After the 121, my tutor game me a tutorial in using Photoshop to create visuals based on cities at night. I learnt several things in the tutorials to enable me to do several things:
The wrap tool to wrap textures around cylindrical shapes, grunge textures to be used to show dirt and decay, the colour burn and doge tools for dynamic types of lighting and shadows and several different hot keys to speed up the time it takes to create a visual.
I feel the tutorial had a direct affect as the visuals i created after were the best ones i have made to date. It also enabled me to use models in maya with photoshop to create a desired look. i will continue to create visuals by using a mixture of Maya and Photoshop in my time at university.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
A change in direction
After spending lots of time creating visuals and modelling buildings, I had a 121 with my tutor. He pointed out the obvious problem with the game visuals, in that they were too clean cut. If the story takes place where there are lots of poor people and rebels committing crimes, there is no way the city would look pristine as it did in my earlier visuals.
The visuals would have to reflect what was happening in the game. The game would have to reflect visually what was happening in the mindset of the characters within the world. I would have to change the visuals of the city from a utopia to a despotic one.
I partly intentionally made the visuals utopian as a sort of ironic backdrop to the chaos that would happen within the game. The old visuals were also made mostly in Maya with no bump maps or lighting affects so there was a lot of light and clean lines.
As soon as the suggestion to make the visuals and the city dirtier and decrepit, it was like a light turning on. It would look more interesting, it would look like it had more substance, and would reflect what the characters would experience, acting like an instant poster for the feel of the game.
Crits or 121’s are very important for realising things like that, as I was spending so much time doing the visuals and thinking of different vehicles and building designs, that I didn’t put them into the concept of the story of the game I designed. Right from the start of the game, I had the high concept of Blade Runner meets GTA 4. So the visual side of the game had to be on par with the city in Blade Runner.
Consequently I had to disregard a lot of visuals I had already made with lots of light and a bright blue sky.
The visuals would have to reflect what was happening in the game. The game would have to reflect visually what was happening in the mindset of the characters within the world. I would have to change the visuals of the city from a utopia to a despotic one.
I partly intentionally made the visuals utopian as a sort of ironic backdrop to the chaos that would happen within the game. The old visuals were also made mostly in Maya with no bump maps or lighting affects so there was a lot of light and clean lines.
As soon as the suggestion to make the visuals and the city dirtier and decrepit, it was like a light turning on. It would look more interesting, it would look like it had more substance, and would reflect what the characters would experience, acting like an instant poster for the feel of the game.
Crits or 121’s are very important for realising things like that, as I was spending so much time doing the visuals and thinking of different vehicles and building designs, that I didn’t put them into the concept of the story of the game I designed. Right from the start of the game, I had the high concept of Blade Runner meets GTA 4. So the visual side of the game had to be on par with the city in Blade Runner.
Consequently I had to disregard a lot of visuals I had already made with lots of light and a bright blue sky.
Friday, 12 November 2010
The Pitch in Writing
The pitch went really well I thought. There was a ton of adrenaline in the system by the end of it creating the thought "I could get used to this".
The pitch overran by about two minuets, I felt this was unavoidable as there was a lot of vital content. The pitch went through several stages of refinement, separating the wheat from the chaff, although given the chance, I would have loved to chaff on about the game for hours.
The pitch started off with the header "Vlada's Secret is Blade Runner meets GTA4" this roughly sums up the game as a free roaming Sci-Fi game that takes place in a futuristic city.
Design was the next topic, where I explained that the colour pallet was inspired by the post impressionistic artist Vincent Van Gogh. The "scientific" reason for pastel shades in the shadows and natural lighting of Valda was because it has two suns.
Character, the next topic was about explaining the main character, how he is name less and faceless in the same way that you never see Judge Dredd 's face. Judge Dredd is a symbol for law order and the character in Valda’s Secret is a rebel and is a symbol for rebellion. I didn't get to mention in the pitch that the mysterious nature of the playable character means you can project your own personality onto them and interpret his reactions and moral dilemmas yourself.
This slide was also where the hover bell was explained. It’s my interpretation of a jet pack except with emphasis on personal mobility rather then exotic fast travel. It helps people get from A to B, from a walkway to a landing pad, which could be several stories apart. Also, it can only go as fast as you can walk.
I didn’t have time to mention that this means that you are more inclined to enter a vehicle if a mission you have started involves traveling between two parts of the city.
The next section of the presentation was about the unique button layout I had designed for the three modes of movement and exploration in the game, these were: on foot, hover bell and vehicle.
I had to quickly explain that the on foot button layout would be the same as any other 3rd person game as it’s a well known layout that is tried and tested, as it was nothing new, there was no slide to visualize it.
The hover bell button layout was quite difficult to explain, as it is very similar to the on foot button layout. This means the character can move in the horizontal axis as if the person was on the ground. This is completely unique in digital games and difficult to visualize, especially as when you think of jet pack, you think of flying off in one direction with little control of altitude or speed.
The vehicle button layout slide was simpler as it is very similar to other 3rd person free roaming games with vehicles. The only difference is A and X (on Xbox controller) control altitude. The vehicles would respond like a regular road car on the horizontal axis and only rise if the A button were pressed.
The Platform slide was very easy to explain as it had two very distinct reasons for the game to be on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, which are: for the previously explained unique button layout and for the interactivity/fan participation which is explained in the next slide.
Fan Participation took a long time to explain as there is a lot to it.
Fans can log onto the website, and participate in competitions.
They can upload their fan art, mp3 of a radio show or fan fiction.
Fan art can be uploaded as long as it keeps within the premise of the game. Fan fiction will be separated into several headings like: character bio, species back-story, war between alien species A and B etc. The radio show heading on the website will allow anyone to upload an Mp3 or other audio formats, on the track could be produced tracks, talking or a mixture of the two.
I didn’t explain in the pitch that the radio show could be a proper gander show from levium industries insuring that everything is ok, or it could be an underground show like radio Luxemburg, which would promote rebellion. It could also be a chance for music producers to reinvent a Sci-Fi soundtrack or a good representation of the status quo of Sci-Fi related music.
The competition winners of the website would get their winning entries into the game itself. This would be done through an update on Internet connected consoles.
How you view the winners:
Radio Show – In game, press start. The camera would zoom from 3rd person into the back of the head of the playable character and view the inside of the player’s visor. Inside the visor, is an MP3 player, where you can select a range of in game radio shows as well as the competition winner’s radio show.
Fan Fiction – Inside the visor of the rebel would also be an encyclopedia with information on species of alien, weapon info, mission progress and the competition winners fan fiction.
Fan Art – would be displayed in game, it would be posted on large billboards on the side of skyscrapers which would be several stories high. If the console was not connected to the internet, the billboard would advertise levium industries.
Interactive Narrative also took a big chunk of time to explain as it is relatively new within games, and the way I designed it to be was new. It’s loosely based on the interactive narrative that is in the game Heavy Rain, however instead of a series of quick time events determining the narrative branch you go off, it’s the style the mission that is played that determines the choice of next available missions.
The style in which you play a mission can be calculated easily and already exists in digital games. There are lots of different ways the styles could be calculated, here are a few below:
Eagle eye – high weapon accuracy
Medic – high number of deaths during missions
Road Hog – used a high number or specific type of vehicle for a long time during a mission
Methodical – appropriate type of kills for weapon type for example, long distance kills via a sniper rifle or a group of enemies killed with a grenade
Once a mission had been completed, the mission style would be calculated. The next available missions that would be available would depend on how you played the previous mission. This creates interactive narrative that is based upon your micro decisions, the split second decisions on how you play each mission, rather than macro decision, which are more like thought-out, tactical decisions.
After the mission had been completed and the style type calculated, there would be a screen with the style type displayed. There would also be a few paragraphs of descriptive text on the mission and the style in which it was played. By the end of the game, the player should have a personalized short story.
The penultimate slide was about who would play the game. From in sourcing I suggested people who like mass effect 2 and fall out 3 for their Sci-Fi genre. Also GTA4 for the exploration of a city and the ability to enter vehicles practically at will. From out sourcing I suggested films like Blade Runner, Star Wars and The Fifth Element as they all have futuristic cities as environments. From literature I suggested Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep (the novel that inspired the film Blade Runner) and Judge Dredd as the comic has a Sci-Fi genre and is set also in a futuristic city.
The last slide was a cityscape concept piece with “Thank You for Listening” above it. At that point I thanked Nigel Potter and Chris Goodwen and asked for their questions. The only question I got was form Chris Goodswen and the question was roughly “ Dark Void didn’t do very well, and that also had a jetpack in the game. How is your game different?” To be honest I can’t be sure what I said but I think it was along the lines of “ Firstly, the button layout is completely different when in flight. Dark Void’s controls are set out like a flight simulator game. My controls are more like a regular 3rd person shooter game, except with buttons that control altitude. Also there is so much more to do in Vlada’s Secret like exploring places on foot or via a hover vehicle. Also flight was integral to playing Dark Void, you don’t have a choice, where as in Valda’s secret, you have the choice to play missions using the Jet pack, there would only be a few missions where you would have to use the hover bell.”
The only think I would have liked to have kept in although it wasn’t integral to the concept is that Valda’s secret would be the first time a player could explore futuristic cities they have seen in films like Blade Runner or Star Wars, there have been many Sci-Fi games which are set in futuristic cities but never a free roaming game that has emphasis on exploring vertically as well as horizontally.
The pitch overran by about two minuets, I felt this was unavoidable as there was a lot of vital content. The pitch went through several stages of refinement, separating the wheat from the chaff, although given the chance, I would have loved to chaff on about the game for hours.
The pitch started off with the header "Vlada's Secret is Blade Runner meets GTA4" this roughly sums up the game as a free roaming Sci-Fi game that takes place in a futuristic city.
Design was the next topic, where I explained that the colour pallet was inspired by the post impressionistic artist Vincent Van Gogh. The "scientific" reason for pastel shades in the shadows and natural lighting of Valda was because it has two suns.
Character, the next topic was about explaining the main character, how he is name less and faceless in the same way that you never see Judge Dredd 's face. Judge Dredd is a symbol for law order and the character in Valda’s Secret is a rebel and is a symbol for rebellion. I didn't get to mention in the pitch that the mysterious nature of the playable character means you can project your own personality onto them and interpret his reactions and moral dilemmas yourself.
This slide was also where the hover bell was explained. It’s my interpretation of a jet pack except with emphasis on personal mobility rather then exotic fast travel. It helps people get from A to B, from a walkway to a landing pad, which could be several stories apart. Also, it can only go as fast as you can walk.
I didn’t have time to mention that this means that you are more inclined to enter a vehicle if a mission you have started involves traveling between two parts of the city.
The next section of the presentation was about the unique button layout I had designed for the three modes of movement and exploration in the game, these were: on foot, hover bell and vehicle.
I had to quickly explain that the on foot button layout would be the same as any other 3rd person game as it’s a well known layout that is tried and tested, as it was nothing new, there was no slide to visualize it.
The hover bell button layout was quite difficult to explain, as it is very similar to the on foot button layout. This means the character can move in the horizontal axis as if the person was on the ground. This is completely unique in digital games and difficult to visualize, especially as when you think of jet pack, you think of flying off in one direction with little control of altitude or speed.
The vehicle button layout slide was simpler as it is very similar to other 3rd person free roaming games with vehicles. The only difference is A and X (on Xbox controller) control altitude. The vehicles would respond like a regular road car on the horizontal axis and only rise if the A button were pressed.
The Platform slide was very easy to explain as it had two very distinct reasons for the game to be on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, which are: for the previously explained unique button layout and for the interactivity/fan participation which is explained in the next slide.
Fan Participation took a long time to explain as there is a lot to it.
Fans can log onto the website, and participate in competitions.
They can upload their fan art, mp3 of a radio show or fan fiction.
Fan art can be uploaded as long as it keeps within the premise of the game. Fan fiction will be separated into several headings like: character bio, species back-story, war between alien species A and B etc. The radio show heading on the website will allow anyone to upload an Mp3 or other audio formats, on the track could be produced tracks, talking or a mixture of the two.
I didn’t explain in the pitch that the radio show could be a proper gander show from levium industries insuring that everything is ok, or it could be an underground show like radio Luxemburg, which would promote rebellion. It could also be a chance for music producers to reinvent a Sci-Fi soundtrack or a good representation of the status quo of Sci-Fi related music.
The competition winners of the website would get their winning entries into the game itself. This would be done through an update on Internet connected consoles.
How you view the winners:
Radio Show – In game, press start. The camera would zoom from 3rd person into the back of the head of the playable character and view the inside of the player’s visor. Inside the visor, is an MP3 player, where you can select a range of in game radio shows as well as the competition winner’s radio show.
Fan Fiction – Inside the visor of the rebel would also be an encyclopedia with information on species of alien, weapon info, mission progress and the competition winners fan fiction.
Fan Art – would be displayed in game, it would be posted on large billboards on the side of skyscrapers which would be several stories high. If the console was not connected to the internet, the billboard would advertise levium industries.
Interactive Narrative also took a big chunk of time to explain as it is relatively new within games, and the way I designed it to be was new. It’s loosely based on the interactive narrative that is in the game Heavy Rain, however instead of a series of quick time events determining the narrative branch you go off, it’s the style the mission that is played that determines the choice of next available missions.
The style in which you play a mission can be calculated easily and already exists in digital games. There are lots of different ways the styles could be calculated, here are a few below:
Eagle eye – high weapon accuracy
Medic – high number of deaths during missions
Road Hog – used a high number or specific type of vehicle for a long time during a mission
Methodical – appropriate type of kills for weapon type for example, long distance kills via a sniper rifle or a group of enemies killed with a grenade
Once a mission had been completed, the mission style would be calculated. The next available missions that would be available would depend on how you played the previous mission. This creates interactive narrative that is based upon your micro decisions, the split second decisions on how you play each mission, rather than macro decision, which are more like thought-out, tactical decisions.
After the mission had been completed and the style type calculated, there would be a screen with the style type displayed. There would also be a few paragraphs of descriptive text on the mission and the style in which it was played. By the end of the game, the player should have a personalized short story.
The penultimate slide was about who would play the game. From in sourcing I suggested people who like mass effect 2 and fall out 3 for their Sci-Fi genre. Also GTA4 for the exploration of a city and the ability to enter vehicles practically at will. From out sourcing I suggested films like Blade Runner, Star Wars and The Fifth Element as they all have futuristic cities as environments. From literature I suggested Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep (the novel that inspired the film Blade Runner) and Judge Dredd as the comic has a Sci-Fi genre and is set also in a futuristic city.
The last slide was a cityscape concept piece with “Thank You for Listening” above it. At that point I thanked Nigel Potter and Chris Goodwen and asked for their questions. The only question I got was form Chris Goodswen and the question was roughly “ Dark Void didn’t do very well, and that also had a jetpack in the game. How is your game different?” To be honest I can’t be sure what I said but I think it was along the lines of “ Firstly, the button layout is completely different when in flight. Dark Void’s controls are set out like a flight simulator game. My controls are more like a regular 3rd person shooter game, except with buttons that control altitude. Also there is so much more to do in Vlada’s Secret like exploring places on foot or via a hover vehicle. Also flight was integral to playing Dark Void, you don’t have a choice, where as in Valda’s secret, you have the choice to play missions using the Jet pack, there would only be a few missions where you would have to use the hover bell.”
The only think I would have liked to have kept in although it wasn’t integral to the concept is that Valda’s secret would be the first time a player could explore futuristic cities they have seen in films like Blade Runner or Star Wars, there have been many Sci-Fi games which are set in futuristic cities but never a free roaming game that has emphasis on exploring vertically as well as horizontally.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Research
The research for the game idea was based around finding a niche market for a game and relating it to games, genres and films, I already like.
The first idea was to have a game based around the Star Wars character Boba Fett. There were several reasons for this:
• He is a well-loved Star Wars character due to the fact he is a bounty hunter, has a jet pack and there is mystery surrounding the character.
• The fact he has weapons and a jet pack would lend itself to similar games.
• The game could take part on familiar world not yet explored in the Star Wars films and other media.
Lots of Star Wars games have been released since the success of the films; the market has been saturated with several types of games except free roam or openworld games.
After some research about the character I discovered there was already a game about Boba Fett called Bounty Hunter realised on the Playstation 1. It’s a 3rd person shooter game with linear level design. You are able to use the jet pack but only to get to ledges you may not be able to via jumping.
The discovery of an existing Boba Fett game lead to the conclusion that the character and star wars premise would not result in an original game idea. However a futuristic openworld game that incorporated a jet pack has not been done before.
The Futuristic city is not an original idea. They have appeared in several different types of media, films like The 5th Element, Star Wars, Judge Dredd and Blade Runner. Literature like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the comic Judge Dredd are set in futuristic cities.
What is original however is a game that puts emphasis on exploring futuristic cities, like the ones that appear in and are part of popular culture.
Having a game set in a futuristic city that you can explore also fits the self appointed criteria of designing a game that I would like to play.
The first idea was to have a game based around the Star Wars character Boba Fett. There were several reasons for this:
• He is a well-loved Star Wars character due to the fact he is a bounty hunter, has a jet pack and there is mystery surrounding the character.
• The fact he has weapons and a jet pack would lend itself to similar games.
• The game could take part on familiar world not yet explored in the Star Wars films and other media.
Lots of Star Wars games have been released since the success of the films; the market has been saturated with several types of games except free roam or openworld games.
After some research about the character I discovered there was already a game about Boba Fett called Bounty Hunter realised on the Playstation 1. It’s a 3rd person shooter game with linear level design. You are able to use the jet pack but only to get to ledges you may not be able to via jumping.
The discovery of an existing Boba Fett game lead to the conclusion that the character and star wars premise would not result in an original game idea. However a futuristic openworld game that incorporated a jet pack has not been done before.
The Futuristic city is not an original idea. They have appeared in several different types of media, films like The 5th Element, Star Wars, Judge Dredd and Blade Runner. Literature like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the comic Judge Dredd are set in futuristic cities.
What is original however is a game that puts emphasis on exploring futuristic cities, like the ones that appear in and are part of popular culture.
Having a game set in a futuristic city that you can explore also fits the self appointed criteria of designing a game that I would like to play.
Game Pitch
The 2nd year of the Game Art and Design course at Norwich College University of the Arts started with a game pitch.
The pitch had to cover game mechanics, story, design, interactivity, platform, audience, music, include artistic and cultural knowledge through referencing film, literature, other games and film.
The game had to be of significant measure as the 2nd project was going to be carrying on the game pitch idea and develop it further.
This guideline steered the game idea to be on a console like the XBox 360 or the Playstation 3 as the games that are released on these consoles tend to be bigger.
It is better to have a large game as you can focus more on specific parts of it if figuring out what work to do becomes an issue.
For example a mini game on the I-Phone may be limiting in certain areas like narrative or inspiration form literature/artists.
The pitch had to cover game mechanics, story, design, interactivity, platform, audience, music, include artistic and cultural knowledge through referencing film, literature, other games and film.
The game had to be of significant measure as the 2nd project was going to be carrying on the game pitch idea and develop it further.
This guideline steered the game idea to be on a console like the XBox 360 or the Playstation 3 as the games that are released on these consoles tend to be bigger.
It is better to have a large game as you can focus more on specific parts of it if figuring out what work to do becomes an issue.
For example a mini game on the I-Phone may be limiting in certain areas like narrative or inspiration form literature/artists.
Introduction
This blog will be about the game pitch and development of the game concept throughout BA4 for the 2nd year of my game art design course at Norwich College University of the Arts.
It will be firstly be about the work leading up to the game pitch and then will be about the work carried out to develop the game further.
It will be firstly be about the work leading up to the game pitch and then will be about the work carried out to develop the game further.
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