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