03.02.2025 - 23.02.2025 (Week 1 - Week 3)
Ng Kar Yee / 0367743
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Major Project I / Task 1
In this exercise, we are required to,
At the start of the game, players are introduced to Chinese culture, specifically the 12 Chinese animal zodiac, which has a history of thousands of years. Since this culture might be unfamiliar to some players, a brief introduction will explain its significance. Many might wonder how and why the zodiac system was created and why the animals are arranged in a specific order.
To explore this, the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) appears and speaks with the player. Curious about the legendary Great Race that determined the zodiac order, he tasks the player to travel back in time to witness and oversee the race firsthand. The player’s role is to supervise and observe how each animal participated in the race, uncovering the origins of this ancient tradition.
Ng Kar Yee / 0367743
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Major Project I / Task 1
INTRODUCTION
TASK 1⇒ PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
For our task 1, Mr Kamal and Mr Kanan introduced Proposal Development, where we are needed to brainstorm ideation and develop a project proposal.GROUPING
For our first week, we were introduced to the final project where we were needed to brainstorm ideas and develop a project proposal for our major project. After getting a roughly brief by the lecturers, Mr Kamal, I proceed on finding my groupmates. I ended up in a group with En Yu, Li Vern and Emily. Shockfully, I was chosen as the group leader.
IDEATION
To begin our project, we started brainstorming for ideas. Initially, we came out with 3 ideas,
Idea 1 A Mental Health Topic
- where we have a dreamcore on depression and anxiety perspective
Idea 2 12 Animal Zodiac
- where we learn more about the culture and the history significances
Idea 3 Educational Topic
- where we dive into special needs audiences perspective thinking ways of improving the educational system learning way.
RESEARCH
After exploring a few ideas, we consulted Mr Kamal. Mr Kamal like the idea 2 as it look more interesting to explore deeper in the idea therefore getting a idea greenlight from him. After consulting, the 4 of us started to do some research. We also refer to our seniors' works to get a better understanding on the overall project direction.ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
We proceed on splitting the roles among ourselves. For task 1, I decided to cover most of the documentation part of the proposal while En Yu mainly cover the sketches, Li Vern more on the gameplay explanation and visual direction references and Emily on the research.Here are the detail breakdown on what we were responsible on,
1. Lim En Yu- Proposal (Introduction, Concept Overview, Detail Concept Breakdown Ideation & Research)
- Moodboard/Visual References
- Sketches
- Art Director
- Director
- Proposal (Problem Statement, Concept Overview, Detail Concept Breakdown Ideation, Detail Concept Breakdown & Research)
- Moodboard/Visual References
- Sketch (Character & Environment Design)
- Storyboarding
- Director
- Proposal (Research Objective, Research Question, Detail Concept Breakdown Ideation & Research)
- Moodboard/Visual References
- Art Director
- Proposal (Target Audience, How Might We Statement, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), Technical Considerations, Expected Output, Detail Concept Breakdown Ideation, Detail Concept Breakdown & Research)
- Moodboard/Visual References
- Project Manager
ROUGH PROJECT TIMELINE
Figure 1.0 Rough Timeline Planning
EXPECTED OUTPUT
For our project's expected output, we wanted to create,
- An interactive 3D model gameplay in Unreal Engine
- A fully interactive immersive VR experience that educates and entertains
- Increase awareness and the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese culture specifically the 12 Chinese Animal Zodiac
- A showcase project that demonstrates cultural storytelling
CONCEPT OVERVIEW
For our group's art direction, we explore a few art style for instance, chinese antiquity style, paper cutting style, origami style, old myths style, minimalistic style and cute style. After a few discussion and considerations, we were inspired by origami style therefore having the thought of doing low poly style for our characters and overall environments
On the other hand, Mr Kamal advised us to have different themes on the floating islands. Therefore, we looked for different low poly environment designs like canyon, blossom forests, paddy field. Here's how the overall gameplay would look like,
Introduction StageAt the start of the game, players are introduced to Chinese culture, specifically the 12 Chinese animal zodiac, which has a history of thousands of years. Since this culture might be unfamiliar to some players, a brief introduction will explain its significance. Many might wonder how and why the zodiac system was created and why the animals are arranged in a specific order.
To explore this, the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) appears and speaks with the player. Curious about the legendary Great Race that determined the zodiac order, he tasks the player to travel back in time to witness and oversee the race firsthand. The player’s role is to supervise and observe how each animal participated in the race, uncovering the origins of this ancient tradition.
Puzzle Stage
We decided to have 9 different gameplay stages
Stage 1
The player travels back to the moment when the Great Race has just begun. The first animal they encounter is the Boar, which holds the last position in the zodiac. The player quickly notices that the Boar is sleepy and unmotivated to run in the race.
To encourage the Boar, the player must complete a small interactive game which is a food collection challenge. By gathering food, the player helps the Boar regain energy and enthusiasm to participate in the race. This mini-game serves as a fun way to showcase the Boar's personality, reflecting its traits in the zodiac while creating a more engaging and memorable experience for players. Once the Boar receives the food, it becomes happy and ready to run the race. As a token of gratitude, the Boar rewards the player with a golden coin engraved with its zodiac symbol before setting off on the race.
Other Stages
As the journey continues, the player encounters each of the zodiac animals one by one. Each animal faces a unique challenge, and the player must assist them in overcoming their obstacles. In return for their help, the animals reward the player with a golden coin engraved with their respective zodiac symbol.
Final Stage
At the end of the journey, the player crosses the finish line alongside the Rat, marking the conclusion of the Great Race. They are then transported to a platform featuring a Bagua array, where they must place the collected golden coins. As the coins are arranged, the order of the 12 zodiac animals appears on the floor, revealing the final sequence. The game concludes here.
Through this storyline, players gain a clear understanding of the Chinese zodiac, its significance, and the personalities of each zodiac animal. The interactive experience also helps them easily memorize the order of the 12 zodiac signs in an engaging and immersive way.
Stage 1
The player travels back to the moment when the Great Race has just begun. The first animal they encounter is the Boar, which holds the last position in the zodiac. The player quickly notices that the Boar is sleepy and unmotivated to run in the race.
To encourage the Boar, the player must complete a small interactive game which is a food collection challenge. By gathering food, the player helps the Boar regain energy and enthusiasm to participate in the race. This mini-game serves as a fun way to showcase the Boar's personality, reflecting its traits in the zodiac while creating a more engaging and memorable experience for players. Once the Boar receives the food, it becomes happy and ready to run the race. As a token of gratitude, the Boar rewards the player with a golden coin engraved with its zodiac symbol before setting off on the race.
Other Stages
As the journey continues, the player encounters each of the zodiac animals one by one. Each animal faces a unique challenge, and the player must assist them in overcoming their obstacles. In return for their help, the animals reward the player with a golden coin engraved with their respective zodiac symbol.
Final Stage
At the end of the journey, the player crosses the finish line alongside the Rat, marking the conclusion of the Great Race. They are then transported to a platform featuring a Bagua array, where they must place the collected golden coins. As the coins are arranged, the order of the 12 zodiac animals appears on the floor, revealing the final sequence. The game concludes here.
Through this storyline, players gain a clear understanding of the Chinese zodiac, its significance, and the personalities of each zodiac animal. The interactive experience also helps them easily memorize the order of the 12 zodiac signs in an engaging and immersive way.
MIRO BOARD
Our miro board consists of- A detail project timeline
- A detail gameplay overview
- Visual References
- Sketches
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
FINAL PRESENTATION
Major Project I - Task 1 by RainnGoogle Drive PPT (PDF)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DVn9jNAeZd1amPmCpcSFQ3E4f8NSNCo9/view?usp=sharing
FEEDBACK
WEEK 2
- The overall draft proposal is good
- Have the Jade Emperor congratulate the player at the end.
- The animation should be appealing to the audience as it is supposed to be educational.
- If the workload is too much, you can reduce the introduction animation. Focus more on the game.
- Origami animals are hard to animate. Limited movements.
- The white animals from the mood board will be easier to animate, also stylistically interesting.
- Model something with similar simplicity. High-poly with simple shapes.
- Don't do overly cute. Too simple.
- The style of the world should match the characters (e.g. low-poly characters in low-poly world).
- If you do low-poly, the colour and composition must be nice.
- Not sure if Unreal Engine supports low-poly. Make low-poly sample models and try importing to UE.
- References shown are ok
- Story and stages need to develop more
WEEK 3
- Make sure each floating island is distinct from the others and not all the same. Decide on a theme for each island. You could also have the player teleport to different maps instead of islands.
- Don't sacrifice your creativity for limitations.
- Your timeline is detailed and can be used for Task 2, but for Task 1, keep it brief (such as milestones). Put the simplified version in the PPT.
- Group member roles: Everyone can have a common role, but should also be split into specific roles.
- Make the stages simple enough for you to execute. Relate the environment to the animals. You might not be able to complete so many stages.
- Reduce the activities (e.g. introduction, 3-4 stages). Create visuals for the gameplay. The ideas are good, but you should consider the execution.
REFLECTION
Working on Major Project 1 task 1 which is Proposal Development have been a fun ride where I got to learn brainstorm and create a fine project proposal. Besides, it was new experience as it was my first time creating and preparing a full project from ideation to execution. Moreover, we have the opportunity to analyze and explore how other professional designer's work present their infos and the reason behind its project. This project was challenging yet interesting for me as I get to take part in a real life project from head to toe however with the guidance I got from Mr Kamal, Mr Kanan, my groupmates and my friends, I managed to finish the tasks.
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