[RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT] My Genre Concept Project

Currently we have been assigned to do a concept based on a genre we are very interested in. I have done this quite a few times, but I decided to do something a little more personal.
Here is some of the text I will be using in my presentation, as well as images that really explain the whole concept of what I am trying to grasp at.

What Genre Will I Be Doing?

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I pick a “Musical Platforming Game”
Musical platformers (such as Bit. Trip Runner) use momentum to create exciting sound effects and a beat for the player to follow. If the player does this correctly, the game flows fluently. However, one wrong mistake, or out of time with the music, you fail. Games like these are normally fast paced and use obstacles, colours, animation and other things to throw you off balance.

Environments and Musical Feelings
Musical games are all very different, but all really focus on how music makes us feel (even self-consciously). Because we all have some sort of rhythm, games which ask you to keep in time with the music also throw bright and distracting colours at you. This is the competitive side of the game, and can really keep you on edge or make you frustrated. Bit. Trip Runner does this quite a lot, but because of the fast pacing of the game, you keep coming back for more.

Platform Games and Characters

Platform Games and their characters normally don’t have the greatest appeal, and normally don’t have an emotional attachment (Mario is a good example). But what if you bring quite a big story concept with the character? Great games like Limbo and Dust: The Elysian Tale have, and gain great emotional attachment through their own stories.

  
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I used these examples because I wanted everyone to realise what kind of character, scene and story I would like to incorporate in my concept game pitch. I also wanted to show how much detail I had looked into these games. Through all the searching and examining these games, I came to the conclusion of my back story I would like to do for my game. I wanted something very intricate and very open for people to use their own imagination to come up with a story they wish to conceive.

My Games Backstory and Idea

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“What is it like to be part of a program that you never knew existed? Yuki Kenba contemplates this every day. As he strives to be the musical artist that his heart desires, he feels a lack of motivation, courage, and self esteem. He blames the program, the machines inside of him. Not only does it suppress his own encouragement, but it only guides him to do what they want. He will fight back through the only thing he has control of; his dreams.”
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[DESIGN] My Weapon Final Piece

The Sketch of my Weapon

I decided on a simple design, purely because the weapon is meant for hunting purposes. As you can see, I had taken on board what my reference image was showing me and incorporating it into my design. Things like the fuzzy attachments and the grip of the thing, it makes sense to add tribal aspects to it because of the influence is has for the other images. My character would possibly be wielding this so it must be very thin, not complexly structures, and the character must have tight (not constricting) clothing on. I feel that I have pulled the design out very well, and hopefully I can add more to it to resemble my inspiring chosen weapons.

The Line Art of my Weapon

Majority of the line art was done by the line tool, because I wanted the blade to look quite accurate. As for the curves, I contemplated the pen tool, but I felt it wouldn’t have the ‘feel’ I wanted for my image. I wanted a sketchy, traditional drawing rather then a perfect edge. I also wanted to make the weapon look like it was hand made, not perfect, and full of flaws.

The Colouring And Shading Of The Weapon

I went through a few choices of colouring for my weapon, ranging from Cell Shading to Painting. I tried to cell shade the object but for some reason, the style really didn’t match the shape or the style of the blade, so I rolled back to painting the object. As you can see, I just did it simple and straight forward, no texture or details with my brush strokes because the weapon is quite flat any way. The Cell Shading would have made it quite hard to shade much more simply as you would with painting, which is why I scrapped the idea. My favourite area has to be the feather. It is my first time using a feather in a drawing, and I’m very happy with how it turned out. I feel the style I have taken on is a great resemblance to Jen Zee, the concept artist of Bastion.

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The Finished Image

Here is the final piece! I added a little shading of colour to the line art to blend it into the colouring. All in all, I feel shading the line art is a great effect if you want to make a believable piece. The colours, bright and pure, really reminds me of Jen Zee’s artwork, where it’s always colourful and full of life. I hope to carry on this style because I want to give feeling to my artwork rather then it looking flat. I find it’s a great idea to look at other weapons and objects before continuing to make a weapon yourself, because it gives you more of an idea of what you would like to create, I feel. I will carry on this practice for each drawing I do.

[DESIGN] My Character Final Piece

The Sketch Of The Character

So, I started off with a regular base sketch, to get clear understanding with the anatomy of the figure. With the sketch, I couldn’t decide on two designs of the legs that I sketched out. This was due to the fact that the pose looked too much like the style of the Assassins from Assassins Creed, and I wanted more variation. In the end, I chose Pose 2 from Pose 1 because of the flow and grace that I wanted my character to have.

The Line Art Of The Character

I wanted to try something new with the line art, such as style and grace. I also didn’t want to add too much detail into this image because I wanted to make it stand out when I added shading in. My style really does get in the way of this design because of my Manga inspired drawings, I can’t really get the effect I was going for (a strong woman) but I tried my best to alter the drawing in various different ways, such as the fur on the coat, etc. I also kept a close watch on my anatomy sketch and drawn clothing above it.

The Colouring And Shading Of The Character

What I did for this was coloured the base colour and then shaded on top of it. I checked the various styles of shading that the artists that I chosen, did, and they do have some cool techniques for shading. With any sort of shading, the darkest parts are always at the peak of the shaded area and gradient downwards to a much more lighter colour. I found this a much more secure technique to use because it makes the image stand out, and the folds look a lot more realistic to the eye. I chosen the colours that were better suited for some one who ‘lives in the snow’, as animal skins and other qualities are shown on the clothing.

Adding the Finishing Touches

I used my texture techniques to add unique feeling to my image. The line art I carefully painted dark brown and coloured over some lines brighter to show highlights in the picture. Some of the shading is simplified to keep the style consistent, and not so complicated and quite painful to the eye. I felt having strands of hair floating away from the locks that flow away from the woman’s face to show it isn’t very easy to keep your hair tidy, specially as a monarch.

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The Finished Image

The finished product I have fallen in love with. I wish I added more flare to the background of the image because it doesn’t seem very eye catching. However, I managed to catch on to certain shading techniques I have wanted to learn for years, and they have turned out very well! The character is a little bland, and I believe she could have more colour, but all in all she is how I imagined. I wish I leant over more of a design like with Ezio (Assassins Creed) and Ratchet (Ratchet and Clank) because they had more detail and design to them, but unfortunately didn’t spark the originality in my work.

[DESIGN] My Enviromental Final Piece

The Sketch Of The Castle

I decided to not go with the sketch in my sketch book, but I took certain pieces and the perspective. With the sketch, I used a reference image to see what structure castles take up. All castles have many windows and openings so you can have easy access to every area of the building itself. I felt this was a great concept to take up because I would love to have a complex castle just lurking in the distance: a castle which is a myth, a legend.I think it’s best if you use a reference image then to do it from memory, because the image will not turn out the way you expected. I did this well because I picked out certain areas and formed it all into something else, adding things on top of one another. I don’t think I drawn the building big enough, unfortunately, and it looks quite ‘bubbly’ which wasn’t a style I was going for.

Line Art Of The Castle

Line art is very interesting because it can show a lot, or as little detail as it wants. With the detail, I decided to add windows, damages, and extras to my building that the sketch never shown. This would be a great way to do this because the shading I plan to do will not cover as much detail as I would like. I wanted to give the line art a ‘comic’ style to it, where some lines are sharper then others.
I think the line art looks fantastic with a lot of detail in it, with cracks, thick lines, and thin lines all together. All these qualities of line art really brings the image out entirely, because it’s one of those things where you can always find something new if you look at it a lot. The bad side of the line art, I feel, is the lack of ‘realism’ and perspective that it has, I don’t think I did a very good job of this, and I should revise this in the future.

Line Art Of The Scenery

I revised many reference images for this, but there was one reference image which I found intriguing and just what I was looking for. With this image, I revised the way the tree’s grew and how they lay on the land. Also, I also thought about how I would shade the mountains and the snow all around the building itself. I didn’t actually sketch the background out like I should have done, this possibly would have made the task easier.
Making the line art as simple as possible was possibly the best idea for this task, because of the area’s being so far away from the actual building itself. However, I should have gone over the lines for majority of the trees and the building should have been redone in certain areas to fit with the background.

Colouring The Canvas

The moment of truth, colouring the areas. I did this all in one and not stages because I felt it was better to approach it this way then to do layers and layers of single shaded places. I did the shading first, found myself a light source and built on that, then added the colours on afterwords. However, the snow, mountains and sky were all done separately from the image itself.
I’m happy with the shading, and I took reference from my favourite artists I researched and took on a sort of ‘shading style’ they would do. Also, doing solid shading really gave the image a sort of ‘cartoon’ feel I was looking for. Unfortunately, however, it was too cartoony to get the feeling of mystery. I wanted to add certain qualities to the image to make it stand out to some one who has never seen anything like it before.

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The Finished Image

I tried my very best to make this image how I imagined. Using references and many other things to help me get the best possible results. I don’t think I did as well as the artists I chosen, but I tried my very hardest and practised certain painting skills on the snow and on the mountains, so I believe I have room to improve. I do like how I completed the castle, though, and how it and the tree’s flow well together. As for the snow/ice, you can really tell it’s a steep and harsh area.

[RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT] What Will Be My Weapon Concept?

Research on Tribal Spears and Duel Blades

I’m quite interested in Tribal weapons for my concept, they have a athletic feel to them, and I am quite keen of having a character be nimble on their feet. However, the design will be quite intricate and brutal or protection. Tribal weapons are more for hunting then protection, because normally they will be stealthy and hidden to manipulate pray. Another use for the weapon is to stay a pray and possibly kill them another way. There are many tricks and tips that the spear is used for, but I just want the spear to be more for protection and authority.

This spear is a good example of what I would like. A duel sided spear, but much more longer (this will make the spear a two handed rather then a one handed weapon) and bigger blades. The blades will be cut thinly so that they will be very light to swing about. Fur surrounds the attachments so that they don’t freeze over and shatter when they are used.

The blade designs I would love to have like this, but possibly not as intricate and pointy. If these blades were used, it would cause more of a huge wound. I’m looking for a more clean cut weapon, slicing through both clothing and flesh to intimidate, and not to brutally wound. I would like some aspects of funny shaped metal to give the blade more character then just a thin sheet of steel. Maybe characters of a certain language, or patterns which can be seen on many blades.

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My Sketches for my Weapon

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These are my ‘credit card’ size sketches, I went from a range of guns to knives/swords but I really like the spear at the top. I didn’t really want to go with the generic guns which is what is used these days but I thought I should draw some any way. But as I concluded in my research, I wanted to create a Duel Bladed Spear. I had to think of ways the blade would have been attached to the staff itself, and how it would co-operate in cold, harsh, weathers.

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This will be my final design. I really like the idea of flinging and spinning around weapons as quickly as possible. Having the grip on the weapon makes it easier to do such expendable tasks, moving quickly and being nimble. Also, the blades have Japanese text on them to show ‘traditional’ meanings (however, I unfortunately don’t know Japanese and have just chosen single words to be on there) and the blade is shaped differently to normal duel-bladed weapons.

[RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT] What Will Be My Character Concept?

Research on Eskimo’s and Clothing

My character is going to be dressing up for harsh winter, so quite thick and warm clothes will be attached. Just like Eskimos  my character would have lived in the cold for a very long time, and inside the castle that I have created, so she may need to have some upper class clothing to show she belongs in the castle, and possibly a monarch. I’m quite unsure how I shall approach this because it is said you should not wear metals in the cold and harsh temperatures, you must wear animal-skin clothing or some sort of thick cloth to keep you warm.

Fur is quite common for Eskimos to wear, because it captures the cold and sweeps it away from the face or the body part of a person. Just like hairs on your arms or your legs, goose bumps do the same sort of thing as fur. I thing I may attach fur to the hood, the cuffs, the legs and the cape for my character. I am also considering having tribal meanings on the clothing of my character because it could show years of information from just one piece of text/clothing.

With the clothing, it is quite loose on the wearer so that it makes it easier to hunt, get around and live in. Fur is pretty much around the whole entire outfit, and is rarely washed because it would freeze the clothing (and possibly the person). However, with my character, because they will be a mystical person who looks after the castle, she will appear with clean and beautiful white clothes with historical meanings pained beautifully on her clothing.

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My Sketches for my Character

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My credit card sketches are not very easy to understand, which is what I feel I should avoid doing next time. But my designs really follow up on what I wanted for my final concept; fluffy aspects and baggy clothing which really save the person from the cold. Fur hoods are mainly used to keep the cold air brushing against their face, and the fur around the wrists and ankles stop the cold from getting to the joints of the body. There are also straps which cling certain points of the clothing quite close to the body. There is no metal, just leather and other animal skin’s used.

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The final design took quite a big turn from what I had in mind. As much as I want my character to be a monarch, I couldn’t find a good way to make the character quite feminine but still keeping herself warm. Even though the character is mystical, she still needs to have the qualities to live in such a cold climate. I may even make her so that she is just a spirit, or possibly a ‘figment of the imagination’. So she could possibly have any form she chooses, any form that the person before her seeks. I may do tweaks to this design.

[RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT] What Will Be My Environment Concept?

Research on Snow Deserts and Castles 

After looking at my favourite environments, I was told to take on my own influence and make my own area. I was looking for more of a mystical and secretive place (a castle) which is abandoned in the middle of a wintry desert.
The story of the castle is that, like Atlantis and other mystical places, it is a legend and many people have tried to find it and have failed to do so. I’m very indecisive with how I should approach designing the castle and the area, because I don’t know whether to make the place intimidating or welcoming and warm.

Snow deserts are very abandoned, any way, and there are catastrophes with plant life and animals which live there. This is a very harsh way to go, if some one was to traverse into these plains, but at the same time, if there is hope it will make the person want to keep going to get what they want. Maybe I can make the Castle welcoming, and some what deceiving to the person and unfortunate things can happen inside. When I do my concept sketch, I could make a huge (welcoming) building, but through the cracks of the doorway, I can give it a scary glow.

This is the Skibo Castle, Scotland. The design of this castle really appeals to me, very beautiful and lively. The life around the castle really fits with the design of the building as it looks very brown and earth like. If I manage to make my castle like this, make it blend with the scenery, it would make the scenery and castle look slightly bland and very lifeless. This is the opposite of what I want, I wan’t some colour, to show hope and happiness, but harsh lands that surround.

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My Sketches for my Landscape

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The small sketches all really have a castle in them, as I am so tempted to have a big temple full of mystical secrets just waiting for people to find and explore. I wanted to keep it a ‘secret’ as to where this building is, and I have a clear idea of how it could be set out. Unlike any of these images, I would like tree’s surrounding the building and hiding areas of it from clear view, and the person that is seeking it has to get closer to see it properly. It could be a mirage, and I could draw mist around it so that it looks more mysterious, I’m quite unsure of how I would like to approach this but I have a clear understanding of what the building will possibly look like.

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This is my final sketch of what I would like for my final project. It may seem a little out of place to the ones that I completed in the ‘credit card’ sketches, but I would like a sort of Asian styled castle, but maybe with more towers and broken towers so it looks like an abandoned area. But if I want the castle to look more ‘welcoming’ then I would have to keep the building quite intact. As for the glow I would like to incorporate, maybe I could show more of an entrance view of the place, rather then a side drawing.

[RESEARCH] Weapon Concept Art

Weapons are very common in games of today, well… as common as they always have been since games were introduced. It gives the player a feeling of protection and collecting when they first gather a weapon that they have not seen before. It also shows a different style of combat, depending on what kind of weapon you have, which excites the player and allows them to look forward to the next lot of secret animations they have not come across yet.

The Portal Gun

The Portal Gun, a device which appears in the game Portal, has such a gorgeous and simplistic design to it. It harbours two portals inside which you can shoot to your benefit  and enables you to get to places you have never been before. I find the design outstanding and very bubbly and futuristic, a very well thought out design.
The colours chosen for the portals it shoots out, blue and orange, are two noticeable colours in which the player feels the need to interact with. Majority of the game in Portal is based around whites and blacks, so having these colours kind of breaks the mould in my opinion.

The Light Rifle

This weapon, in Halo 4, is such a nice weapon to handle, and doesn’t take too much room. I always feel, a nice designed gun is one that doesn’t take too much room on the screen. The crevices shine brightly with a charged substance which is stable inside the gun, and the bits and pieces (almost like a puzzle) clap together to make a weapon shaped like a gun.
What I like about this gun is the sheer fact that it’s such a simple looking gun, but so complex inside with many mechanics and bits and pieces.

The Lancer

The Lancer is a very brutal and scary weapon, this weapon is seen in the Gears of War series. It’s gnashing teeth and gruesome shape really shows the violence in this gun, but it also gives a unique flair. The gun is the main weapon used in Gears of War, and have their own history. During their time period, they have seen many design changes to help the soldiers wage war.
I love how the chainsaw floats high enough away from the grip so that the characters who hold it, can fit their fingers through fine, without damaging themselves. The gun is also compact and very simple to the eye.

[RESEARCH] Character Concept Art

Now, I must take note of what character designs I’m quite fond of. Always a good idea to have a look at your favourite characters to see what gives them that originality, and the silhouette’s that they produce so that we can all recognize what character they are. A badly designed protagonist for a game shows no sign of this recognizable silhouette and find themselves. 

Ezio Auditore

Ezio, the main character of Assassins Creed 2/Brotherhood/Revelations, is a great example of great character concept. The Assassins Creed franchise has had the same design for the assassins ever since the first. To give them a sense of resemblance in the assassins brotherhood they come from in the story line they all wear a peaked hood (a hawk beak) and armoured clothing.
This clearly shows on Ezio’s outfit, and I have been grown attached to it for a very long while. The colours and flowing clothing he has.

Okami Amaterasu

The most elegant of my favourite character designs has to be Okami Amaterasu. She is the goddess of Sunlight, and is known as that through the whole of Nippon. Her design is similar to the other god’s which are blessed in Nippon, which shows their connection to one another as the thirteen Gods.
Ammy’s  design is a wolf which has a divine weapon on her back to protect the people of Nippon and fight against the evil forces. I love this design because of the simplistic features of her, but also it shows perfectly what god she represents because of her flare and determination, just like the sun.

Ratchet the Lombax

Ratchet, from the Ratchet and Clank series, is one of the last remaining Lombaxs in his world, he is from the planet Fastoon. He is the saviour of many other planets he has traversed into, and plans to save more on his journeys.
His design varies each game because you can unlock skins which can change his armour (and so on), but his original armour is very well designed and very complex. In the game, it glows a bright blue, and when he walks through caves, or dark areas, it lights the surrounding areas; it acts like a torch. It also stays with the style of the Lombax and has great exaggeration.

[RESEARCH] Environmental Concept Art

I was asked to search and comment on the Environment designs/art that I like. I feel this is a good task to do before I do my own sketch of an Environment for my own sort of ‘game’. It will enable me to pick up a style I wish to have and portray it into my own drawings, giving them that authentic look.
What I have in mind is an Ice Palace in the middle of no where, inhabited by the Princess of Snow. It is a myth, a legend, that this place exists.

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

This image is absolutely beautiful, however quite dark and dank. This is a great effect for quite a serious and power driven world in which Assassins Creed is. Raphael Lacoste has a really good eye for beautiful detail in design and development for quite serious environments  and I feel like this style is something to consider for my piece.

Bastion

The colours in Bastion are really to represent life and hope in the world, and is a good example of good use of colours to give off emotion. Jen Zee has a very edgy but delicate style which suggests the life in Bastion is very dainty and frail, but vibrant and loud. The worlds you face have such beautiful colour pallet’s  I feel this is a great example of how I’d like to use my own colour pallet.

Tomb Raider: Underworld

 

Andy Park uses a range of harsh tones to brighten up an image, it brings out the architecture in the world, which is what a game like Tomb Raider focuses on more then the main protagonist, Lara Croft. The art really takes it’s ideas and development from real life ruins built in areas of the earth, so it gives it a realistic and mystic feel to an image quite like this one.