Before diving into the deep end and creating anything awesome, I decided to moodboard some ideas for the exterior and interior sides of the level.
This consisted of searching the web… more so Pinterest to pick some visually and aesthetically pleasing images to work towards and to more or less give me a visual interpretation of what I want to create…. Basically an image in my head that I can recreate.
The majority of the images I have chosen have a specific target audience and demographic. They’re all somewhat have a vibrant art style that is based on cinematic animations. I would like replicate the art style seen in these images within FMP, creating a cinematic universe that seems almost like a Ghibli movie.
The Mood and tone of these selected images are derived by a handful of factors. One of the main factors is their use if vibrant colours.
The bright garish yellows juxtaposed to the earthly greens is complementary and harmonious. The somewhat over exaggerated colour palettes use a mix of mid and high key colours that create a city that is empty yet feels so alive.
This is done due to the tone and accents of the lights and shadows, on closer inspection you can see that the sky is not just white but a baby blue that is shown in the shadows and the yellow highlights shown in the god rays and where the light bounces of objects. This gives the scene a rather natural feel to it as well as playing on the mood and subtle balance of the scenes themselves.
Nonetheless images all have a rather subtle cell shaded render to them which heavily plays on the cartoon side, making them almost childlike and playful.
Judging by the use of pop colours and a good mix between them and harmonious colours, I would further investigate the use of colour and experiment it throughout the course of my FMP. I would also go as far as to use a limited colour pallet and pop colours to draw a player into certain parts of the environments and use them to subliminally show a goal or point of interest.
Another factor that sets the mood of the images is the busy tone of them all. As you have gathered most of the images that I have chosen are cities and to some extent high rise, congested buildings. However due to the bright and playful colour scheme it does not feel like a congested and jammed city. I believe the busy and chaotic feel makes the exterior more explorable and will also slow down the gameplay as the player would want to see it in all its beauty.
I believe this could help with puzzle solving as it showcases that the environment seems open and that the busy tone makes you feel like there is multiple ways to navigate, when
In fact there is really not. Furthermore I believe it will make the levels feel more symmetrical and tactile.
Overall I feel like I have found a unique genre that can be portrayed rather well in a game, however getting the colours, shape size and scale of the environment is key to pulling this off. I believe to truly make the environment feel alive we have to make the mood and tone of the environment fell like its living too. To achieve this goal I would I want to slow down the gameplay and let the player focus on the intricate details from dripping pipes to moving fans to leaves blowing in the wind….maybe I’m overthinking this is a goal I would like to achieve.
The first striking image is by an artist called Chong FeiGiap. A digital artist and Illustrator based in Malaysia. He is best known for his detailed Illustrations of Asian Cityscapes.
The first striking thing about this image was the verticality of the piece. The compelling verticality shows the sheer size and scale of the environment which it’s based. Even though it’s a view of two buildings and one in the distance, the viewer cannot help but feel a sense of vertigo.
This done by having two key elements to showcase the size and scale. The first being the character in the foreground on the bridge, one cannot help but wonder where she has come from and if she where to look down how far it would descend.
The other being the tram line overhead, the point is that it’s usually associated with taking you to the top of a mountain or ski slope. The idea that it has buildings overshadowing it showcases the sheer scale of the surroundings.
I do concur that the verticality would offer a much needed depth to a level, I strongly believe that as students we make a level long but not tall, therefore we travel forward more than we travel upwards and this makes a game feel boring. I would like remember this piece of advice and when moving onto level design I would like to add it in.
Another interesting factor of the image is its use of pop colour to show pipes and wires among the vivid buildings. The bright grey tone added to the pipes make them pop and it showcases the movement within the piece. To me this is a strong way of leading the player or to show a piece of the puzzle. For example the gate could be locked and the only way up is the pipe.
I do believe the layout of the environment is important and the way that Chong FeiGiap has placed parts of the environment is key to creating verticality and depth to an image. I would like to emulate the way he has done this by using common objects to refer to size and scale. As well as his use of pop colours to show off points of interest.
Chong FeiGiap, Girl in the window.
What made this piece stand out for me was the depth and composition. The way that your eye is lead from one rooftop to another is significant in the design. You start of by seeing the distance between the two buildings in background and your eye leads you down the rooftops to the fore ground where you notice the female in the window.
This is a rather simple technique when it comes to composition and layout. I believe it also works for level design and can be used to guide a player to a goal. It also works backwards. For example you see the tower in the distance as a long term goal and the building in the foreground is a reachable goal, so you decipher that you need to reach it and your eyes almost instinctively find the route of the rooftops.
I believe that this technique will be benefice when it comes to level design and creating an environment based around compelling level design. I would like to further investigate the theory of level design and more so the science and how to lead a player unwillingly to their goal.
Another key point to notice in this piece is the angle of the shot. The use of rule of thirds makes the piece feel rather symmetrical and ordered yet when you notice the roofs are made of metal sheets you feel the chaotic mood and undertone of the environment.
Almost as if you need to get to that tower but it’s an uphill battle. This is a way to slow down time to show almost the juxtaposition between the classes or races.
I do consider that this could be used in FMP. Understanding and getting a focal point in the distance as a workable goal would make the gameplay rather linear.
I would also deliberate the cinematography of the game, therefore having wide angled shots like this from windows to showcase your next goal or to show that the player is constantly moving forward.
Chong FeiGiap lady on the street outside of a building
This piece by Chong showcases the style in which I see the game being portrayed. A game where the camera will change to show good cinematography as well as showcasing the assets created.
The way you’re almost lead up the roofs in a diagonal motion shows that the image can be broken down into simple shapes and easily interpreted. The devil being in the detail however.
The detail in this print is rather subjective, the way the greenery is used as a pop colour sublimely showcasing the pipe, then leading your eye along a path of roofs is rather spectacular. In my child like imagination I want to climb the pipe on to the roof and across the ledges.
This sense of fulfilment is done by having clean composition, therefore the right side of the print is clean and not so distracting. This would be rather hard to achieve in a game.
I do however believe to achieve this id need to understand the juxtaposition of assets and where to place key parts to get intense and immersive level design.
Nonetheless this would be easier said than done when you’re planning to make a dense and compact city.
Evgeny Lushpi is a celebrated Russian artist whose work is well known globally. His is traditional still life and landscape style greatly influenced by the Russian realism school, is second to none.
The complex rendering of texture, light and attention to detail is amazing.
Unlike the rest of the images I’ve chosen this one has a rather strong colour scheme which as a collective group we were inspired by. More so the mood created by the usage of orange and blue.
The warmth of the orange is strong and garish compared to the cold felt by the blue in this piece.
This is used especially well when one is to show the lighting and warmth in all the windows whilst the other is used to showcase the rain and miserable cold weather. A rather attractive juxtaposition.
The way the two colours complement each other is harmonious and causes a sense of drama.
This is done by having a variety of low-mid and a high key colours that is limited.
If you pay close attention you soon see that the pop colours in this piece are red and green, and these are used to a minimal effect. Even the background is made of blues and oranges to almost create a purple. The pop colours themselves are more or less accents of the orange and blue.
I do recognise that using a limited colour palette is rather problematic. This is down to the key fact that to create convincing scene, one must use colour and light to guide a player. Nevertheless I would like to experiment with using a simple colour palette like this one. Possibly even using a two different colour pallets for the interior and exterior.
The final print is by Art director Zhichao Cai has ridiculously vertical compositions, featuring incredibly pushes perspectives, impossible architecture and a plethora of detail
As an art director at the Hangzhou, China based Gamecox, his emphasis is on creating striking worlds via his knack for environment painting, which he's really damn good at.
The piece here has rather distinct feature that took me by surprise and that is the pure detail that’s in the city. The composition and layout is simple yet the amount of assets in the scene makes it detailed and chaotic.
The rule of thirds can be applied to the piece making it almost symmetrical yet not ordered.
The more detail that a piece has the more you linger on each piece, the more it slows down game time. I believe this is rather big factor for us with FMP. The ability to manipulate gameplay with subliminal assets and pop colours as well as detailed pieces of design.
Moving on the piece use an almost gradient like colour scheme, from being lighter at the top and gradually getting darker on the way down. This design choice leads the eye and the colour towards the more interesting points and to me shows how a limited colour palette could be a rather useful tool.
The heavy greenery also makes the scene feel somewhat alive and moving, if this knowledge could be applied to our FMP I believe we could create a rather vast and living city.
Overall I feel like this piece is a stand out and to me it’s a very influential towards FMP. I would like to recreate parts of the scene to see how they would apply in a more 3D stand point.