BA6 first ideas

Its BA6 time!!!

So BA5 is over now and its time to think about what you want to do for BA6. For project 1 the brief is:

Whatever you want to do:

• Choose your own learning outcome, based on what area of games you want to focus on, 2D or 3D.
• Create a learning agreement which has a solid amount of work towards an outcome. 
• Decide on one learning outcome which sums up what you want to focus on. (Concept Art)

So, focusing on Concept Art you have the following choices for your final outcome to work towards:

• One large detailed piece of Environmental concept art
• A collection of concepts for a new game design
• Working towards a gameplay video of the whole start to our previous game concept

Focuses on creating detailed and professional environment art and using different techniques.

1. One Large detailed piece of Environmental concept art:

• Lots and Lots of reference images.
• research into the environments you want to look at
• more research into the one you decide to do
• lots of rough practise images
• research into textures
• final concept, large scale with lots of detail!

Gives the opportunity to create a new unique concept and be unshackled in your artwork.

2. A collection of concepts for a new game design:

• Think of a game genre you would like to explore
• Do some research into originality of your idea, and find some concepts for similar games
• do a design document for gameplay ideas 
• reference images!
• Environment art concepts
• character concepts
• a few final images showing the overall feel of the game
• a design document outlining the gameplay idea, narrative and art style

Follows on from your previous concepts and lets you use different pieces of software to create a trailer.

3. Gameplay video of The Osaka Case of Helianthus Annuus

• Continuing where you left off from BA5, create more artwork for a gameplay video
• using some animation create a trailer for our game
• use your work from BA5, plus do more research
• collection of artwork and screens
• final trailer for our game, featuring gameplay examples and cut scenes. 

Post this onto your Blog, and think about what are the benefits of each one. Decide on one to do and start on some research but your brief isn't until March. Be thinking about what you want to do though and be thinking of ideas in your head. A few ideas off the top of my head:

• New concept, focusing on a time period that hasn't been explored entirely (Western, Victorian Britain etc.)
• A large detailed image of American plains.

500 word evaluation

Working together with Liam, following up on our previous game design document has lead us into creating part of our game in depth and giving life to it. As Liam focused on the 3D side to this project, this gave me the opportunity to help him out with floor plans and concepts for rooms etc. I designed the exterior and interior of the flat in depth, using lighting and colour to create the mood we wanted in our game. The joint collaboration meant that we would get more work out of the time we had, and with our joint vision, we knew what to create. The main source of our joint work would be the floor plans, as I helped him by creating a floor plan for him to make in 3D. I set out where everything would be placed, and from this he could place 3D assets and make the room whole.

I am really pleased with how my 2D Art has come out. I worked harder this time around to find many pieces of reference material before I began my digital painting, and I found that this made it all a lot easier to complete. The gameplay side of my work had me looking at how we can make our game different, and also a challenge for the player. I looked back at how we had originally made the game play out and thought it sounded too easy for the player. The original concept was to have pieces of evidence that the player must find in the flat, three pieces would be picked up and the rest were unimportant. The player would be told which pieces were important and the character would automatically pick them up. After discussion with Liam we decided that this was no fun, and is far too easy for a detective game. That is when we decided to have a new gameplay mechanic, which would be the option for players to pick up any of the pieces of evidence in the flat. They would only be able to collect three items, so they must choose which ones they think are the most important. They would then be given a score at the end of the level. This also makes the gameplay experience more unique to the player, and if they miss an important piece of evidence they miss out on a cut scene linking to the narrative and case. This can mean that if a player misses lots of pieces of important evidence, the case takes them longer to solve altogether. It also means players are more likely to repeat the game after they have finished to try to get all the cut scenes and gain 100% completion.

After changing bits of the gameplay, I moved onto created a start menu and examples of our game. I enjoyed this thoroughly and am so pleased with the outcome. Using Premiere Pro I gathered sounds and music that fitted the mood of our game and with a mixture of effects and lighting, our game idea had finally come to life.

Rest of the Evidence (Unimportant)

This is the rest of the evidence the player can find in the house. These are pieces of evidence that aren't 100% relevant to the case and the player must decide what is the most relevant.

Evidence Image 2 + 3

Another piece of important evidence is a blood stained knife found in the Kitchen. 

Found in the Bedroom is a Journal, another of the important pieces of evidence.

Gameplay Video

Using these Images I created an example of the gameplay where the player has to decide whether to collect an object.

The image below shows the speech over the scene, and the options for the player.

In the video I used pan and zoom to create what the scene would look like after they interact with the object. I then created a glowing effect on the words to show the players selection.

Example of Narrative Cut Scene Video

I wanted to create an example of a cut scene for the narrative of our game, so, using some of my artwork I created this.

I first used the image of the Journal to create the back story. I used text and music to create the opening to the narrative.

I then used the image of the shop front and a pan to set the scene. Using rain sound effects and a title to give the time and date, it gives a feel of the location.

 I then used the image of the entrance to the building to show the character entering the building. I used a sound effect of walking up stairs, and a door opening, and used pan to show the whole scene.

Start Menu and Loading Screen Video

So, After no help as to whether I have to do something interactive or not, here is my attempt. Using Photoshop and Premiere Pro I put together three examples of our game:

Start Menu and Loading Screen:

This was the initial drawing for the Start Menu. I actually animated the rain to move in Photoshop and exported it to Premiere Pro.

This is the start screen after putting into Premiere Pro. I added a bit more lighting, the title as well as Continue and New Game. I also added a yellow glow to show the selection, and music we had in mind to match the mood and theme of our game. (Petri Alanko - A Writer's Dream)

This is the Loading screen image I drew. It should introduce the narrative to come, so it shows that the character is in the police and has had an important call of some sort, thus the title of the chapter; 'The Call'.

In Premiere Pro, I added the text as well as an animation on the text 'Loading'.

Here is the finished video of the Start Menu and Loading Screen: