Spiffo

Overview

Spiffo is the overly adorable racoon that also acts as the Project Zomboid and The Indie Stone mascot. The creation of Marina Siu-Chong, Spiffo has had many alterations over the years. He is beloved, adorable and awesome.

History

Spiffo originates from one of Indie Stone's first game PAWS. Spiffo was created by and added by Marina Siu-Chong (AKA MashPotato.) PAWS was originally featuring all English creatures but Spiffo was added after they wanted "a Canadian character in there too". The raccoon was dubbed Mr Spiffo, a temporary name that soon became permanent.[2] You can even find some of the first artwork for Spiffo on Mashpotassium's blog here

When Project Zomboid came about Mr Spiffo was added as a mascot for the fast food restraunt chain "Spiffo's". He was also meant to be one easter egg of supposedly many that would appear in Project Zomboid from The Indie Stone's previous games. Around some point when Will Porter came onto The Indie Stone team he is said to of been in love with Spiffo. Eventually Spiffo became more prevalent on the forums and around the site as a result. Spiffo became more popular on the website with many sections and icons for the site including a picture of Spiffo. In the forums Spiffo is the default avatar for new users, as well as being apart of the header.

Spiffo's very first appearance on the blog used the same version of Spiffo that was in PAWS. The blog post can be found: here

Spiffo was then later redesigned in the style of a fast food restaurant mascot, as that was what he was originally supposed to be advertising. The color design of Spiffo remains the same, but is possibly a little fatter with a side cap. It's interesting to note that in the blog post he is referred to as the "Community Racoon" rather than the mascot for Spiffo's. A hint of just how integrated he would become with the community perhaps?[3]

On the 24th of October 2012 Spiffo's redesign made it's first appearance on the blog. While he did remain a racoon, his color scheme changed from his grey and white into an orange, brown and white colourisation. This can also be seen as Spiffo's transformation from the mascot of Spiffo's fast food, into the mascot for Project Zomboid and The Indie Stone. This is mainly attributed to the fact the Spiffo no longer where's his Spiffo's side cap and is wearing a survivalist type attire and look.

After this time, Spiffo became more incorporated around the website. A picture of him can even be seen when redirected to a 404 page. It should also be noted that at some point during development Spiffo became apart of the games tutorial. With images and catchy slogans being shown to help guide you.

Spiffo Iterations

First know image of Spiffo?[1]

Spiffo's transformation from his original V1 character into the mascot for Spiffo's fast food restraunt.

This is where we come to see spiffo's redesign and colour change.

File:SpiffoMascot Survivor-210x300.jpg

This is the 3rd version of Spiffo, where we see his transformation from fast food mascot into a survivor/Project Zomboid mascot.

Control yourself! Spiffo is here to show you the ropes to the game.

This picture of spiffo appears in both the tutorial and the website when you come across a link to nowhere. Oh dear, Spiffo looks a bit lost. Note: The Canadian flag on his backpack, most likely in reference to Spiffo's creator.