves he acquired up on a high-stakes sales floor.

Yooka-Laylee's creative lead Gavin Price believes Trowzer thinks of himself as the best salesmen ever, but, in reality, with his downbeat appearance and a 1980s mobile phone, life never actually took off for him.

He'll take your money and count it (he's an Adder…) and because he knows best he'll even demonstrate the moves you just bought for you to replicate… if you can follow his jiggling.

Character artist Steve Mayles explains there is nothing traditional about the design process behind Trowzer:

I didn't want him to be a snake in the traditional sense, and when Gav suggested he should have shorts on (do I have to add shorts to all of my characters?!), a great idea for this was his body could curl back up through the other leg hole. So he'll move with a certain springiness, which will be fun to animate.

So what do you think of the very first support character for Yooka-Laylee? Does Trowzer show signs of being a dodgy salesman, or does he bring back fond memories of 3D platform games of yesteryear? Let us know in the comments below!

[source playtonicgames.com]