For this project my task is to come up with the idea for a game and design it but focusing on the 'feel' of the game. This task is not a visual based one but more thinking about the core game play of the game and whether it works with the visuals and motions of the game. This project requires me writing a design document and showing how elements of the game would move and re-act to the player. I then need to create a iteration process showing the development of many ideas to do with the feel of the game and eventually a playable prototype or game play video.
Initial Ideas.
In this section I'll be speculating my ideas for the feel of the game and collecting game references with similar mechanic features or 'feeling'. I really want the game world to make the player feel isolated and tiny as they roam through a dark, twisted and eerily enchanted world.
Limbo really put the player in a isolated and dark feeling world.
Another feature I'm keen on is one currency system and a clean UI as well as a variety in area themes but in a way that still feels like they're all part of the same game world. I'd like to implement a system which allows transformative play such as new abilities which adjust the gameplay possibilities. I also want items to be made or earned rather than drops, loot or purchasing them from a shop. (A shop adds a merchant and I want you to be the only person in this world)
I'd spent the last couple of days thinking about the brief and how my ideas could work into a game. I think I've finally settled on a rough idea of how the mechanics would work. My idea will be a side-scrolling game to make it a bit easier for me, however I will still want 3D elements. Therefore I'll create a side scrolling 3D game.
The game itself will be achieving the game feel by getting through levels/areas, reaching checkpoints and beating bosses (a very simple concept). However I don't want it to feel like a classic platformer game with puzzles or jumping on platforms as part of the game as I feel there's a lot of indy games out with this as a heavy influence. The twist with this game is I want it to be hard, I want to bring back some classic arcade style boss fights where timing is everything and taking a hit will be a heavy blow. However it won't be just forwards and backwards, jumping and dodging and taking damage just for touching the boss as it was in old games. I want specific windows where the player will be safe if they re-act in the right way and also specific windows when they need to do something unique to attack. The bosses won't be small and the player will have to target weak spots when and where they can, even if it means maybe finding a way to climb these huge beings.
I also didn't want a proper currency system within the game, I don't want my player to have to go around collecting gems and coins and then gets to use those to purchase new gear at the home base. The game will be situated in a very magical world where essence of a creature is absorbed by the player once killed. This essence I want to be the primary use in the game. It will be used to upgrade player stats and craft all weapons and armours in the game. This allows me to have a very minimalistic game interface to allow for more immersion and less obstructions on the screen.
How the crafting system works I want to fit in with this 'absorbing essence' rule as well. As such whenever certain enemies are killed you gain the usual essence points but also their armours and weapons become absorbed as a memory and you can exchange essence points to craft these in a menu (these are not chance drops, they'll happen every time). When the main game bosses are killed new skills will be absorbed (such as the ability to double jump, or immunity to a certain damage etc.) These allow the player to advance to later places and beat bosses. Before then the areas aren't necessarily closed off but may be inaccessible or unbeatable without these skills.
Death in this game I want to be punishing and yet not too much to put a player off. If a player dies they lose all the essence they hold and return to the last checkpoint, However they keep their stats, skills and all equipment and they have one chance to retrieve this essence, if they die on the way it merely slows the players progression in the game. I want this as a system as I don't want this to be a game you have to farm/grind in order to be good enough to kill the bosses. All bosses can be beaten at a normal game progression, death will be inevitable but won't halt the players progression through the game. However some players may find areas too difficult without some better gear/stats in which case they can choose to go back and earn some more essence.
Healing in this game is limited. To avoid having too much UI and various things on the screen you will have 10 healing items, once consumed they are gone until you interact with a checkpoint or return to one by dying then it will go back up to 10. Health I also want to keep simple so I'll use a heart system and upgrading health will simply add another heart.
In summery the idea of the game is: journey through a twisted and enchanting world, embrace essence into your hollow character, harvest and craft memories as gear and cleanse the elemental planes from the taint using your unique character traits.
Sonic generations took the classic arcade sonic game and re-made it in 3D but without losing that original addictive gameplay.
The game itself will be achieving the game feel by getting through levels/areas, reaching checkpoints and beating bosses (a very simple concept). However I don't want it to feel like a classic platformer game with puzzles or jumping on platforms as part of the game as I feel there's a lot of indy games out with this as a heavy influence. The twist with this game is I want it to be hard, I want to bring back some classic arcade style boss fights where timing is everything and taking a hit will be a heavy blow. However it won't be just forwards and backwards, jumping and dodging and taking damage just for touching the boss as it was in old games. I want specific windows where the player will be safe if they re-act in the right way and also specific windows when they need to do something unique to attack. The bosses won't be small and the player will have to target weak spots when and where they can, even if it means maybe finding a way to climb these huge beings.
Shadow of the colossus really made the player feel small in comparison to the world.
Climbing up the colossus beings was a big feature throughout the whole game.
Castle crashers is a simple side scrolling game, it has very fun and classic feeling
gameplay with big challenging bosses.
How the crafting system works I want to fit in with this 'absorbing essence' rule as well. As such whenever certain enemies are killed you gain the usual essence points but also their armours and weapons become absorbed as a memory and you can exchange essence points to craft these in a menu (these are not chance drops, they'll happen every time). When the main game bosses are killed new skills will be absorbed (such as the ability to double jump, or immunity to a certain damage etc.) These allow the player to advance to later places and beat bosses. Before then the areas aren't necessarily closed off but may be inaccessible or unbeatable without these skills.
Death in this game I want to be punishing and yet not too much to put a player off. If a player dies they lose all the essence they hold and return to the last checkpoint, However they keep their stats, skills and all equipment and they have one chance to retrieve this essence, if they die on the way it merely slows the players progression in the game. I want this as a system as I don't want this to be a game you have to farm/grind in order to be good enough to kill the bosses. All bosses can be beaten at a normal game progression, death will be inevitable but won't halt the players progression through the game. However some players may find areas too difficult without some better gear/stats in which case they can choose to go back and earn some more essence.
Healing in this game is limited. To avoid having too much UI and various things on the screen you will have 10 healing items, once consumed they are gone until you interact with a checkpoint or return to one by dying then it will go back up to 10. Health I also want to keep simple so I'll use a heart system and upgrading health will simply add another heart.
In summery the idea of the game is: journey through a twisted and enchanting world, embrace essence into your hollow character, harvest and craft memories as gear and cleanse the elemental planes from the taint using your unique character traits.
The Game World and Lore.
This would allow me to take the elemental worlds/beings and make them all twisted and dark as elemental beings have usually been portrayed in bright and peaceful ways in the previous games. This also allows a 5th and final area where the strange being which corrupted this place would be the final boss.
The concept of the games story I have so far is this. The elementals created the world many years ago and in-habited it with creations they saw fit, these ranged from huge beings down to the human type creature the player is. The humanoids, at first, could inhabit the surface of this world safely and the world was harmonious. But with every year the elementals grew in power and made more and more powerful and interesting beings, they almost became in competition with each other on who could make the most interesting creatures. These creatures slowly began hunting one another and the world surface became a more and more dangerous habitat: especially for the small, weak humanoids.
The Humanoids eventually took refuge underground fearing the world was filling up with more creatures than them each more terrifying than the last. A few of the more intelligent humanoids decided this was no life and they needed to do something about it so they could re-claim the overland. They created some sort of artefact that acted as a catalyst to the elemental beings. All the extra power the elementals where producing would be absorbed into this artefact keeping them from creating anything more than the harmonious world they initially made.
Eventually the larger beings slowly ate one another and they became so sparse that the humans could return to the overworld. For a while the world was once again harmonious and peaceful and the humanoids worshipped this catalyst. However the 4 elements power being absorbed and kept together in such a small space it slowly malformed together into a twisted mass of power. Even worse beings began coming into the world and the 4 elements themselves became corrupted and twisted coating the world in a endless dark corruption.
Eventually the larger beings slowly ate one another and they became so sparse that the humans could return to the overworld. For a while the world was once again harmonious and peaceful and the humanoids worshipped this catalyst. However the 4 elements power being absorbed and kept together in such a small space it slowly malformed together into a twisted mass of power. Even worse beings began coming into the world and the 4 elements themselves became corrupted and twisted coating the world in a endless dark corruption.
The player must venture into the elementals realm and destroy the 4 corrupted spirits to clear the taint from each element and then eventually take it out at its source by destroying the new twisted, unknown elemental spirit. Why has the player been chosen for this task? because he is a unique individual who absorbs the essence of the things he kills (a special name will be given). This trait means the player can kill the spirits to cleanse them of the taint but then absorb the clean essence to maintain the elemental balance of the world until the source of taint has been destroyed then they shall be released again, but to do this the player must sacrifice their core essence at the end of the game. (game doesn't end and no essence is lost for this)
This special character trait is how the player doesn't die for good but instead returns to the last past checkpoint. The checkpoints will be some sort've ancient artefact or creature which sucks the core life essence right out of a person, this would usually kill anyone. But the player is a hollow being, they absorb the essence around them in the world, of creatures they kill etc.. The player does not require or have it's own real life essence. This means the checkpoints attempt to suck out the core life essence of the player but it gets nothing but an empty shell, a memory. When the player dies the are merely re-born from this memory.
Name Ideas:
Player is a 'vacant'. Name of beings with no life essence who absorb others.
This special character trait is how the player doesn't die for good but instead returns to the last past checkpoint. The checkpoints will be some sort've ancient artefact or creature which sucks the core life essence right out of a person, this would usually kill anyone. But the player is a hollow being, they absorb the essence around them in the world, of creatures they kill etc.. The player does not require or have it's own real life essence. This means the checkpoints attempt to suck out the core life essence of the player but it gets nothing but an empty shell, a memory. When the player dies the are merely re-born from this memory.
Name Ideas:
Player is a 'vacant'. Name of beings with no life essence who absorb others.
Game titles??? (List of random titles that come to me to choose between)
-Vacant Embrace.
-Vacant Embrace.
Zones, Sub-bosses, Enemies, Creatures and Main Bosses.
With the main core of the game and the world which would wrap around those ideas in place its time to start listing the game zones and the enemies/ areas the player would experience so I could start researching, collecting some references and chose an area to develop into a prototype. Names aren't what they would be and lists will change/ update as ideas come to me.
Zone 1- Earth Elemental Zone.
Sub Zone- Forest.
Enemies:
- Treant Thing (land)
- Creepy bug (flying)
Sub Zone- Caves
Enemies:
- Giant Spider (normal)
- Giant Spider (mounted Treant)
- Spider Queen (Sub Boss)
Sub Zone- Rocky Forest.
Enemies:
- More Rocky Treant Thing
- Tainted Earth Elemental Spirit (Main Boss 1)
Zone 2- Fire Elemental Zone.
Sub Zone- Rocky Brimstone. (Fires on ground)
Enemies:
- Fire Lizards
- Brimstone Golems (similar to rocket treants but more difficult)
Sub Zone- Lava Lake.
Enemies:
- Fire Giants
- Volcano Gardian (Sub Boss. gain ability to walk on Lava)
Sub Zone- Volcano Depths:
- Malformed lava things.
- Tainted Fire Elemental Spirit (On Lava, Main Boss 2)
After Boss, exit back of volcano to water with lava poured on it, obsidian lake leads to water zone.
Enemies:
- Fire Giants
- Volcano Gardian (Sub Boss. gain ability to walk on Lava)
Sub Zone- Volcano Depths:
- Malformed lava things.
- Tainted Fire Elemental Spirit (On Lava, Main Boss 2)
After Boss, exit back of volcano to water with lava poured on it, obsidian lake leads to water zone.
Zone 3- Water Elemental Zone.
Sub Zone- Flooded Ruins.
Enemies:
- Ruin Guardian (elegant ancient being)
Enemies:
- Ruin Guardian (elegant ancient being)
- Ruin Sorcerer (elegant magical ancient being)
- Ancient Guardian (Huge ancient being, sea creatures growing on/within it, gain ability to breath under water)
Sub Zone- The Watery Depths. (be icy in places under water too)
Sub Zone- The Watery Depths. (be icy in places under water too)
Enemies:
- Terrifying mermaid creatures (ice crystals growing on them)
- Tainted Water Elemental Spirit (Main Boss 3)
- Terrifying mermaid creatures (ice crystals growing on them)
- Tainted Water Elemental Spirit (Main Boss 3)
Zone 4- Air Elemental Zone. (Rain and Lightning Storm)
Sub Zone- Wyvern Nests.
Enemies:
- lightning parasite (electric bug thing)
- Wyvern
Sub Zone- Wyvern Nest Heart. (Down from nest are)
Enemies:
-Elder Wyvern (Sub Boss. Does lightning damage too, gain ability to not be pushed by high wind)
Enemies:
- lightning parasite (electric bug thing)
- Wyvern
Sub Zone- Wyvern Nest Heart. (Down from nest are)
Enemies:
-Elder Wyvern (Sub Boss. Does lightning damage too, gain ability to not be pushed by high wind)
-Tainted Air Elemental Spirit (Main Boss 4)
After Boss portal opens up and sucks player into the corruption.
Zone 5- Corruption Source Zone.
Sub Zone- Twisted Sub-urbs.
Enemies:
-Twisted humanoids. (Easy but loads of them)
- Crawling malformed humanoids. (Same as above)
Enemies:
-Twisted humanoids. (Easy but loads of them)
- Crawling malformed humanoids. (Same as above)
Sub Zone- Pool of the abyss. (Dark liquid seeping/running over everything, goes downwards.)
Enemies:
- Same enemies as previous zone.
- Twisted humanoid sorcerers.
- Twisted humanoid sorcerers.
- Twisted Mass. (Sub boss, mass of twisted bodies etc.. gain ability to traverse through the taint.)
Sub Zone- Abyssal Altar. (the place the humanoids worshipped the catalyst)
Enemies:
Sub Zone- Abyssal Altar. (the place the humanoids worshipped the catalyst)
Enemies:
-Tainted Mass Spirit (Main Boss 5)
Bonus Creatures.
- Life absorbing creatures (check points)
To Iterate and create a visual reference of these zone ideas I created a kind of grid which lays out the basic progression and the potential core structure of the world. There would also be a checkpoint right at the start of the game. A tranquil safe-zone you can use as a get away. (I'd like to include a fast travel system between the checkpoints too, but can only travel to it once first activated one.)
Main Boss References.
I thought it best to gather a few references from various artists and previous games on the 5 main elemental zones that would be in the game. However I don't want to get influenced by previous games concepts on the spirits of these elements. The elements are part of every day life so I want to look to world creatures and environmental aspects then adapt some large, creepy (yet whimsical) beings from this. As such I'll collect images both from photos taken in real life and photos from the internet. These references are used merely to inspire me of what types of world elements can make up these beings and also will help me keep my designs different to what I've seen on the internet.
After gathering this research I realised how, almost, limited these elementals have been portrayed, particularly in games. Just searching 'elementals' or 'elemental spirits' came out with all the same looking images. Only searching the word 'colossus' gave me some interesting elemental themed creations, but even then water elements have only ever been based around purely water themes and fire elements purely fire etc..
My bosses and enemies in these areas will try to include all aspects of the elements. With water comes ice and steam, bubbles and all sorts of appropriate themes. Fire not only brings flames but also heat, smoke and light, which in itself creates shadows.
This elemental idea is something that really allows me to have a lot of many different themed places but that are believably part of the same world. However it's been used for many films and games throughout time which does add the challenge of trying to squeeze more from an old concept. With this in mind I'll be focusing on making a more dark and twisted take on it but using a lot of contextual research, mythology and history so I can get away from the standard clichés.
Abilities and their part in a game.
Once the player has embraced the main bosses and most the sub-bosses new abilities will be added to the game. This offers transformative game play elements as the player progresses. This feature was introduced into old arcade games and was a great way to reward a player for a difficult boss fight and also added another element to the whole way the game would play. Megaman was a game that heavily worked off this system, Megamans suit would change throughout the game depending on what items picked up and what bosses where beaten. This allowed the player to conquer a variety of different challenges dependent on the suit they had on.
Ideas?...
Main Boss 1- Earth Slam (A+A, X+X, pushes enemies back, does no damage.)
Sub Boss 2- Enables players to walk on Lava and not take damage (Passive Ability)
Main Boss 2- Fire Ball, explodes on impact (Y,Triangle)
Sub Boss 3- Enables going under water without drowning (Passive Ability)
Main Boss 3- Bubble Shield (Blocking LB, L1 reflects spells)
Main Boss 3- Bubble Shield (Blocking LB, L1 reflects spells)
Sub Boss 4- Player can walk through heavy winds without knock-back (Passive Ability)
Main Boss 4- Replaces dodge (B, Circle) with a faster dash and don't take damage for duration of it.
Sub Boss 5- Enables traversing through the taint (Passive Ability)
Main Boss 5- Using a heavy attack (RT, R2) releases a dark wave forwards.
Unique Ideas?
I wanted to have a element in my game that would make it a bit more unique in terms of gameplay. I spent a day browsing the greenlight section of steam looking at all the various ideas in those simple Indy games. I also spent a day looking through flash game sites playing a whole load of games just long enough to get the idea behind them. What I took from my studies was that everything and anything has been done before which does make it difficult for me- however I can take these ideas and implement them in a better way, be it visually or by expanding on the mechanics.
A game that I got quite addicted to was a simple game by armour games called 'upgrade complete'. For this you basically played a small mini game to earn coins which you then spent on upgrading the game itself: be it a better UI, titles or the mini games graphics as well as upgrading your ships components in the mini game.
This game reminded me of Evoland. Evoland is a game which progresses through the history of adventure RPGs, playing homage to famous titles such as: Zelda and Final Fantasy. You start with a top down 8-bit style game and as you explore and open chests you unlock game upgrades such as 3D graphics, new combat systems and even improvements to the music. I love this concept as it completely changes the games and areas that you previously couldn't get to in 2D you'd be able to go back to and explore more, maybe, in 3D. Not only did this add additional gameplay in previous areas but also added a nice aesthetic of being able to see the world evolving.
Evoland Trailer
These graphic upgrades can be purchased and removed at the players leisure (Clear Taint and Restore Taint.) This allows players to view all zones, enemies, bosses and equipment in the 3 different styles. After the first 2 upgrades switching the styles will be free, with this feature I'm hoping players will be driven to beat the game in all the 3 styles.
As another little change the screen will blur when the player is low on health. Signifies the players solid form fading back into the memory that will spawn at the checkpoint.
An Unexpected Email.
Visual Changes To The Game World.
I thought I could maybe add this concept into my game idea by making it fit with the corruption idea. The player could start in the world and the game is all dark and silhouetted like limbo, Its a truly aerie world and combat would be more disorienting. But the player can spend essence on upgrading it (clearing the taint) whenever they wish/have sufficient funds. As they spend their essence the game world will become a more top of the range 3D graphic environment. Once the corruption source has been killed points could even be spent on cleansing each area (removing enemies) making the whole world a more peaceful, homely place to be.
Below is a rough idea of how the visuals could develop: Going from silhouetted 'Limbo', To a aerie painted world like 'Last Inua' and then to a full side-scrolling 3D game similar to 'Trine' only a darker environment. Getting to the full 3D environment won't take too much game progression, will be easy enough to upgrade it fully before the player gets to half way through the game.
These graphic upgrades can be purchased and removed at the players leisure (Clear Taint and Restore Taint.) This allows players to view all zones, enemies, bosses and equipment in the 3 different styles. After the first 2 upgrades switching the styles will be free, with this feature I'm hoping players will be driven to beat the game in all the 3 styles.
As another little change the screen will blur when the player is low on health. Signifies the players solid form fading back into the memory that will spawn at the checkpoint.
An Unexpected Email.
I checked my emails one day and had the usual junk mail from various game publishers saying about potential sale items and general things they want me to spend money on. However this time something rather convenient came up, Square Enix sent me an email about a game on kickstarter that they want support for.
This game was introduced as 'Limbo' meets 'Another World' and had that greyscale look I wanted to include as the initial feel for my game before the worlds darkness fades. I gave their kickstarter video for 'Black the Fall' a listen too as I wanted to make sure this game wasn't the same as mine and thankfully my rough ideas still sound like pretty solid foundations to build upon.
Prototype Iteration.
For my prototype I'd like to show a boss area in all 3 styles. After researching elementals and various element themed environments I've decided I want to design the water boss and the area you fight this boss, this offers a variety from the rest of the game due to it being under water. I also want to design the UI and I'll montage the 3 area game plays together so you can get an idea of the same area but in the various styles.
The 3 art styles for the game almost perfectly replicate the iteration process of designs, going from silhouettes to concept art and then full 3D. This will benefit me when having to make 3 different looks on the environment/ character and boss in that I will be inadvertently creating a rough look for them as I go. All I need to do is tidy them up to something that can go in game and piece it all together.
The Skillful Huntsman book shows the iteration process right back
to the very first scruffy silhouettes.
I took this model into maya, added the pieces I said and rigged it. However I realised it was just a complete mess in terms of typology. I had loads of internal geometry and faces that where clipping through each other etc..to the point where It was quicker and better to do the whole thing again then try to fix this model. I went back into Zbrush and completely re-done my model keeping the typology clean and deleting any unnecessary faces as I went. I also made it as low poly as possible without it completely ruining the look. After all you're never going to see the model close up in the game so smoothing the normals will make it look good enough for my purposes.
The model serves the purposes for my prototype but it doesn't really flatter the armour design as much as it should. The un-textured basic model also doesn't create a real feel of how the game would look in terms of the final game.
For these reasons I done a concept painting of my character under-water. This will allow me to add a nice visual to my Game Design Document of the armour/character and make it easier for the viewer to visualise the game.
Using my reference sheets and knowledge of sea life creatures I done a few silhouette sketches as a rough idea to the type of creature it could be.
Out of these designs the one likened to a stingray captured me the most. I liked this one because the way stingrays move underwater is some-what enchanting with their slow, flight-like motions. Most of my sketches had multiple tails, this adds the opportunity of that tendril motion I liked of the classic Hydra. I took my favourite creature idea and made a simple model sheet. Using the references posted below.
As you can see I took elements from a few various deep sea creatures. The end of the horn like nose holds a light similar to that of an angler fish (this will light the boss arena and that alone). The mouth bellow the nose resembles a Goblin sharks and I've added a mouth within the exoskeleton rib-cage which has sharks teeth. I've also coated the back of the creature with a ice frosting and ice crystals have formed along its spine (The main crystal at the front will be the bosses weak spot). I also added a little man to show the scale of this colossus creature. From the model sheet it was time to make my model.
I used Zbrush again to create the low-poly core of the creature. With all the fleshy parts done, as before, I took the model into Maya and added the Crystals and the Teeth. This model is slightly higher poly than the other as the monster will take up so much of the screen and as such will be seen closer up almost all the time. I also wanted it to move nicely when animated. However looking at the finished model with the Poly frame on I can see that the tails are slightly too high for my linking. I think I'll lower the tails typology in Zbrush and add the tales back to my model before I begin the animation process.
At the start of every zone of a level (After checkpoints and entering sub/main boss rooms) the game will be black and tonal like silhouette games I'd researched. I wish to do this with some sort of black filter/texture over the 3D assets and as the player kills enemies in a zone this filter/texture will fade, making the 'Darkness' fade from the game world. This Idea will also work for boss fights; as the bosses reach sections of their overall health the 'Darkness' will once again fade.
I really like this idea as a game mechanic as it offers the player a chance to start a zone shrouded in darkness and as they reach the next checkpoint/ Boss victory the world becomes a more colourful, living world. Not only does this allow for interesting play it also fits the main idea of the game (which is to clear the darkness from these lands). I believe this take on my original idea will make for a very good overall game 'feel'.
I'm hoping many of you gamers out there will recognise most of these symbols. Some are simple Icons you see within games or when navigating computer orientated equipment, whereas others are symbolic of an item or action you may do within a game.
You may notice I also went into colour study slightly and showed how colours can also act as 'Symbols' to stats or currency. Currency is usually shown using gold/silvery colours or coins- or by using gems in the colours of diamonds, emeralds, rubies etc...
Taking what I'd learnt from this I wanted to design a symbol for essence within my game. Essence is a universal number which acts as currency and also experience. Because of this I want my symbol to clearly portray a mixture of the two. I wanted my core shape to be based around a circle (similar to that of a coin) but incorporate a wavy, ghost-like look for experience.
My favourite shape to play with I think is the top far left. This shape is very simple and includes both elements I was looking for well. It's also so simple that I can iterate upon it in a variety of ways and really play around with what's in that shape (without making it to complex). As you can see I've also looked into colour theory, I want the Symbol to include a lot of gold to show currency but also some whites, blues and purples as this should help show that experience ghost-like essence. I will show the signs to a few people and see what they think, After all it being understandable and coherent to the player is what is most important.
with this knowledge I went ahead and created a HUD for my game. I wanted something very simple and clean that took up not too much space. I also wanted it to be pretty self explanatory so I had no need for text on screen.
The first design was simple as I wanted but I felt it looked almost childish in comparison to the game on screen, I felt it really didn't work with the feel I got when roaming around my scene. Also I'd exported the Images at far to low a resolution and they looked all blurry, not clean like I wanted.
Working from my original Idea I made a cleaner, more modern looking HUD. On this I made it a bit more self explanatory with the Health and Energy symbol incorporated into the bar holders. I also included my Essence symbol to the Essence count bar to better explain what that is for. I'm really happy with the look of this Interface and I think this may be the on I settle on, I shall experiment with a few variants and colour adjustments but this design definitely looks like a winner in my eyes.
Menu Systems.
Taking the theme used in the HUD I'd produced I created a menu system. I wanted one menu to show everything the player would need to do, in a practical, clean way. Minimalistic is what I'm going for, as I only have one currency why not have one menu too?
With this research done I went for a bit of a cross between a voodoo doll and a potion shape for the design. I also used the Red Cross idea from my symbol research to signify that it is a healing item. The item will be so small in the game that I didn't need to put too much detail or fuss into it to get the job done.
Because of this I gave the statue these long creepy arms. To make sure the player knows the checkpoint has been activated a white flame appears from the hollow head of the statue too.
to the very first scruffy silhouettes.
Playable Character.
The Main thing I want to show in my prototype is the way the character would move around the game and how some of the menu systems work. This means the most important thing for me right now is getting the character in some armour made, that way it shows an armour set and I can get to animating it and getting it to move around just a blank environment as I want.
Luckily during summer I started a few rough designs of characters and I found an armour Idea which is really appropriate to my game feel. I went a-head and sketched up a rough model sheet.
From this Image I jumped back into Zbrush to do a quick 3D model of my character. It didn't have to be particularly good or detailed- just good enough for me to take it into Maya, clean up and prepare for animating. It's purely to give a feel of the kind of armour the player would be wearing within my game world. I've left the straps and raggedy pieces of material to be done in Maya using a plane, alpha images and normal maps to save on my poly count.
I took this model into maya, added the pieces I said and rigged it. However I realised it was just a complete mess in terms of typology. I had loads of internal geometry and faces that where clipping through each other etc..to the point where It was quicker and better to do the whole thing again then try to fix this model. I went back into Zbrush and completely re-done my model keeping the typology clean and deleting any unnecessary faces as I went. I also made it as low poly as possible without it completely ruining the look. After all you're never going to see the model close up in the game so smoothing the normals will make it look good enough for my purposes.
The model serves the purposes for my prototype but it doesn't really flatter the armour design as much as it should. The un-textured basic model also doesn't create a real feel of how the game would look in terms of the final game.
For these reasons I done a concept painting of my character under-water. This will allow me to add a nice visual to my Game Design Document of the armour/character and make it easier for the viewer to visualise the game.
Water Spirit Boss.
The way the boss moves and the way you fight it may have a big impact on how the environment you fight it in looks. This is due to there needing to be enough space to accommodate the creatures size and also any ways you can use the environment to get on-top of it.
I really liked the hydra from Greek mythology and the way these 7 heads can all work together.
I'd like to include the feel of multiple serpentine movements into the boss however I want the boss to be largely based off real deep sea creatures as they're truly terrifying and appropriate to the bosses atmosphere.
Using my reference sheets and knowledge of sea life creatures I done a few silhouette sketches as a rough idea to the type of creature it could be.
Out of these designs the one likened to a stingray captured me the most. I liked this one because the way stingrays move underwater is some-what enchanting with their slow, flight-like motions. Most of my sketches had multiple tails, this adds the opportunity of that tendril motion I liked of the classic Hydra. I took my favourite creature idea and made a simple model sheet. Using the references posted below.
As you can see I took elements from a few various deep sea creatures. The end of the horn like nose holds a light similar to that of an angler fish (this will light the boss arena and that alone). The mouth bellow the nose resembles a Goblin sharks and I've added a mouth within the exoskeleton rib-cage which has sharks teeth. I've also coated the back of the creature with a ice frosting and ice crystals have formed along its spine (The main crystal at the front will be the bosses weak spot). I also added a little man to show the scale of this colossus creature. From the model sheet it was time to make my model.
I used Zbrush again to create the low-poly core of the creature. With all the fleshy parts done, as before, I took the model into Maya and added the Crystals and the Teeth. This model is slightly higher poly than the other as the monster will take up so much of the screen and as such will be seen closer up almost all the time. I also wanted it to move nicely when animated. However looking at the finished model with the Poly frame on I can see that the tails are slightly too high for my linking. I think I'll lower the tails typology in Zbrush and add the tales back to my model before I begin the animation process.
More Game Idea Developments.
My Idea of having the interchangeable game worlds I really liked but I felt it didn't quite fit with the 'feel' of the game world how I'd done it. It also meant I'd have to make a game that had 3 different formats and it wouldn't transition in a smooth enough way for my liking. Because of this I came up with something a bit different that would be a major part of the game play rather than a fun little extra.At the start of every zone of a level (After checkpoints and entering sub/main boss rooms) the game will be black and tonal like silhouette games I'd researched. I wish to do this with some sort of black filter/texture over the 3D assets and as the player kills enemies in a zone this filter/texture will fade, making the 'Darkness' fade from the game world. This Idea will also work for boss fights; as the bosses reach sections of their overall health the 'Darkness' will once again fade.
I really like this idea as a game mechanic as it offers the player a chance to start a zone shrouded in darkness and as they reach the next checkpoint/ Boss victory the world becomes a more colourful, living world. Not only does this allow for interesting play it also fits the main idea of the game (which is to clear the darkness from these lands). I believe this take on my original idea will make for a very good overall game 'feel'.
User Interface (UI).
Symbols.
Something to think about when creating a nice UI is a way to show (or symbolise) a link through to menus or a specific HUD (Heads Up Display) etc....In a VISUAL way that is understood by almost anyone.
Symbols play a large part in the game world and many symbols are recognisable from a glance, be it from walking the streets or from navigating a computer/ game. I researched into some universal signs most game players will recognised from a varied genre of games and thought of a few I'd seen across games I'd played. As I was finding these symbols I created my own version of them (keeping it as close to original as possible) in Adobe flash, just so I had my own Vectors and could research these signs in a more creative way.
I'm hoping many of you gamers out there will recognise most of these symbols. Some are simple Icons you see within games or when navigating computer orientated equipment, whereas others are symbolic of an item or action you may do within a game.
You may notice I also went into colour study slightly and showed how colours can also act as 'Symbols' to stats or currency. Currency is usually shown using gold/silvery colours or coins- or by using gems in the colours of diamonds, emeralds, rubies etc...
Taking what I'd learnt from this I wanted to design a symbol for essence within my game. Essence is a universal number which acts as currency and also experience. Because of this I want my symbol to clearly portray a mixture of the two. I wanted my core shape to be based around a circle (similar to that of a coin) but incorporate a wavy, ghost-like look for experience.
My favourite shape to play with I think is the top far left. This shape is very simple and includes both elements I was looking for well. It's also so simple that I can iterate upon it in a variety of ways and really play around with what's in that shape (without making it to complex). As you can see I've also looked into colour theory, I want the Symbol to include a lot of gold to show currency but also some whites, blues and purples as this should help show that experience ghost-like essence. I will show the signs to a few people and see what they think, After all it being understandable and coherent to the player is what is most important.
Game Interface.
HUD.
Games use all kinds of ways to show health, stamina/energy, magic/mana etc.. etc...But usually they fall under certain categories. Main types of display are stat Bars, percentages/ numerical values and lives. Here you can see a select few of the many Interfaces I looked at.with this knowledge I went ahead and created a HUD for my game. I wanted something very simple and clean that took up not too much space. I also wanted it to be pretty self explanatory so I had no need for text on screen.
The first design was simple as I wanted but I felt it looked almost childish in comparison to the game on screen, I felt it really didn't work with the feel I got when roaming around my scene. Also I'd exported the Images at far to low a resolution and they looked all blurry, not clean like I wanted.
Working from my original Idea I made a cleaner, more modern looking HUD. On this I made it a bit more self explanatory with the Health and Energy symbol incorporated into the bar holders. I also included my Essence symbol to the Essence count bar to better explain what that is for. I'm really happy with the look of this Interface and I think this may be the on I settle on, I shall experiment with a few variants and colour adjustments but this design definitely looks like a winner in my eyes.
Menu Systems.
Taking the theme used in the HUD I'd produced I created a menu system. I wanted one menu to show everything the player would need to do, in a practical, clean way. Minimalistic is what I'm going for, as I only have one currency why not have one menu too?
This menu contains everything you will need for character and game progression. As equipment is unlocked it will appear under the equipment box (you will notice that you can filter what items to look at using the tabs on the side.) Once unlocked you get the option to spend your Essence points on creating that item, once created you can equip it and un-equip items at your leisure. Items that are equipped is made obvious by the green tick next to that item. When you equip an item you'll gain '+ Bonuses' to your stats, depending on the item.
This screen is also where you would level up your character. Using the Increase and Decrease arrows next to a particular statistic you can spend your essence on improving your characters base statistics.
After getting some feedback about my menu system I changed how it shows which items the player can't afford. Now rather than a clashing red on the grey It instead blacks it out and adds the universally recognised symbol for locked.
Healing Items.
For this genre of game everyone needs healing items. Be it floating hearts, health packs, potions or even extra lives. For my game healing items will be limited and once consumed that's it until you activate a checkpoint. To go with the general feel of the game I wanted my heal items to have something to do with storing life essence, for this reason I came up with the name 'Living Remnant'. I started researching into some items in real life that have been portrayed as storing life from others.With this research done I went for a bit of a cross between a voodoo doll and a potion shape for the design. I also used the Red Cross idea from my symbol research to signify that it is a healing item. The item will be so small in the game that I didn't need to put too much detail or fuss into it to get the job done.
Checkpoints.
For my checkpoint design I wanted to keep that dark theme but keep something that can symbolise goodness and an afterlife. Because of this I wanted my checkpoint to be based off old angel statues, I particularly like the emotionless faces they have. I also wanted the statue to grab the player, suck out a memory of them and drop them back down to the floor.Because of this I gave the statue these long creepy arms. To make sure the player knows the checkpoint has been activated a white flame appears from the hollow head of the statue too.
Game Cover.
To really sell my game I'm going to need a good front cover to capture the essentials of my game and the consumer. Before I started a design I gathered some research from various games which features huge boss fights and a dark world. Here are a few selections.
From this I sketched a rough idea of how my game cover would be laid out, drawing around a PS4 game case for size reference.
(Scan SketchBook At Uni as Scanner Broken.)
I took my sketch and painted a digital version of the scene.
Using this Image I edited it onto a PS4 game case and added the extra details you'd find on a game case. Soul Weave is the name and Logo of a game I attempted to make freshly leaving college but never really got anywhere. I thought it appropriate to use the adaptation Soul Weave Studios as my made up game company as the name felt appropriate for this style of game. And why not put old work to good use.
After some feedback on my game cover I adjusted the tones a little and made the character far brighter to stand out from the Image. It also shows the theme of you being a light in the darkness.
Games Design Document.
As well as the prototype I also needed to create a Minimum Viable Product Games Design Document (MVPGDD). Alongside what you see on my Blog I was creating pages for my MVPGDD. The idea of this document is to explain aspects of how my game would play, look, feel etc.. in detail.
The catch was that we only had a 10 page allowance so we had to be efficient with how we presented our game as well as presenting all the information in a more visual and aesthetically pleasing way.
Below is a link to the PDF of the pages which make up my MVPGDD.
Prototype Iteration.
Throughout the project I have been developing a prototype of a boss fight in my game. I'm aiming to show how the combat would work and also how the level would gain colour as the Bosses Health goes down as these are the games main features.
For my first Iteration I placed a cuboid base in the scene, added some lighting and placed in my player and the stingray boss. The player was rigged and had animations for most actions the player can do.
By this point the player could walk left and right in the scene, run, jump, dodge, do the attack animation (but cause no damage) and I'd roughly put the HUD into the scene however its placement was wrong.
I got a few people to play my game and they pointed out a few issues:
- The jump stopped the player moving, pause and then jump which caused non-fluid movement.
I got a few people to play my game and they pointed out a few issues:
- The jump stopped the player moving, pause and then jump which caused non-fluid movement.
- The dodge was a glitchy teleport which if the player switched direction during it would also flip the direction mid-dodge.
- The jump also didn't move the actual character upwards, it just looked like it did. So didn't work when jumping onto the Boss.
- The player could get stuck under/behind the Boss.
- The camera did not follow the player so they could walk out of the scene.
These where the main issues, amongst a few other little problems which I needed to fix for my second iteration.
The second iteration was the one I added and adjusted the most in. By this screenshot I had addressed all the issues with my previous prototype version and got people to comment on more things that should be changed.
The dodge was now a roll that could not be interrupted and allowed the player to still be hit during the roll, however acted as a very quick, distance covering dodge.
The dodge was now a roll that could not be interrupted and allowed the player to still be hit during the roll, however acted as a very quick, distance covering dodge.
The jump is now a running/ walking jump which when pointing in a direction will carry the player in a smooth arc and actually move the players position upwards. The previous jump is now used as a static, on the spot, jump.
The player no-longer gets stuck under the boss, however does now fall over when on the boss.
Also added to this version:
- Cleaned up the HUD and made boss bar darker.
- Cleaned up the HUD and made boss bar darker.
- Stamina is now drained from the player when doing actions.
- The player is now damaged when touching set zones on the boss.
- Health items can now be used to heal the player if they have any left.
- The camera now follows the player, keeping them central.
- The game now plays with an Xbox controller which feels a lot nicer to play.
- Added a sword which moves with the player during animations.
- Added a few nice particle effects of sand dust, crystal sparkle to highlight that object is of importance and a pulse on player when they use a potion to further highlight they have healed.
After this iteration I was very close to having a prototype which showed the key features I wanted to show. However their was still much to do to really show how combat would work and the important feature of world colour changing was yet to be added.
This version of my prototype is pretty much there. The player can now combat the boss, both take damage and attack it when it is vulnerable. I've taken players feedback to adjust the size of the damage zones and the speed/motion of the stingrays attacks in a way that makes the game not too hard but a challenge.
I added in this version:
- The ability to attack and damage the boss (however it still lets you damage the boss if you don't have significant stamina to attack) BUG))
I added in this version:
- The ability to attack and damage the boss (however it still lets you damage the boss if you don't have significant stamina to attack) BUG))
- Sting ray boss is animated and now attacks the player.
- The belly of the stingray Insta-kills player meaning if the player is in the spot when the stingray slams on the floor the player will die.
- When the player dies the level is re-loaded (the player respawns) and the fight starts again.
- The belly of the stingray Insta-kills player meaning if the player is in the spot when the stingray slams on the floor the player will die.
- When the player dies the level is re-loaded (the player respawns) and the fight starts again.
- Adjusted the sensitivity of controls to better suite the Xbox controller scheme, so it now feels much better and more responsive. (will adjust the button scheme a little for attack and run though)
- The player can now walk on the stingray much better, without falling over or glitching through parts of its body.
- Improved the lighting.
- Added a proper environment complete with rocks (will add under water foliage too).
- The player can now walk on the stingray much better, without falling over or glitching through parts of its body.
- Improved the lighting.
- Added a proper environment complete with rocks (will add under water foliage too).
- Attached a filter to the camera which puts a blue blur over sections far away from the player, this is to try to create a better under water feel.
- Got the basics of the scene gaining colour as the bosses health goes down to work. (need to work on it some more)
My next version will be the final one as I have managed to get almost everything working now, it's just a case of polishing it up to a nice finished feeling prototype.
Here's a list which further explains the feedback I got from people playing my game and how I resolved them.
The list is:
- Maps.
- Mazes/Labyrinths.
- Symbols and Signs.
- Transmedia Story Telling.
Transmedia story telling was the one that fascinated me the most so I have chosen that to focus on. Transmedia story telling is all about how a fictional world and story can develop and be added to by a variety of media. Be it video games, toys, films, narratives and general merchandise.
For my presentation I plan to speak about the universe of nintendo and how so many game worlds add to this huge umbrella of nintendo. I want my presentation to be very visual to engage the audience so I have gone with a planetoid design to show games as sub-worlds, solar systems and universes.
In my Nintendo universe (Nintendiverse) you can see a selection of game worlds varying from the Legend of Zelda through to Pokemon. The sun is based off the angry sun in super Mario games.
As inspiration for my talk I looked for a good talk on transmedia storytelling. Henry Jenkins is a specialist in this field so very quickly I found a good video by him explaining points I wanted to cover. His video was abundant with good quotes and information I could use.
Transmedia Storytelling Workshop with Henry Jenkins
After watching the whole video I felt I had a good selection of points to talk about and a much clearer direction of what I wanted to do for my presentation. It was a truly interesting video and I enjoyed watching him massively. Therefore I watched a couple more videos by him too.
Here's a list which further explains the feedback I got from people playing my game and how I resolved them.
Contextual Studies.
For Contextual Studies this project I have been given the task of giving a presentation on how games create coherant worlds. This is a very sparse topic so I have been given a list of topics I can choose to focus on.The list is:
- Maps.
- Mazes/Labyrinths.
- Symbols and Signs.
- Transmedia Story Telling.
Transmedia story telling was the one that fascinated me the most so I have chosen that to focus on. Transmedia story telling is all about how a fictional world and story can develop and be added to by a variety of media. Be it video games, toys, films, narratives and general merchandise.
For my presentation I plan to speak about the universe of nintendo and how so many game worlds add to this huge umbrella of nintendo. I want my presentation to be very visual to engage the audience so I have gone with a planetoid design to show games as sub-worlds, solar systems and universes.
In my Nintendo universe (Nintendiverse) you can see a selection of game worlds varying from the Legend of Zelda through to Pokemon. The sun is based off the angry sun in super Mario games.
As inspiration for my talk I looked for a good talk on transmedia storytelling. Henry Jenkins is a specialist in this field so very quickly I found a good video by him explaining points I wanted to cover. His video was abundant with good quotes and information I could use.
Transmedia Storytelling Workshop with Henry Jenkins
After watching the whole video I felt I had a good selection of points to talk about and a much clearer direction of what I wanted to do for my presentation. It was a truly interesting video and I enjoyed watching him massively. Therefore I watched a couple more videos by him too.
No comments:
Post a Comment