Tag: Games Design

Prison Simulator: Age Rating

December 24, 2016

Since the game that we are creating is a Prison Simulator the age rating category that we selected this for was the 35+ and there are a couple reasons for this. The first is that we decided to make this game a 2D side scroller it doesn’t appeal so much tot he younger audience as they have been brought up in the new intense visual games whereas 35+ feel nostalgic with these games. The second reason is due to it being set within a prison it means that this is a harsh but realistic environment that contains violence and drugs. These are not good influences on the younger audience.

I feel like this was the correct category for this game however if the setting was different it could possibly be within another category as the art style shows bright, vibrant colours which relate to a younger audience.

 

Prison Simulator: More Props

December 24, 2016

Looking at my to-do list I began to draw a variety of different props that would fill each different room. I first started by focusing on just one wing so that the amount of props that I had to create was a reasonable amount. Some of the props I will be using the concepts I created such as the Medical bed whereas others I had to recreate, such as the chemistry set. These pictures show a variety of props from different rooms such as the staff room, the cell, the med bay, and the electrical room. Each prop is made so that it looks like it belongs in that room. For example, the generator I used a reference picture from the internet for the shape so that It appeared heavy and very mechanical making it stand out if not in the right room. For the generator, I didn’t want it to just be plain and gray therefore I decided to add some greens and browns. The reason I added the browns was so that it could give the illusion of rust and that these generators have been here for many years. The green was because of sewer pipes and I thought this would be a good signifier of the pipes that contains fluids. The reason hat I created two versions of the x-ray machine is because it can be turned on and off. One image shows the on mode which contains a light which shines down onto the player

Reflecting on this I feel like I am slowly progressing with these props however due to the lack of detail I am unsure how they will look in the final product. Since it is a 2d game we are restricted on the amount of detail so I will just have to see how it pans out and if I will have to recreate some of the props. I also gave some of the props a 2.5D feel so that perspective could be used within our game and it also allows me to give more detail to the prop.

Prison Game: 2D Side Scroller

December 6, 2016

Recently our group had decided to change the game to a 2D side scroller as we thought it would be more unique also make the project  more manageable as there is only three people within the group. This means that I will have to redesign some of the props that I have already created, however, this shouldn’t take too long.

As well as this it also means that we will have to redesign our layout as the player will not be able to maneuver the same way as before. IF we keep the same prison layout it would mean that the player has to walk around the outside of each room so that they can make their way around the map.

This affected each group member in a different way. The person in charge of character design now had to create fewer sides as well as fewer animations. I would have to only create 2D objects. Finally, the person in charge of level design would now have to make the levels appear from the side, technically only showing half of the room.

Due to the fact that this is now a 2D side scroller it meant that no work had t be done in a program such as Sketchup or 3DS Max. Instead, the concepts themselves could be used for the final product.

Research would now be done on existing 2D side scroller on how they optimize their game utilizing as many features as possible within a 2D space.

 

Prison Game: Padlet

December 6, 2016

For our group project, we decided to use a website called Padlet where we could all add the research that we have done as well as our to-do lists. It would also allow us to easily edit work and then reupload it so that someone else can then work on it.

Character Design: Explorer Concept 2 (Coloured)

November 27, 2016

With the sketches from the second concept sheet I then added color onto it in photoshop. I first re-drew it saw that the lines were more defined and clearly visible. I then began to add color. I made the character himself have a blonde hair color he is unique as more characters usually have brown hair, I also did this to contrast with the other colors that I would be using. These colors are mainly browns so that the armor and cloak look as if they are made from leather, and a light orange so that the tunic looks like it has not been cleaned and has faded in the sunlight.

In reflection to this, I feel like this design works really well and the colors that I have used add more depth to the character and show what his clothes are made out of. The only negative about this is that the character looks more animated which is only because it is concept art. When I come to creating the character in a realistic scale it may have fixed this. Next, I will do the same process to the other design so that I have more outcomes and more choices for the final design.

character-design-sheet-2-colour

Character Design: Final Robot

November 20, 2016

With the sketches that I had created, shown in my previous blog post, I then went into photoshop and created variants of this robot using different colors and making them different roles. For the main robot, that being the guard, I went with a dark gray and gold combination as I felt like this went very well with the engravings on the robot and also made the robot appear more old fashioned and centuries old. I then used the process of applying the dodge and burn tool to make the robot look 3d, show where the light is hitting it and to add rust to the metal so that it doesn;t appear new.

After this was done II then took the same design and created a Medical Robot variant as I thought that this would also be a common robot that would be seen. I did this simply by removing the gun and engravings, and instead of adding the well-known cross symbol for a hospital. When it came to texturing I wanted this robot to look very clean, therefore I went with bright colours, a light grey fo the robot itself so that it appeared new and always in good condition, and red colour for the tail and crosses as it stood out against the grey and is a common colour associated with hospitals and medicine.

In reflection to this, I feel like this is the most unique design that I have created as I have not seen anything like it done before. The engravings add that extra bit of detail which completes the robot and represents the correct theme. If I were to go back and do this project again I think I would create even more variants of the robot so that I had an even wider range of characters that could appear in the Atlantis environment.

Robot Concept: Design 4

November 15, 2016

I also created another texture design for the second robot that I created. This design was similar to the alternate design that I did for the first robot where I changed the texture to grey so that it looked more futuristic and armoured. This was the same with the green lights for the eyes and LEDs on the battery pack. I changed the colour of the crest from blue to red as it resembles the colour of real life ancient helmets. As well as this it also would stand out from the blue ocean since it is the opposite of it. The colour for this also means that robot makes more sense since the way it moves around is by flight it would appear futuristic.

I feel like this design works better in this scenario than the design for the first robot however it still does not work as good as the first design. The red crest works extremely well however the robot still doesn’t look like it has been there for centuries.

robot 4.png

Topology Practice

November 13, 2016

For this task, I chose a picture of a celebrity off the internet and tried to draw the topology over the top of them. For this task, I decided to choose Arnold Schwarzenegger since he had an extremely defined body. I started by working on the pectoral area as this was the center of the picture and the most defined. After I had finished I removed the image leaving only the net and could still see the rough shape of him. As well as this I also created the topology of a boat. This was fairly easy to create as the boat is a very basic shape.

Looking back at this I realize that I need more quads in the topology so that the shape is more rounded and as accurate as possible rather than flat. As well as this I also need to try to create faces using topology. This is something that I will continue to practice and try to improve.

Character Design: Robot Patrol Guard

November 10, 2016

For one of the main characters in my game, I wanted to create a patrol guard. This character may not be a character that has had dialogue or influence on the story but it affects the environment and will be a repeatable character that is seen everywhere.

I started off this design by creating silhouettes at random which formed multiple different characters. The reason I did this was because of the previous research that I did and I wanted to make sure the robots had iconic features which would be recognizable to the player. After this was done I then found two of the designs that I felt I could develop. I did this by drawing the designs in detail and of all four sides of the robot. I also thought about the functionality of the robot when designing this and made sure things such as cables and pistons could be seen.

The first design gained inspiration from the human skeleton in the shape of the head as it is very defined and a unique shape. I then used claptrap from the borderlands game as inspiration for the way that the robot would travel around, and this would be using a wheel. For the second design, I gained inspiration from multiple sources. The first is the initial shape and movement of the robot. This was based on the robot EVE from the movie Walle and the fact the robot floats around and because of this only has a torso. To appeal to the theme of the game I wanted the design to feel like it was ancient and survived for centuries and I did this by designing the head to appear more like ancient armor which had been modified with cables and antennas to work as the helmet.

Looking back at this work that I created I realize that another method I could have used to create the robot would have been Paradolia since this would give me unique shapes that have not be seen before.  My next step with these designs will be to take them into photoshop and create multiple different variants of the textured robots.