End of Project Evaluation: SAVIOR ~Games Concept

For my project I looked at creating a games concept that could be created to address the issue of budgeting imbalance in the games industry, basically a concept that could be created on any budget. I think overall, i achieved this, in an imaginative a way as possible, given the time I had available to complete it and also the knowledge I have of creating games concepts. I know that I could have most definitely have incorporated better time management into this project, as for some reason this year, all my previous ability at time management has gone out the window, hehehe. I had originally planned on creating storyboards and even looking at 3d modelling software to create my main character in, but because of time and the amount it would take to do these things it wasn't possible to include them into the final outcome. During the project I was aware of this however, which is why I decided to do additional things such as promotional designs to fill in the gaps in my brief that I originally planned to do these previous things in.
Because i didn't get to experiment in software i hadn't used before, instead focusing on the traditional element to the games art progression more, I think I didnt really push myself on this project as much as had originally intended. And as im looking at studying game design next year at university, I think it would have benefited me and my project more, if I had managed the time better so that I could use a software program such as MAYA or 3D studio Max. Also, when I first started out with my initial character artwork my main focus was to create a game with a distinct art style, and I think with each characters development they have lost this side of the project with which I originally focused on. its a shame, as I would have like to develop each one of my characters to the level as I did the main character, Benkei, and in a way that reflects the main influences, in traditional Japanese artwork.
Here's a list of some of the positive and negative outcomes to my project as a whole, taking into account what I originally set out to do in my project proposal:

Positives

• Created a whole selection of characters
• Incorporated both real life people and historical characters together, to come up with a unique style for each character
• Translated both the game worlds appearance and game play focus into polished environmental artwork
• Addressed the issue of multi-platform game adaptation, by recreating main characters and level design into low resolution sprites
• Received good feedback throughout project, and addressed issues raised by fellow classmates and tutors 
• Created a good Logo, that translates the feel of the game and could be adapted to different media
• Designed a range of promotional media, to advertise the game
• Used a wide arrangement of traditional media throughout initial development, and adapted this with digital methods for for the final pieces
• Researched into the whole Games concept development process
• Looked at different game industries from different regions, and compared the similarities and differences
• Highlighted main influences from start to finish, both on here and in work folder

Negatives

• Original focus on traditional style not carried through to the end
• Primary research not as strong as it could have been, ran out of time to contact Concept artists
• Poor time-management
• Didn't push myself technologically, didn't get to use 3d software
• Didn't get to focus on adapting my concept onto lower resolution graphics until the end, and so only got to create 2 characters and a level in this style. Wanted to depict the whole cast in this style
• Didn't get to create an animated banner, a teaser style advert for use on a web banner
• Was unable to storyboard a scene from the game due to time restrictions, needed to map out the games progression more clearly

Overall, im very happy with how this project turned out, though as is always the case in such creative briefs, if I had more time or a chance to do things differently I probably would have made the time to do some of the things I had originally set out to do, as this would translate my answer to the initial problem a lot more clearly. 

I found that with the process of making a game, to start with you aren't really given a problem to solve as such, just an idea to create onto a visual platform: the problems come in the form of technical restraints, or how to tackle certain audiences. I suppose I looked at my target audience as part of this project, but I think I could have focused on this aspect of it more in depth.

Exhibition Final Preparations

Organised roles for FdA first year 'buddies', and started to put plans into action to create our exhibition. We sanded, applied filler and painted the twelve boards we needed for our space, then all assisted in carrying them up to the first floor. We all positioned the boards into the designated spots, and planned what to do next, we basically need to do the following;

• Sort out how to create the portfolio stands (i drew up polished designs to these, to give to whoever can make them)
• sort out our work for printing, get costs
• sort out colours for display boxes
• sort out work for slideshow (i also need to sort out how im going to attach a monitor to my own board, as I want to display a lot of my work digitally so I need to figure that out)
• get business cards printed
• finalise interactive site design
• get invitations sent out

Once these things are all done, were all pretty much sorted!.......maybe

Promotional Work & Exhibition Organisation

Planning for the end of year exhibition is now well under way, and we've had several meetings to discuss what the theme of ours will be. We decided on the word 'burst' as in a burst of inspiration, and created several ideas based on what the invitation would look like. Final decision was that we would utilize both photography and illustration together; photos of all of our faces, with bright, colourful patterns bursting forth out of our heads, and with some sort of typography worked into it. I think this session of working closely with all members of our group worked really well, as we've all been focusing on our own projects and it was nice to come together to pool all of our ideas together into one end result.
For our exhibition we were all assigned individual tasks (though mine was not chosen by me, due to me being ill)

• Boards ~ Katy
• Intro/ Feedback ~ Matt
• Interactive Site ~Me
• Budget/ Catering ~Ami Lea
• Slide Show ~Alex
• Boxes/ Screens ~Ali

During this stage of my project I have also started to create promotional items to advertise my game, i chose; a series of posters, sleeve design and a magazine cover. I've decided to create some original artwork for the game cover, but to keep it as minimal as possible, maybe utilising a silhouette style to depict the main characters. This is because the logo will most likely play a dominant part on the front, so I don't want to create cover art that will clash or detract away from this. 

Music that would fit SAVIOR.....Perfectly!

Random Inspiration II ~The Sequel

Afro Samurai...a unique take on the Samurai Revenge story, that is so popular in the Samurai genre. Its what i was hoping to achieve with my own game concept, to create my own take on something already established and make something interesting out of it that reflects my own interests.

Finalising Environments and looking at In-Game Visuals

http://dangomango.deviantart.com/gallery/29616940

(Above is a link to my DeviantArt page, where ive shown a selection of my SAVIOR Project so far, feedback from the community was received)

After having scanned in all five Environment line art, I took each one into Photoshop and coloured them using the same technique demonstrated in my Benkei colouring tutorial. Certain other methods were used in the case of the 'Salamander Path', as I incorporated an entire layer of stylised orange tone, then changed the blending mode to colour burn to give a harsh effect of flames. I think the end result to all my environments were pleasing, but the visual impact I achieved with the 'Salamander Path' especially i think is the most impressive piece of concept art i have done over the course of this project; it not only looks cool, but the scene it depicts sums up exactly what my game is about.
I think overall, with my Environment concepts, I have visualised successfully what my game world looks like, as well as how it works and interacts with the characters. As is always the case, i would have loved to work on more, but time didn't allow (each piece took at least one day to colour, not including drawing the original line art).

The thing I need to begin developing now, is creating in-game visuals for how the game would look on a handheld device such as a mobile phone or iPhone, etc. I've looked into this, and I need to develop 'sprites' of my characters and some environments, taking these and making them more 2 dimensional to fit into the low resolution style so that they look authentic as working on these platforms.
I don't know how well ill be able to create these sprite artworks, as ive never don it before, but im hoping to at least be able to create two characters and a level.

(an example of in-game sprite artwork)

Finalising Character Artwork

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.205132099496850.55887.100000001852159

(Above is a link to my Facebook album, showing all of my SAVIOR Project work so far)

Finally completed all of my character artworks! Originally wanted to do a lot more than seven, but considering the time-scale i don't think I did too bad at all. I also think that the idea of basing each characters face (except the main character, Benkei's for some reason....lets say its supposed to me) on one of my friends profiles was a great idea, as it not only helped in providing a good reference but also gives each character a very distinguished look. i think overall the characters look good, though one thing that might be a negative thing is how they don't utilise traditional artwork as much as I had originally planned and experimented with. With the main character I experimented with various inks and paints to see what style looked best for him, but as the project progressed I started to run out of time so I had to go for a less stylised look to each character. Its a shame, but i think the appearance of the characters still looks quite unique due to their Japanese style attire combined with my own illustration style, and faces that resemble real-world people.

More Research...Ill tell you when ive had enough!

I looked into the differences and similarities between the Western and Japanese game markets, based off the suggestions I received from my Prototype feedback, and I chose the Role-playing game genre as an example to analyse in depth. I chose this specific genre, because those created in Japan are completely different to those made for Western audiences. I think this was a good area to look into, as my game kind of addresses both sort of regions; its has heavily inspired Japanese themes throughout, but it is created by myself as a westerner for a Western market, so how to make it appeal to everyone is something that needs considering in-depth.
I also took all of my information id gathered so far from book sources on Game Concept Art, and annotated it all, analysing all the different areas of the process, from character design to level design. Whether it was relevant to my own artwork in terms of what I get to design in my own work or not, I still think its important to look at as much development styles as possible to get an overall idea of the process im undertaking in my project. Also, as my project is addressing games budget issues by creating a games concept that could be adapted to any budget, ive looked at a game that has done the same or at least attempted it, in the form of the first Assassins Creed game.
Things learnt from in-depth research:

• Greater understanding of Game Development process
• What differentiates Western style games from Japanese ones, and how games developers adapt to each market
• Games which already attempt to address the same problem that im addressing in my project

How I Coloured Benkei In Photoshop

This is basically a step-by-step of how I coloured Benkei in Photoshop. I used a Drawing Tablet to do it, as its easier and feels more natural to use. This technique demonstrated here, is the same I used throughout the project, in depicting all of my characters and my environments too. 

Prototype Presentation & Feedback

Collated all my final concept together so far, ready for presenting. here's how I broke it up;

• Project Outline (Problem/Solution)
• Research Visuals
• Inspiration
• Overview, Genre
• Target Audience
• Themes, Historical Basis
• Solution
• Logo
• Initial Artwork
• Characters and their role
• Game Environments

The feedback i received was really helpful, as any problems people had in understanding my concept were areas in which i either needed to still work on, or that I had already looked at, so it was really cool that people were on the same page as me with what I needed to do next. Things like needing to colour environments (which I needed to finish), create low resolution visuals to demonstrate my projects solution (which I needed to begin based off my character and environmental artwork) and also to look into designing a range of promotional items based off my logo that I created (posters, web banners, box artwork, etc.) which I still need to start, but I was waiting until my final artwork was finished so that I could then utilise it in the promotional side of things. 

I also got feedback in other areas of research to look into, such as comparisons of Western and Japanese game markets (as my game is very Japanese, but as a westerner I need to understand the differences in how games are created and marketed in the different regions).

Overall a very good presentation, and the feedback highlighted the areas i've done well in so far, and those I need to add or improve upon.

My nerves may have been shattered up to this presentation, but it was all right in the end.....~phew

Creating More Characters & Environments

After my trip to Manchester Museum, i took my photos of Japanese weaponry and used them as a reference to draw and design the weapons that my main character, Benkei would use in the game. I sketched them with the traditional look and style in mind, but decided on making them more advanced and convenient to use; i made both his main weapon, the Naginata and his swords retractable, so that they fold up into the handle, making him able to carry multiple weapons at any one time.
I also started to develop other characters apart from Benkei and Princess Onin, though I now had facial references to use for the characters faces at least. I decided on doing antagonists first, to show who the main villains of the game were, taking my initial sketches, using inspiration of attire, references of historical characters to come up with the final line art of Emperor Kiyomori, Lady Tomoe and Gio. Because I needed visuals of every character ready in time for the final Prototype presentation, I had to do rough final sketches to demonstrate what both Yoshitsune and Yoichi look like so that I could work on these when i had more time.
I also took the opportunity to work on three more environments, taking the advice from Wakeel to create environment which not only depict a stage in the game, but also demonstrate the game play and what the game is about in each piece of artwork. I decided on creating artwork based on the following;
~The Titan Valley (the same environment I depicted last time, but this time showing a scene that demonstrates the 'save the princess' element to the game)
~Salamander Path (an underground cavern depicting Benkei leading the princess to safety)
~The Shrine (the destination of the Princesses journey, depicting a scene that shows a twist in the story...what is the purpose of the Princess's journey? and what role does the main character, really have to fulfil?)

Random bit of Relevant Inspiration

This is a video clip from a movie in production by my favourite artist Yoshitaka Amano. It really caught my attention, because the entire style of it is exactly what i pictured my own game concept to look like......it kinda annoyed me actually, that somebody had the same idea as me and actually got to create it...grrrrr, I hate it when that happens ><
As its my fave artist though, ill let him off.......this time

Environments and level ideas

After mainly focusing on the character development, ive now decided to move on to creating sketches and ideas for the games environments to give an idea of what the world its set in looks like. I did lots of visual research into Japanese landscapes, architecture, etc. to get a good idea of how i  would draw each thing i wanted to include, then just started sketching. I knew that the opening of the game would be set in the Capitol city of Heian (based off the real capitol city of that era of Japan that im loosely setting my game around). I wanted to get a really good sense of the imperial castle looming over the entire city so decided to set the perspective from street level with the castle in the central distance, stretching into the clouds. It took longer than id liked to create the polished line art for this artwork (as im planning on doing four more of these), and ive still got to scan this in to colour digitally.
Moving on from this concept, I also started sketching the first 'proper' stage in the game that is classed as a level so to speak (as in this is what demonstrates the games platforming and combat elements whilst keeping the princess safe), though this is still in the sketch stages. as well as the concept for this level, i need to create visuals that demonstrate the level being interacted by the characters (like in-game).
As well as the creative side to this project, i have also been on a day trip to Manchester to visit galleries and exhibitions that might help me in conducting primary research. there was a good exhibit on China at The Manchester Museum, that helped in gaining insight into the visual style of eastern design (this would have an impact on hoe characters attire, buildings, items would look). I also looked at the weaponry section of the museum, as they had quite a lot on samurai Armour as well as weapons, which are relevant to my characters.

I thought the day spent in Manchester was really constructive, everyone got some really good primary research out of it, and it was a really fun day out of the college environment spent with the group. I wish we could have had the opportunity to do more things like this before, but because of clashing schedules its really hard thing to organise so everyone can come. Overall a very good day, muchly helped by the lovely weather, nearly losing Ami Lea and Wakeel in the magazine shop (they pretty much nearly bought everything ....well Wakeel did), ice cream complimentary of Wakeel and just being around amazing people.....~sniff, i love you guys! :)

Progression of ideas and finalizing of characters

Recently i have neglected to keep this blog updated, so this is going to be quite long im afraid.

Continuing on from my last journal, i continued sketching in my sketchbook, working mainly on the main character, developing his appearance by looking at his attire, weaponry, turnaround illustrations, his appearance in different media (such as traditional inks and digital brushes), as well as color experimentations using inks on print outs of his final line art. 

I decided on developing the final design of this character, and the rest, digitally so that the process could be completed quicker and give me more room to improvise if i make any mistakes (which would be near impossible to correct if i did the final thing using inks or paints). So i basically inked over the original pencil line-art, then scanned this into Photoshop where i colored it using a combination of layer effects and brushes, using a drawing tablet to give it a more natural looking style.
Also, after talking to my class mates they agreed to let me base my characters off them. This will make it easier to come up with each character faster with a facial reference, I just have to worry about designing unique attire to match. To get a good idea of face characteristics and also to simplify each persons features down to their simplest form (which will greatly help when I re-draw each one), i created a rough trace in photoshop using a reference pic for the base layer. Here are the ones I did below:

The characters are based off the following people (listed from top to bottom):

Andrew Cheetham ~Yoshitsune

Julie Kimmel ~ Princess Onin

Ami-Lea Doran ~ Lady Tomoe

Katy Underwood ~ Gio

Matthew Cook ~ Yoichi

Wakeel Khan ~ Emperor Kiyomori

First Critique & initial ideas ~ Week 5

Because I have been on holiday for two weeks I had missed the lesson in which everyone presented their two main ideas to the class and received feedback on where to go next. So I basically spent this week getting up to date with the work I missed; making sure I had the mood boards for my two main ideas completed, write up a draught for my project proposal, and create a Power point presentation to help me show my ideas to the group for my critique. Though I knew I really wanted to go with my games concept idea because I already had a strong idea to back it up, I still had thought about the live Sonic the Hedgehog brief as it seemed like a fun and open project to consider.
Compared to my Games concept idea though, during my presentation most people said that it wasn't as strong idea compared to it, and it was obvious that creating concepts for a game was something that I was really passionate and interested in and it showed in my presentation. I talked about some of the influences that had helped me in with choosing the style of my game, the main one being Traditional Japanese artwork and culture as well as the game Okami which had utilised this style directly into the game.



The problem that I wanted to address by working on this project was to be able to create a game that could be created on any budget, as opposed to being restricted in creativity by large budgets or restricted in scale by small budgets. by creating a concept that could be adapted to work on any platform, I hope to address this issue.
It was considered that I try to push my concept into the realms of making the actual game itself, like for an application for the iphone as an example. This is so I have something challenging to try to accomplish as opposed to just the concept, which is a very strong area in which I am skilled in. If not possible to create a game itself, I would at least try to create some sort of animated/ interactive media that demonstrates the final concept of the game.

I've started to create a sketchbook to keep all of my artwork in for my concepts as well, the first thing I started in it was the designs for the main character. I thought this was an important place to begin, as I wanted to create a main character that is iconic and has a very distinct appearance, one that can represent the style of the game all by itself. so I have been sketching my ideas for him, as well as writing down the games plot, setting, style, etc. so I know where to go with the rest of my artwork. Basically been documenting all of the ideas I have had in my head for while down onto paper, so that i can move on with them and develop them into polished artwork.
In Fridays lesson, as well as sort out my presentation, i took my initial ideas for the games logo and developed that further into a final design. The original idea was taken from a painting I did of the games title 'Savior' using a thick paint brush to create the font. I then scanned this into Photoshop, where I manipulated it so that it was more polished in shade and appearance. I have also recently been experimenting with using a drawing tablet to use for digital painting, the first thing I did was digitally shade one of the sketches I did of the main character. I decided to take this artwork and implement it into the logo design, so that it stands behind the name 'Savior'. After much tweaking and editing I decided  on my final design, as shown below:

I was glad that I was able to get straight back into work again after getting back from holiday, and I just need to start compiling all of my secondary research together now and sort out how I am going to do my primary research (museum visits, contacting concept artists, etc..) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CefajJzKpKA

Introduction

I have had a concept in my head for my final major project for well over a year now, though its just been an idea so far. Basically, as I want to pursue a future career as a concept artist in the video-games industry, I often come up with games concepts in my head though I dont get the chance to develop these ideas further. Now that i have the opportunity to build my own brief, I have decided to take my games idea and develop it into a visual form, building on the vague story I have in my head into a complete set of concept artwork, so that if a games company had this to work from they would have everything they need to actually create the game.
Though i am definitely pushing to do this idea for my final choice, i have also looked at a live brief on YCN online that involves creating a form of communication that translates the video-game icon, Sonic the Hedgehog to both new and old gamers alike. If i can schedule my timetable so that i can work on this alongside my original idea i will do so, because it brings in a live brief element into the unit.

In todays lesson, we basically introduced ourselves to the unit, going through the brief with our tutors to outline all of the elements that we have to include in our project: research, creative ideas and organizing feedback and motivating others to interact with your ideas.
We did a brief creative brainstorming task, that involved us considering what projects we would do creatively on a range of budgets: £100, £1000, and £1m. It was a good way of seeing what sort of things we would pursue within the restraints of each budget, though it was all down to our individual interests. I chose to focus on my own interests in illustration and game design, looking at creating original stories for games, graphic novels and even movies. I wanted more than anything, to look at creating a completely original concept for a game, from initial idea all the way through to finished product (though for the sort of epic adventure i have in store for my final major, i dont think £1m would be enough), as its the one thing that i have a passion for: to see truly original ideas within the games industry again, not afraid to take risks with ideas, and to take my stories out there for the world to see.