Purpose and philosophy

The auto-crewman, also called Ivan or the “red blood cell” is the second robot enemy I created and the spiritual successor to the servicemen from the old Pressure. They serve as the robotic crew and engineers for the gigantic living submarine the Philosopher.

The Ivan robots are gangly and I meant for them to almost look like the inflatable tube-men outside car dealerships. Their long arms give them superior reach in tight spaces, and their plastic construction makes them lighter than you’d think. In universe they’re the general purpose “person” for the Russian army, capable of filling any role a human can do (minus driving or flying due to the massive hump on their backs).

The giant tube on their backs is meant to be the exposed casing for their computer. Earlier versions of the Ivan and Igor units replaced the computers for nuclear RTG batteries instead. While I think stylistically it looked cool, replacing the batteries with computer components looks much cooler and makes more sense realistically too.

The face for the Igor was another thing that was changed, on my exhibition invite you might’ve noticed that Igor looks a lot different. I didn’t feel happy with the face even though I did like the eye design, so I instead opted for a look that I’ve wanted to go for for a while. Inspired by concept art from the game Half-Life 2, I moved the eyes of the Ivan to the side and gave it six of them instead of two. I think this look gives it a blanker, more ominous expression that lends well to its overall look.