FMP – Art Direction Finalised

What have I done

I have finally found the design direction that I want to go with for this project. I am planning to make the environments  look like paper/card origami from the character, environment and even the sky. I am planning to make the origami style to refer to what normal within the environment, enemies and “evil” objects will be perceived as non-paper/card origami, such as toys and large more realistic objects. This design choice is to show the user what is bad and what is good. An example of this will be fire that will look realistic and will burn and damage the paper environment.

Below is two concept pieces for the project:

I am planning to do one final concept piece for this art direction, along side a few other design directions, then choose the best suited. Though I do feel that this art direction is the best, as it has allows me to create a basic but powerful story for the game, and also be visually pleasing and very friendly to children. After this, I will start to plan out the first level, which will be focusing on the basic mechanics of the game, which are moving and jumping, so I will not need to create special objects or use complex BluePrints to create the level. Then create it within Unreal Engine 4.

What are my influences?

The idea is  influenced by many sources, from other games to films. The influence for the art direction is based on many games, but the main one being “Grow Home“. I will show an image of game play below:

Link to image here.

Another major influence for the design direction is  “Yoshi’s Woolly World” which is also a side scrolling platformer, but uses a material as the main style, which is wool/ yarn. Image of the game is below:

Link to image here.

 

 

GrowGuu – Visual Look and Design: Concept – Post 2

Player Design

I have started to work on the visual look of the game. I first started of by doing a basic design of how the player will move within the game. As the character is very basic (being a circle) there are not many design choices I can make within a sketchbook, so I decided to concentrate on showcasing how the player will animate and change shape whilst moving. Below is a scan of the page where I did these designs (Part titled Player Design + basic animation).

I am planning on creating these as animatics within Photoshop over the next day to showcase how the animations will work.

After, I decided to go into Photoshop and try out a few different designs for the character using just one base colour (green), and showcasing all the designs on different colour backgrounds (Red, blue and yellow) to see how they look if I do decide to allow the backgrounds on the levels to change colour each time they are loaded.

Below I will show the designs I created, there will be 3 images, one for each background colour:

I decided to number each of the different designs to make it easier to explain each design, at this current point, I personally like the first 3 designs the most (1, 2, 3), but the final 3 designs (6, 7, 8) is a showcase of how the first design could look with a custom shader being used.

For the early prototype of the game, I will be using the seconds design as it is very simple and it will be easy and quick to produce the animations that will be needed.

Environment Design

After creating the designs of the character, I decided to create 3 possible environment designs, but I only used one background colour for all of the design to keep it simple. The first design is just a very basic design, no detail, just flat colours. The second and third designs is the basic design but showcasing how the same environment design could look with particle effects, first being with particles being showcases in the foreground, second showcasing particles in the background. Below I will showcase all of the designs in order.

Design one – Basic

Design two – Basic with particle foreground

With animatic

Design three – Basic with particle background

with animatic

The animatic is very mild, all it does is change the opacity of the particles making them more see through. If I do use particle effects, I want them to also move around randomly.

GrowGuu Project – Visual look and design: Research – Post one

I am currently creating and designing a project called GrowGuu, which is going to be a game based around eating and growing in size.

Design Direction

At this point, I am looking at how the game could look, and what is the best direction for this project visually and mechanically. One of the problems that I have ran into whilst planning out this project is how the game will look when the player is very small. When the player grows and shrinks, the camera will also zoom in and out to that the user will always be able to see the character and the surrounding environment easily.

I have created one possible fix for this problem which is to make up the game level environment made up of only horizontal and vertical lines, no diagonal or curved lines, as when zoomed in, they can show up pixels which can make the game look strange and cheap.

Other option that I could use is to make the game look pixelly by nature, making it a fundamental design choice for the game, but the issue which I get with this direction, is how to make objects stay looking pixelly when the player grows to a massive size.

Below I will show an example of what the problem is:

The image to the left is the corner zoomed out (scale 512 x 512), and the image to the right is zoomed in (scale 32 x 32).

Colour Scheme Direction

The next step is to choose a colour scheme for the game that looks nice and pretty, but also is very simple in design.

Below I am going to show a colour wheel

Link to image is here.

With the creation of objects within the environment and the background, I need to make sure that environment objects do not blend into the background (making it hard for the user to see items within a level)

One of the directions I would like to go in is to make the background be able to change colour every time the level is open to make the game feel different each time a user plays it. I am not planning to make a pretty picture for the background, but just a solid colour, maybe with some basic particle effects to make it more interesting to look at.

With foreground objects such as the player and objects within the environment, I am planning to be just as colourful, but the problem with the idea of making the background change colour, is that like I said before, it could make some items within the game hard to see when certain background colours show up. So my first idea is to make the player and the walls to the level black, which should make the player and walls stand out without being too bright. and then designing objects within the environment to be certain colours which the background wont use, and also change the tone of the colours slightly compared to the background. The second idea is to only make the walls black, but also make the player colourful, but with all of the objects and the player to have a black line that goes around the edge to separate the background and foreground with a visual line.

Last point I like to add to this is, looking into the Game Maker Engine, I have found out that you are able to make custom shaders, which I could use to make the game have interesting lighting, giving objects more of a gradient. But at this point this is a very early idea, and I would personally like to make a working game before I plan on playing around with the shaders within the engine.

Rabbit Heart Project: Post 2 – Designs, Test and 3D Models

I have started to create some early designs for some of the possible assets for the project, below I show the concept sketches for the assets. The designs and sketches were worked on over the last week.

     

          

I have also done some test using the Morph modifier within 3DS Max to test out possible uses for morph targets to be used within this project, below I will show two examples.

This is the reference image I used to make the heart. Link will be here.

This was the first test I did for the Rabbit Heart Project using the Morph Modifier, so I thought that making a beating heart would fit very well, so had a go at modelling the heart which took about 20 minutes using a reference image I found on Google, which I will show below with a link to the image. After, I dupicated the orginal heart 2 times, and using the vertix brush which is build into 3DS Max, I expanded the larger area on one of the hearts, and the expanded the smaller part of the other. I then used both of them hearts with the original to allow the vertices to tween.

This is an early version of a chamber that could hold parts of animals or new weapon technology. Within it I tested out animating a liquid using Morph Modifier and animated textures.

Below I will show some of the 3D models that I have worked on over the last week. These are high poly versions that I have created to see how they will look, before creating the final versions of these assets.

I am planning to create 2 assets ready to be put within a game engine by the up coming Friday.

Rocket Business Promotion Project: Post 2 – 3D Modelling and Final Product

I have further developed the design of my rocket within 3DS Max. I have added the rocket and wings to it, and coloured it using default textures within 3DS Max. I also did a model of the planet, and tried to make ship and planet look like toys and look friendly.

Below I will show the progress.

I decided to put the planet and rocket within the same scene, to see how they look together. I also set up lighting on both the planet and the rocket to show some shadow, and lighten key areas on the ship. I also tried to create the smoke within 3DS Max but for some unknown reason, errors stopped the smoke from showing up within the renders.

Due to not being able to add smoke via 3DS Max, I decided to use photoshop with the brush tool set to high transpanacy to allow for a soft look.

As you see, the smoke looks good, but the rocket itself still seems out of place due to there being no materials on some parts of the ship, and the window looking bland. So I went back into 3DS Max and added some colour to the ship, and also added a handle to the rockets door.  I used the render above for the planet and smoke, removed the old version of the rocket and replaces it with the new. I had to slightly change and improve the rocket smoke, then it was complete.

Below is the final version of the rocketship.

Rabbit Heart Project: Post 1 – Idea Generation

I have been set the task to design and come up for ideas towards the project called “Rabbit Heart”. Link for this project will be here.

Me and the rest of the group are allowed to design assets, envoronment, gameplay mechanics, level design, concept art and creating objects to be put within the project itself.

What ideas do I have?

• To design and create items within the environment and 3D model and texture them. The items could include, crates, boxes, weapons, ammo, rotten food and so on.
• I would like to try using morphing to create dynamic animating object. The ideas I have for this is to create a test based super weapon that would be within a large glass container that will change to different shapes. My other idea is to great a beating heart of a rabbit or human, I feel that this idea would fit the name of the project well.
• To have the helmet that the player collects later in the game to be on a dead soldier.
• Creating of a forklift to inhabit the environment (they would of used it to move objects around before the disater).
• Creating of a 3D printer, which using the morpher, make it print an object (or just have it as a static environmental object).
• I would also like to attempt to create the damaged dome that is built within the cave system. I would plan to make it modular so that it can be broken up into smaller pieces so it can be put within the games level easily.

Rocket Business Promotion Project: Post 1 – Design and Concept

I have been set a task to create a rocket ship in a friendly manner to showcase the idea of a “business taking off”, using the rocket or spaceship as a metaphor for this promotion. I have been given one week to design and concept and create this piece of work (starting the 25/09/2015).

Current progress

I have currently created multiple designs and concepts for the spaceship which I will show below. I have also came up with the idea of having a cartoony planet earth seen behind the rocket with a smoke trail.

The Design below is what I choose. The reason is that it isnt to complex, it looks like a classic rocket ship and looks the most friendly.

I have also started to create the choosen design within 3DS Max and have set up lighting ready for the final render. Below I will show the rocket rendered and un-rendered.

I also had a try at using the inbuilt particle system which 3DS Max uses, below I will show some final renders. I am planning to use this to create the smoke trail, but as you will see, I will need to make custom smoke textures so to be able to make it look correct (I used textures which were part of the 3DS Max pack).

What to be done next

I am planning to finish the rocket by the end of the say, I unwrap it for texturing. I will also need to design and concept the environment (earth). and create a better smoke trail for the rocket. and then finally do a final render at 4k with max render settings and edit the final renderers in photoshop.

Environment Design – Isometric Environment V2: Thors Crater

I have recreated a scene from the movie Thor in Isometric and low poly.

Below is the final version.

Below are close up renders and other renders of the same scene.

Character Designs – Early Sketches: Protagonist and Antagonist

First of all, I will show the designs that I have made for the protagonist, these were the first designs that I have worked on which I done on the 29/05/2015. There is still a lot of development needed due to feeling like that the protagonist has no personality in the design, making the character boring. So I need to further develop the protagonist till their is personality to the look. Below are the images from my sketchbook:

Now I am going to show the designs that I have created for the Antagonist. I feel that the designs for this character are a lot better and has more personality which is what I want. The character will need to be developed more, but at this point, I feel like that it is going in the right direction. Below are the designs of the character, which were created on the 04/06/2015 and 05/06/2015.

With all of these designs, and any future designs which include both character, environment and objects, they all need to be able to be created within 3D, due to the game being 2.5D. So I need to try and show within the designs that they can be created in 3D which I try to show by adding basic shading. In the concept versions, I will try to show shading and highlights.

Creation of Modular Stairwell – Post two: Research and Reference

First of all, I am going to find images of stairwells from online, below each of the images, I will place the website link of where I got the image from.

Link here.

Link here.

Link here.

Link here.

Link here.

Here are some images that I have found using the search engine Google, I tried to find different styles and designs of the stairwells so that I have more variety when I start designing.

I will be doing more research about what you will find within a stairwell, such as objects.