The P.M.A: Creating the Identity of a Preston-based Survivor Settlement

Going into this project, I knew that I wanted the settlement to be based in the Adelphi Square on the UCLan campus (UCLan's renovations render below is a good showcase of the layout). Before getting started on drafting up a concept piece for the settlement though, I needed to decide on the nature of its inhabitants, as this would heavily inform its appearance.

Inspiration From The Game Universe

The world of the Last of Us is filled with a rich diversity of survivor communities. At one end of the spectrum exist the exceptionally well equipped and organised groups such as the WLF of Seattle, operating from the Soundview Stadium (see Zak Oliver's official concept art for The Last of Us Part 2 below), as well as various forward bases across the city. Conversely, many smaller communities live in brutal conditions and are lucky to survive day by day, taking up residence in gloomy sewers and other unfavourable locations in oder to stay out of harm's way. 

Alongside settlement size and welfare, the Last of Us also accommodates a broad range of group identities within its universe. These include militaristic groups such as the WLF (wolves) and Fireflies,  ritualistic cultists in the form of the Seraphites, or slavers, as seen with the Rattlers of Santa Barbara, and inevitably, all manner of scavengers, hunters and cannibals, most notable of which would have to be David and his group from the first game's winter chapter. 

Initial Group Identity Concept

All of this is to say that when coming up with the identity for my survivor settlement, there was no shortage of material to draw on as inspiration. The first question I had to ask myself was to do with the general condition of the settlement - is this a large, successful group of survivors, or a downtrodden bunch that are barely scraping by. I quickly decided that it would only make sense to go for the former, as surely only the most dominant group of the city would choose to base itself in such a large, open space with visibility in many directions.

Next I considered the sorts of equipment that they would have access to. My main focus here was to differentiate them from other dominant groups like the WLF, who are often found donning military equipment and firearms. In gameplay terms, these groups often also tend to be the most heavily gunfight oriented as a result of their militaristic archetype, and I thought a reduced focus on gunfighting would make for an interesting change, as this playstyle is usually reserved for smaller groups and of course the infected. Further, the presence of firearms in the UK is dramatically lower than in the US, meaning that frequent ammunition scavenging in gameplay would make less sense to the universe than it does for the usual US setting of the games (though I accept that it's in all likelihood exaggerated for gameplay purposes anyway, and regardless, three decades of apocalypse would leave everything pretty well picked unless you're producing new ammunition in the case of the WLF). In the end I decided to go in the direction of police and riot gear as the most immediately recognisable trait of my faction, imagining that the group had acquired the gear very early on after a failed attempt to contain the outbreak in the city left gear-clad personnel littered in the streets, ripe for scavenging. Acquisition of this gear is what would then have allowed the group to develop into the dominant force within the city over the next few years, to the point where they became uncontested and decided to establish HQ in a large, flat space with good visibility and even better facilities - the university campus.

A Recognisable Identity

Having established an initial idea of a band of riot gear clad militants as a baseline, I wanted to come up with a strong and recognisable motif for the group. Many of the groups from the world of The Last of Us have very memorable identities, many of which I have already mentioned. An aspect of this that I find very fun is that many of the groups are named after an animal, and incorporate this into their identity. Notables are the WLF (wolves), the Fireflies and the Rattlers, though many more do exist by way of mention throughout the games, such as the Ravens.

I decided I'd have some fun with this idea and try to come up with a distinct animal-based identity for my group. In messing around with names, I came up with The PMA (Preston Militant Affiliation), by which they'd come to be known as the Pumas. I decided to run with this idea further, imagining them stealthily patrolling the streets at night, wearing the all black police and riot gear, looking to pounce on any other unfortunate Preston residents like their titular big cats. In my mind the faction was now firmly an antagonistic presence that would hinder the player's progress, predominantly at night when they were most active.

With this identity now in place, I started to come up with concepts for banners that could be draped over the HQ walls, imagining that they had at some point been able to get power going in the university buildings to use the facilities and create themselves a loud, intimidating identity as a warning to passers by.

Overall I'm quite happy with how some of these turned out. I chose the black and red colour scheme with the goal of creating a banner aimed at pure intimidation. The first iteration (1) was a good start and I was very happy with the puma head concept, but there were a few problems I had with it: the curved lines of the background in my opinion detracted from the intimidation factor, and its black border was too thick to my eyes in any case. The abbreviation also lacked visibility owing to its placement and size in proportion to the overall banner. With the second I took a very different approach, taking more inspiration from the WLF. Overall I'm very happy with how this one turned out, and I think it solves a lot of the problems of the first. I particularly like the effect of the black on black with the swapped background and border colour, which makes the Puma blend into the surrounding darkness, exactly as I imagine the PMA would during a night raid. Iteration 3 also improves on some of the issues of the first, but it feels a little flat to me. This is why with 4 I aimed for a more interesting shape, while retaining the straight edged sharpness, and if anything, I feel the iteration enhances this factor in particular. I was especially happy with the 'fanged' style of the bottom, and decided to pursue this design further in the fifth and sixth iterations. I'm especially pleased with the result I reached with 6, as the abbreviation is probably most clear on this one (along with 2), and something about the fanged design has an oppressive presence to me. I couldn't decide between 2 and 6, but the fact that they're quite different actually helped me in the end, because I decided that 6 would be most well suited to the large, draping banners I had pictured, while 2 would look best as a badge, stitched to the lapels of the Pumas' equipment.

In my next post, I'll be delving into some concepts for the Puma personnel, exploring their assortment of equipment and overall appearance.

Thanks for reading!