P2 - Concept Art

Wayne’s brief

Create a Platform game for the students to play. The main character of this game ‘Max’ has to move from level to level dodging enemies which block his way whilst collecting gold. Max gets score from collecting gold and has to collect certain items to unlock the next levels. This is a platform game so I would expect Max to be able to jump over obstacles and enemies.

My brief

The character of my game will be a Caucasian male called Max. Though, I could have made them female and called them Maxine if I wanted too. My game will be a unique drop-down styled platformer which has five 960 x 416 levels, each one getting progressively more difficult as you go down. There will also be two types of bonus loot to collect in the form of gold bars and diamonds. I will make objects for each solid object in my game as well as an invisible object which be used to block off certain areas. For sprites I will make them in a PNG format and apply them to every object in my game and I could possibly make more if I have time to add animations. I will also make my game on “GameMaker” as it is free from the South Leicestershire College facilities.

I have made sure that my sprites are original and not similar to others, my game will contain mild violence relative to the age that I’ve decided on. I have used the “cel-shaded” art style for these sprites….

Design Specification for the Maze game

Customer

What does the customer want?

The customer wants an educational-maths game with GCSE grade C level questions in the Maze genre

What does the design brief say?

The main character of this game ‘Brainbox’ has to move from level to level solving increasing difficult maths based problems. Each level should show a different maths problem and the level of the maths problem should be GCSE grade C Mathematics.

Who is the target audience?

The target audience for the game will be GCSE maths students who want to revise.

Development

What sprites do we need?

I will need to make sprites for the main character “Brainbox”, the enemies “Mathia”, the walls, the hacking terminals and the maths screen.

What sounds do we need?

I will need 1920-inspired royalty-free soft jazz music.

How many levels do we want?

I will need to create 5 levels, each one getting progressively harder.

What other elements do we want?

I will need to create up to 10 maths problems, 1 or 2 from each topic.

Management

What do we want to do by the end of this session?

25/11 - By the end of the session, I hope to have completed the design specification and started to generate ideas for the game.

How long do we have to create this game?

I have 4 weeks to create the game.

How can we break down the tasks in making a game?

I will make a list of tasks that need to be done and will put them into 4 groups for each of the 4 weeks.

Concept Design and Libel - Exercise

What is copyright law?

Copyright is simple the right to copy and is a law that gives the owner of content, the right to decide what other people can do with it. Copyright laws make it much easier for authors to use their work online as other people are only allowed to use it if the owner gives permission.

What is Libel?

Libel is “a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation”. In other words; defame or discrediting someone for work they’ve done.

How are female characters portrayed in games?

Women in video games are often portrayed as eye candy to persuade male gamers to buy games. They are also shown to be the "damsel in distress"

Generating Concept Art - Exercise

What are computer game graphics?

Computer game graphics are the way a game is displayed, not how it looks. A game could be presented in various ways. For example, a game could be made in a first/third-person, top-down, side-scrolling or simply 2D or 3D. There are also techniques that can be used such as: the lighting and shadows of objects, the animations of objects and maybe a heads up display.

What is graphics specification?

Client Needs


Audience


Thumbnail Sketching
Thumbnails are images that are of a smaller size than the original image. They allow more images to be displayed on a page. Search engines use image thumbnails to display more search results of the page.

Visual Style

Photorealism

Games that are designed to be as realistic as possible, whether fictional or non-fictional. Photorealism is difficult and time-consuming to create, and takes a lot of skill to get the textures and scaling of the world to look realistic.

Notable games that use photorealism include all of the Call Of Duty games, as well as the many Rockstar games.

Cel-Shaded

Designed to look like it was drawn by hand, and is used to represent a cartoon or comic book. Cel-shaded is primarily used by Japanese developers, in games such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Dragon Ball Z series.

Exaggerated

Games which are loosely based on Photorealism, but the style is modified, giving the graphics an overdone look. The graphics of the game can make it seem like it is not a serious game, because the characters are outrageously muscular, or features are not proportional, for example: large eyes. Japanese game developers also exaggerate the hair on their characters in anime games, such as Tekken.

Abstract

Games that use geometrical shapes and lines to create a unique visual style. Abstract does not take much skill to create compared to other styles. Abstract games can use both bright colours for fast-paced action, whilst others might use softer colours, which makes the player feel relaxed. An example of an Abstract art style designed game is Geometry Wars.

Military

Usually designed from first person perspective, military games simulate the physics and looks of a battlefield in a war. Characters are designed to look like soldiers, whether present, historic or futuristic. Medal of Honour is a Military game, set in Historic wars, and the more recent conflicts.

Composition

In the visual styles, in particular graphic design composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject of a work. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art. The term composition means 'putting together,' and can apply to any work of art, from music to writing to photography, that is arranged or put together using conscious thought

 

Typography

Typography is an artistic way of arranging words on a page and can involve both letters and symbols. A 'typographer' might select different fonts for each word...

Technical considerations

Compression

Files can be compressed into smaller folders using Zip File, which allows several different files to be placed into a small folder, which requires to be unzipped before any of the contents can be accessed. This feature makes sharing files through the internet or through a file sharing program, such as an FTP much quicker and simpler.

Optimisation

Optimizing an image file consists of saving the image as a suitable graphic
compression format. Saving an image as a PNG will reduce the file size without losing any data, therefore the photo file has been optimized.

File naming conventions

When you have multiple versions of a file, such as an object, different file names will be helpful in identifying which file name corresponds to each version. For example, a first draft of the main characters might be named "Main character V1.0" and a later version might have a slightly larger number in the name such as "Main character V1.11" because there are 11 different versions.

Documentation

Production Schedule

This is my weekly game production schedule:

Week 1: Complete all the documentation and research sprites/background ideas.

Week 2: Code the game and plan out the structure.

Week 3: Create sprites and backgrounds, and add them to the game.

Week 4: Fix any problems and add anything missing. Overall tidying up.

Moodboard

The moodboard for my game can be found at this web address:

http://puu.sh/cO7DK.png

Storyboard

The storyboard for my game can be found at this web address:

http://puu.sh/cPrCa.png

Budget Log

Material/Software etc.	Cost
Photoshop CS6	Free as part of SLC facilities Real life price £105 per annum.
GameMaker	Free online and from the SLC facilities. £509 if I wanted to make the game for more platforms.

Clearances

Independent Contractor Agreement

This Independent Contractor Agreement is made and entered into by and between, the musician and Tom Broughton.

1. Engagement of Services.

Contractor will provide Tom Broughton with background music.

2. Compensation.

Tom Broughton shall pay Contractor a flat fee of £50 as total compensation for the services described above. Payment shall be made as follows:

£50 due upon receipt of final product.

3. Independent Contractor Relationship. Contractor's relationship with Client will be that of an independent contractor, and nothing in this Agreement is intended to, or should be construed to, create a partnership, agency, joint venture, or employment relationship. Contractor will not be entitled under this Agreement to any of the benefits that Client may make available to its employees, including but not limited to group health insurance, life insurance, profit-sharing, retirement benefits, paid vacation, holidays or sick leave, or workers' compensation insurance. No part of Contractor's compensation will be subject to withholding by Client for the payment of any social security, federal, state or any other employee payroll taxes. Client will regularly report amounts paid to Contractor by filing a Form 1099-MISC with the Internal Revenue Service as required by law. Contractor may perform the services required by this Agreement at any place or location and at such times as Contractor shall determine. Contractor agrees to provide all tools and instrumentalities, if any, required to perform the services under this Agreement.

4. Ownership of Property. Contractor acknowledges and agrees that all documents produced by Contractor, including but not limited to memoranda, research notes, correspondence, emails, pleadings, and reports in the course of his work for Client, shall be the property of Client, and Contractor shall retain no ownership, interest, or rights therein.

5. Governing Law.  This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the United States of America and by the laws of the State of Indiana. Each of the parties irrevocably consents to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in Indiana, as applicable, for any matter arising out of or relating to this Agreement, except that in actions seeking to enforce any order or any judgment of such federal or state courts located in Indiana, such personal jurisdiction shall be nonexclusive.

6. Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of law to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, (a) that provision shall be deemed amended to achieve as nearly as possible the same economic effect as the original provision, and (b) the legality, validity, and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected or impaired thereby.

7. Injunctive Relief for Breach. Contractor agrees that his obligations under this Agreement are of a unique character that gives them particular value; Contractor's breach of any of such obligations will result in irreparable and continuing damage to Client, for which there will be no adequate remedy at law; and, in the event of such breach, Client will be entitled to injunctive relief and/or a decree for specific performance, and such other and further relief as may be proper (including monetary damages if appropriate).

Agreed to this 12th day of November, 2014.

Contractor	Client
_______________________________	_______________________________
………………...	Tom Broughton

Health and Safety Checklist

PAT Test	/
No liquid near PC’s	/

Contingency plan

What can go wrong?	How to avoid the problem?
Losing your work, design or game itself	Create back-up copies on email/HD/USB
Hardware faults	Have back-up parts or a computer. Don’t touch the hardware

Design Specification

Customer

What does the customer want?

I am making this game for students around the age of 16 so I will include content that they will enjoy playing such as: violence and possibly blood/gore.

What does the design brief say?

Create a Platform game for the students to play. The main character of this game ‘Max’ has to move from level to level dodging enemies which block his way whilst collecting gold. Max gets score from collecting gold and has to collect certain items to unlock doors, vents and shutes to progress to the next level. This is a platform game so I would expect Max to be able to jump over obstacles and enemies.

Who is the target audience?

My target audience will be people aged 7+. I chose this age as I want to create a game that includes mild violence and be available for a lot more people than say, a 12+ game.

Development

What sprites do we need?

I will create sprites for the main character (Max), the police, S.W.A.T and the boss “Sergeant Smoke”. I may also include civilians and/or alternate versions of Max and the enemies.

What sounds do we need?

I will need different radio and gun sounds for the enemies, and voice clips for Max when he jumps or dies. I will also need a Mario-styled “goomba stomp” sound for when Max jumps on an enemy.

How many levels do we want?

I will create either 5 or 7 levels to navigate through, each one getting progressively harder as you go on with the last level being a boss battle.

What other elements do we want?

I will include objects in my game such as lights to climb on, tables to slide over and doors to open.

Management

What do we want to do by the end of this session?

By the end of this session I want to have completed the design specification and move onto creating sprites.

How long do we have to create this game?

I have till around November to complete my game, which is about a month.

How can we break down the tasks in making a game?

I will create a plan which orders the criteria I need to include and shows how long I have to complete them.

06/11 UPDATE: By the end of this session, I hope to have created the layout for my game, the camera options and the coding for the main character.
11/11 UPDATE: By the end of this session, I hope to have... I have also decided to change the layout of my game so that the levels are one on top of another instead of two next to each other going down.

Artistic Styles & Comparing Games

Cel-Shaded

This is an art style that mimics the look found in comic books and is mainly used by Japanese developed games such as Killer is Dead and Jet Set Radio. It is designed to make 3D images appear flat like 2D by taking out the gradient effect in shading and replacing it with simple coloured shading. It also involves realistic elements, but characters made in this style look very different to real people. For example, in the image below the character has around sixteen arms instead of two.



Photo-Realism

This is an art style that tries to look nearly identical to real life and is found in games such as Grand Theft Auto V and L.A Noire, and is designed to make images look as realistic as possible, down to the blackheads. Video games in this style are usually made using motion capture technology as shown in the images below.

Exaggerated

This is an art style that is loosely based on real-life. This is because although the characters may look real, they are made to look exaggerated. For example in the game “Gears of war”, the main human characters look realistic but their body size is much larger than normal. Using exaggerated graphics can allow you to create crazy elements like hairstyles and eyes without worrying about it being realistic or physically possible.

Abstract

This is an art style that doesn't resemble other styles in any way and is often made to be unrealistic. The style usually involves shapes and lines and uses random shapes and colours to create images unique to gaming. A game known as “Geometry Wars” is made up of only geometric shapes and colour but is still a very fun and creative game.

When creating a game, developers will need to consider various elements that are required for the art and graphics they want to use in their game.

Computer game graphics

They will need to think about the level of graphics that they want to include in their game. Making a computer game with very high graphics options will mean that only people with top-end computers can run them, which could potentially decrease sales. Making a game with low graphics could result in a low detailed game but it will be playable by a lot more people. Game graphics involves elements like dynamic lighting, draw distance, tessellation and shadowing.

Pixel

A pixel is a point sample (not a square) that contains colours from the RGB or CYMK pattern. Pixels make up the resolution of images so when making an image or video the creator will need to think about this. For example, an image that is made in a 1080p resolution will be very clear and in high definition. If the viewer couldn't view the image in that resolution, then the creator could also create a 720p or 480p version that is of less quality but can still be viewed. In video games, there are options that you can change for things like the texture quality etc. Having more than one option can let people with budget-computers play the game.

Types of digital graphics

There are two types or images used in games: Raster images such as gif, bmp,  jpg and tiff, and vector images such as psd, wmf, fla and ai. Raster images are made up of thousands of pixel and mainly use the RGB format, but these images can not be stretched and scaled. However, vector images can be stretched and scaled, and will retain their quality when doing so.

File Extentions

File extensions are important for telling the user what program can open certain files. For example, the extension “.jpg” can be opened by nearly everyone with a computer as the operating system will recognize it. But a file extension named “.psd” requires the program “Photoshop” to open and can not open without the correct software. Other examples or extensions are: bmp, png, gif, tiff and doc.

Compression

Compression is the technique used to remove unnecessary areas from an image for easier storage and sharing. There are two ways to compress: “lossy” or “lossless”. Lossy compression is the best way as it means that bitmap files can be reduced in size without the problem of a reduced image quality. Lossless compression involves changing all of the same shades of a colour in an image into just one, this can make the image look much worse.

Image Capture

Images in games can be captured in many different ways the main ones being through camera and motion sensors. With a camera the photographer can take several photos of an object or location and have the designers/artists recreate them in the game. A similar thing happens with motion sensing, people will act out parts of games and the animators will recreate them in-game.

Optimization

Optimization involves taking a large image file and reducing it's size by lowering the amount of colours and tones used. Doing this allows you to transfer files a lot quicker between people and makes loading these images on a website much faster.

Image Asset Storage

This is useful for games companies as it means that they can pass around files and images between workers so that work can be done quicker and easier. It also means that everyone can add to the same task rather than everyone doing the same thing. The only downside is that you're unable to share large files, but you're still able to share files such as Jpegs, tiffs and gifs. If you needed to share a file that was too large it will either get damaged or lost. However, you could reduce the size of the file from 1080p resolution to a lower size like 720p or even 480p. This would also reduce the size of the file allowing it to be shared, but it would be in less quality.

Comparing Games

Games like "Really Big Sky" and "Wolfenstein: The New Order" are drastically different games visually, but when you look at them closely there could be some similarities.

The game "Really Big Sky" uses an abstract art style that is seen commonly in indie games but takes away the geometric shape style to create something beautiful. Whereas the game "Wolfenstein: The New Order", uses a photo-realistic style that makes the game look and feel very-realistic. When it comes to the graphics of these games, "Really Big Sky" has very simple options that allows the game to be playable on nearly all hardware, but "Wolfenstein: The New Order" has very advanced graphics options such as anti-aliasing, shadows and more, which - although looks visually brilliant - makes it very difficult to run on most computers. In "Really Big Sky" the pixel size and quality of the images are fairly small and simplistic so that nearly all hardware can handle it but not small enough to look bad. Whereas the pixel size and image quality in "Wolfenstein: The New Order" is very high making the game look very polished but once again makes it very difficult for average hardware to load it.

Video games today that have the option to change the resolution usually use vector images as their digital graphics type. This is because vector images can be stretched into different sizes. Video games in the past would have likely used raster images as they could not be stretched and had smaller file sizes.

The games "Really Big Sky" and "Wolfenstein: The New Order" would have gone through compression at different stages of development. This would allow big files to be reduced in size at the cost of image quality and small files to be reduced without any loss of quality. A game like "Wolfenstein: The New Order" would have probably never gone through compression as the game looks stunning and is very large at a whopping 50gb. But "Really Big Sky" could potentially have gone through compression to reduce the games size.

Most photo-realistic games use motion-capture to make characters look as human as possible. No other art styles can use this technology really as it is meant to make characters look real and other art styles aren't meant to be realistic. The developers of "Wolfenstein: The New Order" used this technology for realistic cut-scenes, whereas the developers of "Really Big Sky" had no reason to use motion-capture because they weren't trying to be realistic.

If developers wanted to send and share images between workers and external companies/freelancers, they could use image asset storage. However, there is a file size limit to this so files would have to be reduced in size using compression or optimization.

Game Concept

In my video game, the player control a man named Samson, a 19 year old college dropout who excels in thievery and needs money to pay for his family’s debts. In the game Samson must escape from the worlds largest bank after a robbery goes wrong. He must escape from the top of the building using nothing but a jetpack and his brain in order to make it out alive. When Samson encounters the enemies, the only thing he can do is run and dodge if he gets caught he will end up in prison and this will result in the “Game Over” screen. In order for Samson to progress through the levels he will need to locate exits such as vents, shutes and maintenance ladders. These will take Samson to the next level/floor in the building. As the levels go on Samson will encounter more and more stronger, smarter and quicker enemies that will make it very difficult for Samson to escape alive. Along the course of the levels Samson will be able to collect various collectables that he can sell to pay of the debts, this will increase your overall score at the end of the game. Besides enemies Samson will need to avoid other obstacles that can either be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how you use them. For example, there are lights on some levels that can either fall on him or the enemies.

The story goes as follows: Samson Strange is a 19 year old college dropout who has no dreams or life goals. One day, a man approached him and offered him lessons in thievery, Samson accepted these lesson and started to become a thief. Over the course of 5 years, Samson’s family has mounted up a ton of debt that will surely ruin their life, so Samson decides to help. Though Samson had learnt very little over the course of 5 years and could not do much to help, he still tries. He realises that the only way to get enough money to save his family, is to steal from the world largest bank. But Samson – being the amateur that he is – trips the alarm system – alerting every worker and security guard in the building as well as the police and military outside…

Visual Styles in Games

There are four main visual styles seen in games and a couple of unique ones. In this blog I will be covering what they are and how you can tell if a game is using one.

Cel-Shaded

This is a visual style that mimics the look found in comic books and is mainly used by Japanese developed games such as Killer is Dead and Jet Set Radio. It is designed to make 3D images appear flat like 2D by taking out the gradient effect in shading and replacing it with simple coloured shading. It also involves realistic elements, but characters made in this style look very different to real people. For example, in the image below the character has around sixteen arms instead of two.

Photo-Realism

This is a visual style that tries to look nearly identical to real life and is found in games such as Grand Theft Auto V and L.A Noire, and is designed to make images look as realistic as possible, down to the blackheads. Video games in this style are usually made using motion capture technology as shown in the images below.

Exaggerated

This is a visual style that is loosely based on real-life. This is because although the characters may look real, they are made to look exaggerated. Games like “Dragon Ball Z” and “Gears of War” use this style. In “Gears of war”, the main human characters look realistic but their body size is much larger than normal. Using exaggerated graphics can allow you to create crazy elements like hairstyles and eyes without worrying about it being realistic or physically possible.

Abstract

This is a visual style that doesn’t resemble other styles in any way and is often made to be unrealistic. The style usually involves shapes and lines and uses random shapes and colours to create images unique to gaming. A game known as “Geometry Wars” is made up of only geometric shapes and colour but is still a very fun and creative game.

My Video Game

Game Genres

Genre	Genre Description	Genre Example
Shooter	Shooter games involve using a variety of weapons in combat to complete objectives. The two main types of shooter games are in either first-person and third-person	Warframe is a free-to-play third-person shooter currently in open-beta. It is from the creators of Dark Sector and Unreal Tournament and uses the Evolution engine, capable of creating visually stunning graphics for most computers. In-game players control members of the Tenno, ancient warriors who have awoken from centuries of cryosleep to find themselves at war with three menacing races: the Grineer, a militarized race of clones; the Corpus, a mega-corporation with advanced robotics and laser technology; and the Infested, disfigured victims of the Technocyte virus. To hold the balance between the factions, the Tenno use advanced exo-armour with unique abilities called Warframes. Another example of a shooter game is Call of Duty, which plays in the same way but is in first-person
MOBA	MOBAs are real-time strategy games that require you to act fast. The objective is to destroy the opponents’ base by using a variety of game mechanics that help you to get strong enough to win.	Dota 2 is a free-to-play MOBA based on the old Warcraft III mod and uses Valve's Source engine. The objective of the game is to gain enough gold, items and levels to destroy the enemy’s base. The story goes that a crystalline satellite called “Mad Moon” entered the planet's orbit and offered raw energies for two factions: the Radiant and the Dire. Eventually, the moon took so much damage that it blasted into millions of pieces across the world. This attracted creatures of various alignments and unified them under the two factions, thus starting a war. Another example of a MOBA is League of Legends.
Role-Playing Game	Role-playing games are games in which the player assumes the role of a character in a story. These can be either single player or multiplayer which involves teaming up with other players to complete quests or objectives.	Dark Souls is an action role-playing game set in a large open-world and uses the Havok, and an in-house engine. The games plot is very minimalistic in that it’s left up to the player to piece the story together. The only help you get is that if you ring two bells something will happen which is not much of a premise but it’s enough to get you interested. Another example of a role-playing game is World of Warcraft, which plays in the same way but involves a group of people and an open-world.
Strategy Games	Strategic games usually require well thought out decisions and high awareness of what's going on. Turn based and real time strategy follow the same rules as normal strategy games but involve players either taking turns or doing turns simultaneously.	XCOM: Enemy Unknown is an action turn-based strategy game set on earth during an alien invasion and it uses the Unreal Engine 3. The goal of the game is to defeat the aliens and save the world by completing missions using soldiers and advanced weaponry. Another example of a turn-based strategy game is Final Fantasy XIII.
Simulation Game	Simulation games attempt to copy various activities from real life and put them into a form of game for various purposes such as training and entertainment. There is usually no goals as players freely control a character and complete job or tasks.	Surgeon Simulator is a single-player simulation game and uses the Unity engine. In this game you play as a man named Nigel Burke, who has a placement at a fictional hospital. He carries out various operations on a man named 'Bob' in an operating theatre, on a trolley and - at one point - in space. Another example of a simulation game is Farming Simulator 2013.
Racing Game	Racing games are usually played in the first-person or third-person perspective. The player partakes in a racing competition with either land, air, or sea vehicles. They are usually based on anything from real-world racing leagues to races in a fantasy setting.	Blur is a unique racing game set in real cities around the world and it uses the Horizon engine. The game involves beating the best racers in the world and rising to the top. You do this by racing people in vehicular combat with neon versions of bullets, homing missiles and shields etc. Another example of a racing game is Gran Turismo, which focuses on realism.
Puzzle Game	Puzzle games involve logic, pattern recognition and sequence solving. They focus on logical and conceptual challenges and involve shapes, colours, or symbols, and the player must move them into a specific pattern.	Fractal is a puzzle-strategy game which uses the Unity engine. The game involves pushing hexagonal shapes together to form clusters or "blooms" of the same colour to acquire points. In the game there are three mode to play: campaign, arcade and puzzle which allow playability for any skill level. Another example of a puzzle game is Candy Crush Saga
Fighting Game	Fighting game involves the player controlling an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. The characters are all equal and fights consist of several rounds, which take place in an arena.	One Finger Death Punch is a 2D side-scrolling fighting game which uses the Microsoft XNA engine. The game has no plot but offers the player 1:1 reaction time and makes you feel like you're controlling the player, instead of the game. The gameplay involves fighting hordes of enemies using only your left and right mouse buttons. Throughout the game you will encounter various enemies that react in different ways to your attacks, making for really intense and strategic levels. Another example of a fighting game is Soulcalibur, which plays in a similar way but focuses on one player versus another instead.
Music Game	Music games are video games in which the gameplay is meaningful and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. They take a variety of forms and are often similar to puzzle games due to their common use of "rhythmically generated puzzles".	Audio Surf is a puzzle/rhythm game which uses the Quest3D engine. The game visually mimics music that the player chooses and generates blocks that are in sync with the music's beat. Although the game includes various songs, you are able to upload your own songs into the game and race on them. Another example of a music game is Guitar Hero.