Here I decided to look at stills of games, artwork, films and various assets that furthermore push our collective thoughts on the style, colours and shape of our FMP.
At first glance you see that I’ve decided to look at vibrant and garish images, however I implore you to look closer. All the images that I’ve chosen have a variety of key design aesthetics as well as semiotics and strong narrative.
Most of the images have strong composition and layout. They use a grid structure and rule of thirds to give them a somewhat symmetrical feel to them. Each image is iconic and unique due to their fluid art styles that sets the mood and tone, I believe for FMP that the art style we end up choosing will set the tone and mood of the game.
Some of these images use semiotics to their advantage, for example the abstract themes and symbols in some of these images draw the viewers, or in our case, the players eyes to certain details such as a bag of apples or a stop sign. These signifiers help breakdown the images and become an area to focus on in a detailed places. This also helps the viewer understand which path to take at times, it allows them to see the exit or the goal unknowingly.
I believe this would be a great feat to achieve when it comes to level design for FMP. To be able to make the player breakdown simple puzzle using subliminal signifiers would make for fun and pace-controllable gameplay.
I also have found that most of these images have a strong narrative and are rather linear due to their composition and semiotics. They draw the player’s attention to certain areas of the image or game, making them question what’s going on. Whether it’s knowing that they’re travelling on the back of a giant turtle or that they’re surrounded by enemies, the narrative is bought through showcasing the genre and objective of the images. This makes us want to learn more about the character’s or the situation, it makes us question where they are traveling to or how they ended up in such circumstances and how will they escape.
I believe the ability to draw a player in and make them focus on a certain goal or question what’s behind a door is a good thing. Almost like a good book being able to keep a reader intrigued to read more, I believe we need to keep players hooked in a game. Re-playing and learning something new, picking up details and questioning new routes etc. This is something I strongly wish to get across in FMP.
Overall I find that the art-style we collectively decided to go for should have a strong narrative attached and be able to keep the player interested. Furthermore, I believe that we should create mind boggling and pace changeable gameplay, helping keep the player on their toes as well as focused. Each image here has bought me closer to understanding compelling narrative and level design.
Lisbon – Sam Bosma
Essentially a big drawing of the city Lisbon in Portugal. The piece was for an exhibition appears to be populated by people that have a unique and personal feel to them.
The image itself uses a grid structure and the rule of third to draw the viewer into certain areas of the image. As you can see the image is almost split down the middle with the road splitting two, one side going whilst the other going down as well as one having a lighter tone and another having darker shadows. This compositions works with the rule of thirds perfectly using the building as grid lines almost. This also makes the image feel symmetrical and gives it good composition.
I can imagine walking out to seeing a city like so in our FMP. The level of detail and composition will give the game a flare and appealing aesthetic, hopefully this something I can reproduce for FMP.
The piece also has a bright and high-key colour scheme. This is done by using complementary colours that have a harmonious accent that makes the piece expressive yet somewhat simplistic. Nonetheless the colour scheme sets the mood and tone of the piece.
I believe it use a limited colour pallet with a few pop colours to bring the objects in the foreground out.
The colours are also used as semiotics and draw the player into certain parts of the piece.
For example the stop sign is the first thing that catches your eye, it then leads you into the building behind it and then you realize the split in to road. I believe this is done intentionally.
These signifies are rather subtle but subliminal and lead the viewer, I believe this can be used in our FMP to subliminally lead the player to the end goal or even show them how to work to work out the puzzles before fully understanding them.
Overall in find the piece rather meaningful and purposeful as an idea for FMP. The way Sam Bosma uses colour and composition to create a narrative, set a mood and tone is sublime. I can only hope to replicate something to this standard for FMP.
Emilie Estabell
https://sketchfab.com/emiliestabell
Emilie Estabell is an artist that frequently posts to Sketchfab. Her assets have a rather hand rendered style to them that makes them expressive and gives them a sense of balance. Recently she has been recreating a piece by Sam Bosma entitled Stability.
The assets that she has created are hand rendered and textured in an almost water-colouresqe style. This gives them a pleasant-looking tone that’s bold yet complementary.
She has however decided to make assets rather high poly as its part of a painting. I think for FMP I should get a good mix of High poly assets and Low poly assets, as well as use ZBrush to create detailed normal maps for assets in game.
I can also see that she has painted in the lighting, giving it a cell shaded look, this plays on the cartoonish feel and makes the assets less dark and sinister, it sets a mood which works well.
The lighting that she has painted is also done as an accent of the colour underneath, giving the lights and shadows a harmonizing and expressive feel to them.
I would like to have some exaggerated shadows that are accents of the colour underneath to give assets in the game a mood and tone.
I believe the way she has textured these is rather inspiring and the way she has almost replicated Sam Bosma’s art style is spot on. Personally I find this style of art appealing and would like to use it in my FMP. However I do believe the rest of the group need to see the art style and agree that it is suitable.
Studio Ghibli
Ponyo is animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, is a hand-drawn feature-length film of breathtaking beauty and charm.
The film uses a pastel and water colour inspired artwork. The film uses a bright and clashing colour scheme that is complementary to its two main character’s. The two main characters are the same in height and have similar shapes and height to them. They are both minimal yet have a garish and striking colour scheme to them. This is even more potent when they are together on screen as it shows how complementary to each other they are. This gives it a sense of harmony and bonds the two together.
I believe both our main characters should have juxtaposed colour schemes, yet complement each other and seem complete when together in frame.
The way the background is painted in makes me think that parts of the level could have a hand rendered painted backdrop that plays on the images and colours of the foreground. This will make it feel rather relaxing and balanced. This also plays well into having a complementary and impactful environment for the level.
I would like to experiment with flat, hand painted backdrops juxtaposed to moving foreground buildings etc. I believe it could bring could make the foreground more versatile and impactful.
The legend of Zelda U
The legend of Zelda is a well-known, well-perceived and generally well accomplished series of video games. They have gone on to become a staple in Nintendo’s arsenal and has become a household name.
The upcoming game for the WII-U has an iconic looking style that is garish and harsh. However its bright colour scheme plays on its theme and mood and is well balanced with darker undertones and pockets of low key colours. The game itself look visually amazing, showcasing vibrant open fields and meadows done in a somewhat subtle hand rendered style. The hand rendered pop colour style is somewhat reminiscent of the Pop Art movement by using strong, bold shadows.
I believe that this is what the makes the game stand out, the ability to keep the detail and have a vibrant colour scheme.
The game itself has the ability to switch up the tempo of its levels. From sitting in a field and admiring to the view to suddenly getting attacked by a giant 8 legged monster. This dynamic style of gameplay keep the player engrossed and can help move the pace of the game. Therefore having sections where the puzzles are the most complicated detail to suddenly running for your life is what makes it engrossing.
I believe this is something we could apply to FMP. The ability to switch up the style of gameplay with puzzles and challenges will be beneficial, however I have to keep to think of ways of switching up the gameplay without adding to the list of work we already had to do!
Rime
Rime is an upcoming PS4 exclusive game. Similar in style to Zelda Wind Waker, the game has a rather minimal design that makes it fun for all ages.
The game itself has a rather blocky, open word feel to it. The bright open fields seem almost like one giant block of colour, until you see the subtle shadows and details panted in. However the mood and theme of the game is easily changed by the weather and the puzzles. This is done by using a dynamic colour scheme that switches in and out. Therefore having subtle and harmonious low key colour pallets that you switch between to showcase the gameplay.
This is a detail that it plays upon heavily to make it seem vast. I Believe playing with the weather could be a benifical mechanic that makes the game feel real and to showcase time has gone by. Nevertheless this is a mechanic that would have to be made and tested.
The minimal theme plays on the mood of the game, the idea that the character is quite nimble and quite makes you wonder where he came from and what the world is all about. The gameplay has a way of engrossing the player into finding out more and venturing into the distance to uncover the secrets of its world.
Personally I feel like this is a mechanic that should be used in out FMP. The idea is not to give the whole story away. You want to know if those creatures and friendly and where they originated from. I believe to achieve this with our FMP we have to come up with dynamic ways to engross the player in the environment, therefore leaving subtle hinds and clues to find out more about characters.