Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Major Project I / Task 2
INTRODUCTION
TASK 2⇒ DESIGN PROPOSITION
For our task 1, Mr Kamal and Mr Kanan introduced Design Proposition, where we are needed to refine and expand their initial concept into a comprehensive design proposition.The focus is on design exploration, project planning, and technical research, ensuring that students effectively manage production workflows, explore innovative design solutions, and justify their creative and technical decisions using industry references.REFINE IDEATION
For task 2, we are needed to refine and expand our initial ideation. Therefore after consulting Mr Kamal and additionally adding in a consultation with Mr Kanan, we were advised to refine our gameplay overview. The lecturers stated that its important to focus on quantity instead of quality. Instead of doing puzzle solving and obstacles games where players need high movements, an interactive gameplay where players interact with the characters and the environments structures are more advisable as VR has limitation on movement which causes motion sickness easily. Besides, they advised us to do more research and techinical trial-outs on the 3D modelling and Unreal Engine VR section. Our style and overall art direction of doing low poly styles was advised to improved to a more high quality art style where it can be appreciate by players during the gameplay. We also can do some research on how other game designers add in cultural details in the game like the symbols, textures, patterns and the meaning behind them. Examples of game we can look by are Witness, Gigantic and Wukong. Furthermore, our project Unique Selling Proposition(USP) isn't convincing enough yet.
Therefore in this task, we refined our proposal and added in a few new technical research sections. For our overall gameplay, we cut down the gameplay to 2 gameplay stages excluding the introduction and ending stages. We also splitted the map into 3 themes which are, a forest, a chinese cultural designed village and a bamboo forest. We decided to do an open world concept where characters can freely explore the world. A more interactive gameplay is introduced (The details would be stated in Task 3). For our art direction, we decided to go for stylize style which is a mid poly.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Refine Proposal (Case Studies & Benchmarking, & Additional Research)
- Reference Gathering
- Sketches (Character: Rat, Ox, Monkey Detail Environment Concept: Into & Ending View and Chinese Cultural Village View)
- Refine Proposal (Moodboard, Case Studies & Benchmarking & Additional Research)
- Technical Trial
- Reference Gathering
- Sketch (Character: Goat, Rooster Detail Environment Concept: Boat View, Bamboo Forest View and Chinese Cultural Village View)
- Reference Gathering
- Sketch (Detail Environment Concept: Overall Enviroment Concept)
- Refine Proposal (Technical Feasibility, Production Timeline & Workflow, Resource Allocation & Risk Management, Contingency plan, Detail Asset Planning, Reference Gathering, Technical Research & Research)
- Reference Gathering
- Storyboard
PROJECT TIMELINE
Google Sheet Link
WORKFLOW
MIRO BOARD
Our miro board consists of- A detail project timeline
- A detail gameplay overview
- Visual References
- Sketches
STORYBOARD
CONTINGENCY PLAN
We prepared a few plans to be taken in the event of unexpected risks or disruptions in order to ensure the project can be continued with the most minimal impact.1. Expected Output
- An interactive 3D model gameplay in Unreal Engine
- A fully interactive immersive VR experience that educates and entertains
- An interactive 3D model gameplay in Unreal Engine
- A 3D model animated cultural storytelling that educates and entertains
TECHNICAL TRIAL
For our texture feasibility trial, we tested some for 3D modelling.- Outline Texture
- Paint Texture
- Stylize Texture
- Uv Wrapping
- Rigging
FEEDBACK
WEEK 5
- Sketches are good.
- Three games is still a lot of work. Would recommend reducing to just one game. Focus on the ending of the whole game. Choose one you can execute with minimal effort (i.e. simple gameplay) but high quality. Your goal is not to sell the story but to sell the experience; therefore your stages don't have to be in order. Do something simple first, if you can execute it well you can try a harder stage.
- Have it be a game demo. Focus on the visuals. Your concern now is time.
- The specific character references are very good. Good lighting and simple modelling. Achieve that standard.
- Game references (Alba & A Short Hike) Lighting a bit too flat, but the modelling is simple. You can reference the modelling.
- List out all the assets (i.e. how many trees, mountains, characters, etc.) you can make this sem. You'll need to make turnaround sheets for the characters whose stage you are doing. Show (at least) one finalised concept art in the style of the final product. You should also make a storyboard for the game's UI. Study the technical aspects of your output software (i.e. Unreal Engine).
- Relate your output (VR game) to your game topic (Chinese zodiac). You must have a solid selling point. What’s so special about VR? Why should the audience play a VR game to learn about zodiacs? Why choose this art style? Bring in the immersion into the VR. You don’t need to do a gameplay. Look at the benchmark tool and art style of professional games (e.g. Black Myth: Wukong, The Witness, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice). For example, Hellblade is based around sound.
- You can still do the other stages, but prioritise the two main stages. You can make one level big enough for all the games. You should make map exploration and interaction a priority. Instead of multiple characters, you can explore obstacles (e.g. traps, puzzles), maybe even a final boss (minus the fighting).
- Try not to do low-poly, or else you will have to focus on the game design. High def would be better. You can try combining your current work with the old myths style (Mood Board). Your characters can be more humanoid. If you are doing simple, your designs still have to be appealing to the audience (e.g. Torchlight, Gigantic - High texture, painted-on style). Push the limit of the modelling and art.
- Texture is very important for simple styles. Determine which elements can be repeated to lower your workload (for environment and characters). Your models can be simple, but with highly painted textures.
- Your game should be imbued with Chinese culture (i.e. symbols, typography, textures - e.g. Black Myth: Wukong, The Monkey King Netflix; environment - e.g. Abominable, Wish Dragon); this is your Task 2 research and testing. This is storytelling and visual communication. Study first, make sure your art direction is solid before you do anything.
WEEK 6
- Environment references (The Witness): This is good. Better than before. You can use free models of similar styles for some of the assets.
- Animal concept art: The yellow of the Ox looks like fire. You can make it more orange. For the gold element animals, make it more gold. Your modelling would have to be all triangles so that the output will be higher poly.
- The painted textures will take a lot of time. In Blender, some shaders can imitate a painted style.
- The obstacles are in the way of what the player is trying to achieve
- Show gameplay interactions. Finalise concept art.
REFLECTION
BEHIND THE SCENES
Comments
Post a Comment