Game Art Exercises & Project 1

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Week 1 - Week 9
1/9/2023 - 27/10/2023
Leong Jiahui / 0353469
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD 62004/ GAME ART

Instructions


Assignment Brief

Exercise - World Creation (Fantasy ) ART DIRECTION Proposal with Sketches and Thumbnails

You are to choose a game in which you intend to alter the art direction/aesthetics. (*note that you are not creating a game design, only art) Based on your choice you are to then create a world with initial concept arts and collections of reference and extract information/components that are shown in your mood board which explains the following:

  1. Time
  2. Era
  3. Ambience and mood
  4. Back story
  5. Crisis
  6. Culture – design component representing their race, worship, colors, materials used, etc
  7. Ecosystem – who lives there, what do they do, animals, creatures, flora etc
  8. Geolocation – plain, mountain pass, dungeons, temples ruins, highlands, sea, river, forest etc.
  9. Architectural design – structure, monuments, relics etc
  10. Resource – nuclear, oil, crystal etc (can be any motif, candy,food, etc) 
  11. Genre – Horror, Comedy, Drama etc
  12. Target audience – range max to 8 years
  13. Theme - (Fantasy – South East Asian) + Sci-fi, Post War, Post Apocalypse, Medieval, etc.
  14. Classes/hierarchy
  15. Transport – man-made, animal, hybrids, portals etc.
  16. You are to include Southeast Asian culture, folklore or any unique component to your design. Your art style could follow any style as long as you alter it to define a unique style with functions and aesthetically pleasing.

Submission:
Slide in .pdf format landscape. 16:9

WEEK 1 (1/9/2023)

To-do:
  • Download and try out Brawlstars
  • Study Brawlstars (characters, environment, colour scheme, aspect ratio of screen/character, UIUX, colouring style) 
  • Install Topogun
  • Moodboard for Art direction
  • Sketch character Ideas
First, we are tasked to play Brawlstars and get to know the content and the mechanics of the game. It's a quick and fun game, but honestly, it's not my cup of tea. It does remind me somewhat of Cooking Battle in terms of aesthetics and map design, a game I was obsessed with back in high school. 

Fig 1.1 Trying out Brawlstars 

Fig 1.2 Trying out Brawlstars (and winning :D)

Tasked with creating another world (stage/event + characters) for Brawlstars, I started compiling a mood board. I also did some visual studies on the structure of the game elements to better understand its design and aesthetic choices. If I had to nitpick though, I do feel that the character screens (for winning, eg: Fig 1.2) are a bit dull. I'm not sure if the screen becomes fancier as the level increases, but from online research, it doesn't seem like the case. Putting a pin on that.
fig 1.3 W1 moodboard


Moving on, I decided to start small with the character concept sketches first. Chat GPT, my good friend, helped generate detailed descriptions of the character ideas I had. It helped a lot with the visualisation of said ideas, and provided me with a lot of cool names and attack ideas too, which was neat. 

I personally enjoyed the chef character most, and found her to have the most potential to continue developing both the character and the world, however, there is already an existing chef character in Brawlstars, so I may reconsider. 

Character Concept: 

Feedback

  • speed drawing 
  • evaluate the hero type (archetype/class) 
  • Further develop all characters roughly, then continue to develop 
  • Tone down the complexity, as it is a mobile game
  • study the Brawlstars art style more and adapt it to the current designs
  • Reduce flowy & heavy elements that pop out 
  • best to sketch out characters with 3/4 view 
WEEK 2 (8/9/2023)
To-do:
  • Experience and interpretation for Brawlstars 
  • Environment design sketches 
  • UI/UX study 
  • More extractions from the game 
  • Proposal
This week, we learned about the ways to extract information from a game design. There are many aspects to determining the character archetype, where all elements like the silhouette need to be taken into consideration. More breakdowns have to be done in all sections - character, environment and UI/UX. We also got a crash course on character design 101, which I'm surprised to say that 
Fig 2.1 How to extract information from designs 

Fig 2.2 Building a character 
I started to sketch out the further development of my previous sketches. I studied Brawlstar's art style more and sketched this batch in a more similar style. I also took into consideration last week's feedback about frilly and flowy components as it is difficult to incorporate into the game mechanics. With that in mind, I also exaggerated the weapons and included them in the silhouette of the character. I started building up the characters based on their archetypes as well. 

Feedback 

  • conceptually it may be fun, add more abilities and develop further. 
  • develop more sketches for the same character to express their personality and skills better. Also try out their costume sketches, a full character sheet basically. EXPLORE.
  • try out & experiment variety of body types. 
  • pose better to showcase the skill.
  • consider the technicalities (how much space will the character take?)
  • take note on the usage of cigarettes & alcohol in game design.
  • consider the animations of the character. How can a basic animation showcase what the character is doing? Have a visual representation of how the actions/attacks are done 


WEEK 3 (15/9/2023) & WEEK 4 (22/9/2023)
This week, we received a crash course on character design. We studied how characters can be stable, gestures and lines. Outlines are important to provide more detail and clarity to the design. 
It's important to explore everything that is related to the design of the character, from the body type to the outfit and props the character carries. 

Fig 3.1 body types 

Fig 3.2 body proportions 

Feedback
WEEK 5 (29/9/2023)
To-do:
  • Sculpting characters (practice blender) 
  • treasure chest practice (blender) 
  • detailed battle animation sketches 
This week, we explored various 3D software. Mr Kannan broke down the mesh and poly counts, as well as the technical aspects of the different types of software. We were also given a tutorial on Blender.

fig 5.1.1 3D software 101

fig 5.1.2 Sculpting tutorial on Blender

Many things are happening this week. I started by further exploring the character design and then making more sketches of the actions. It was fun to try out different types of actions. Only doing the brief sketch of the actions speeds up the process a lot. 
fig 5.2.1 parcel punch character action sheet 

I also tried out some modelling. It's been months since I've touched 3D modelling, and it's like an awkward run-in with an old friend that you used to be close with. I compiled a lot of references on Pinterest. Pretty sure most of them are AI-generated, but the style is cute and I want to go for it. The hair is time consuming to work on, and the sides are a bit tricky but I am doing my best :') 
fig 5.2.2 Parcel punch 3d model progress 
Feedback
  • Further push outside of my comfort zone when it comes to character design. 
  • Try out more body types.
WEEK 6 (6/10/2023)
To-do (due W8)
  • create a monster (refer to dofus) 
  • 2 hero, 1 boss / tank,dps,support
  • unique props/weapon
  • arena 
This week, we explored arenas. We are advised to start with grids and blocks to plot out how we want the layout to be. It is important to note that the props and designs should not be too complex. Omit complicated details as the arena will be small and it will not be visible. 
fig 6.1.1 Arena tutorial 
With this, I started brainstorming ideas for my arena. I wanted to go with a post office theme to match my character, Parcel Punch. It was a challenge to come up with ideas for props and 
fig 6.2.1 arena sketches 



Feedback
  • place big objects on the side and not in the middle as it may be too distracting 
  • think about the boost power-up object 
  • make sure to establish a clear grid space to position obstacles (grey box) 
  • no need to make the details of the fingers. do 3 piece is enough 
  • work with textures. can minimise the datils of sculpting 
  • the torso should be like a bean and now a bean and not a pear 
  • look at the stability of the character. Give it a head tilt so it is balanced. 
  • introduce rhythm into the design (3 types of variation) for each - props 



zremesh > check polygroup 



WEEK 7 (13/10/2023) & WEEK 8 (20/10/2023)
To-do (due W8)
  • complete the sculpt & polygroup (to indicate where the UV goes) 
  • arena grey box
fig 7.1.1 Arena grey box

fig 7.1.2 arena tutorial

This week, I began working on compiling the necessary submissions for the exercise deadline in Week 8. I revised the arena by adding a grey box concept and plotting out the obstacles. I also continued working on sculpting my character, giving her proper limbs and a skirt. 
fig 7.2.1 sculpting porcess

Final Outcome 

Exercises: World Creation

Project 1: Character Design and World Creation (Concept Art)

WEEK 9 (27/10/2023) 
This week, I added and refined certain elements to the arena. I gave it a 3/4 top-down view and blocked out how I wanted the obstacles to be. It was a lot of fun plotting out what kind of obstacle I wanted to put in that fits the theme. 

fig 9.1.1 arena-santa's workshop

I also continued working on my model, and tried out UV unwraps. However, it has been a struggle to figure out UV unwrap as it has been a while since I did that, and it didn't work as planned. I also re-topo the model into a low poly model before adding colours to it. I also came up with different colour combinations to try out. Overall I felt that the model was still lacking in detail, and the costume was very basic. I will focus on giving her props moving forward. 
 
fig 9.1.2 Sculpting progress
Feedback:
  • refine edges
  • sleeve edges do not stick 
  • add more wrinkles 
  • sharpen the shoes
  • refine the gloves 
fig 7.3.1 W9 feedback 


Final Outcome 

Project 1: Character Design and World Creation (Concept Art)


Reflection

I honestly was not expecting to have to work on Brawlstars, but I find it to be a good practice. Afterall, not everyone has the privilege to choose what they want to work on in the industry. They just need to make the best with what they're given. While not the biggest fan of brawlstars' art style, I do find it quite charming and am optimistic about creating a character for the world.
Throughout the character design process, I have been told over and over again to step out of my comfort zone when creating characters and trust me I've tried, but all the other styles I attempted just did not hit the way it should, or give the vibes I want to achieve for a cutesy game like brawlstars. It was a frustrating experience, but a needed one for me to explore different styles, even if I still end up with a style I'm comfortable with, I guess it just justifies why it's my style, to begin with. I need to be humbled, and I was. 

On the bright side, I find myself enjoying Zbrush a lot more than the previous semester, making the whole sculpting process a lot more enjoyable, which is always a win :) 


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