Final week: the end is already here

I went to the university this Tuesday; finalised last paperwork and had some quick advice on how to manage word count in my dissertation so I stay below the 9 or 10K word limit mark. Just want to make sure, I will remove the danger of getting penalised in case the word count does matter.
I have also been working on my practical stuff with an odd interruption now and again to sort either the submission materials or things related to exposition. I have also asked a friend of mine to start proof reading some dissertation material which is a great help.

Tomorrow is 12th of May and my first submission is due by 4pm. So far I have been concentrating on getting my practical stuff ready. I was not a 100% sure on what I should concentrate so chose to improve an overall environment art and then just try and implement everything in to a gameplay video created by Adobe After Effects since  most of the lecturers seem to always stress the interactivy part of the art within games.

In my opinion an updated environment art (see image below) looks better now as I have polished the overall look and introduced a lot of details, like texture, various patterns etc (see images below).

Overall look of the game art (above)

Texture application method using Emboss Layer (image above)

A lot of the basic texture came through the use of digital brushes that replicate traditional media look (image above). 

I have used Texture  brush settings to give canvas look (see image  above)and stayed away from applying texture on top of everything mainly because in previous tests it looked quite unnatural and too overpowering. 

To address the composition seen on a screen during gameplay, a variety of different shapes were introduced in the form of trees and bushes (marked in yellow), a rolling forest and foreground edge (marked in red) to give more variety and guidance for the eye. The forest line has also been intersected by a few curvy cloud lines (marked in green).
The onscreen image had also been broken in to four tone bands which balance an overall view (top and bottom): the lightness of the sky is counterbalanced by the dark middle ground at the bottom of the screen and protruding shadowy foreground elements are offset by the very bright clouds at the top of the screen. (see image below)

I have also finished UI design. Not a 100% happy with it but I am really pressed for time and this is the best I can come up with (see image below).

UI in game with inventory window closed (image above)

At the moment still working on the gameplay video, but I am sure it will not be fully completed by Monday 4pm. I chose to concentrate on showing the art rather than animations (e.g. character walking) and gameplay since the whole idea of my project is the about the look of the art and prove that it can work within a game environment. Animations would be a great thing to have but I do not have time to complete it atm.

That brings me to another point- presentation and an exposition next week. I will try to complete and polish the gameplay video for both of them. That means that I will continue doing my practical work after the dissertation hand in is done. I hope having things completed or nearly completed would help with my presentation as well as exhibition as I will be marked for both of them and I would like to get the best mark I can. I would love to have a chance to have an option of doing Masters later on.

Hardly any Dissertation work had been done this week. I managed to get some parts proofread by my friend for whom I am really grateful and I have already fixed grammar and spelling mistakes he has found. I will go back to dissertation after tomorrows hand in and will work on it until Wednesday morning or noon before sending it to be printed and bound.


I have also moved forward with promotional stuff I need to have for exposition. On Wednesday I have ordered 100 mini business cards with a range of different designs taken from my final project piece and a few postcards (see images below). Both of them should arrive by the 16th of May so it gives plenty time before the exhibition.

 I have also bought a printing credit from photobox for a poster size 30"x20". I will order it on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. That should give me enough time to receive it by Thursday morning. I am planning on having a large poster at the top showing off the game environment (have not made up my mind if I will have UI also displayed or not) and then a few A3 posters explaining a little my process and maybe some zoomed in examples to show off my brushwork etc (as the ones seen in this blogpost) At the moment also considering to dedicate one poster for my aim and objectives so people can have a quick look and read what my honours year project is about. It is a bit confusing what space I will have since I will be exhibiting at HMC and there is no detailed info about the wall space allocated when exhibiting there but this is a rough plan I have made (see image below).

And The Conclusion: how do I feel about my honours year project?...
I feel really happy that I have chosen this topic because it is of interest to me as well as I think it is one of the next steps the 2D videogame art is already taking (Braid by Jonathan Blow, Amanita design games and this month’s new release from Ubisoft 'The Child of Light'). I think the art of 2D video games is still evolving and has a long way to go. I feel it is time to try and give more choice and perhaps more quality for the videogame players. With my project I have only scratched the very surface of the topic and there is so much still left to explore. Feeling passionate about it has definitely made me more determined and more stubborn to try and do my very best, but at this moment in time I feel very tired and need to have a little break to rest and to think what I am going to do next. I still love videogames and certainly want to do something meaningful. Around 7 years ago I have made a conscious choice to change my life and pursue my goal of creating art again and I am not done yet. Hell!!! I  have just started and have a long way to go and I know, I will find things to do: I want to continue improving my art, learn a bit of programming  which would hopefully help me to create my own games and I will look for likeminded people to team up and create things; things that matter.

Collaboration options

On Thursday I have presented my honours year project idea and work to Abertay Game Development Society members to see if there was anyone who would be interested in working on a project together. I was in luck as two people approached me after the meeting and we had a chance to discuss some ideas. One of society members would like to develop a top down chessboard based game where a character and an enemy moves on the checked board while trying to get to their destination first and another one wants to try and develop an interactive storytelling game that had been inspired by a thriller novel by an English writer Frederick Forsyth 'The Day of the Jackal'.

I have also done some research for the assassination game idea. Since the game will start with an assassin arriving at the Aérodrome de Pontoise - Cormeilles and then journey in to the Paris with a car (journey is part of the game) I have used Google Maps to see what is the landscape in that area and what if any prominent features are there, perhaps what colours to use and of course note the details (types of road signs, driving cars on the right side of the road rather than the left, etc.) Also had a look at the architecture in Paris. (see images below)

Also this weekend going to watch 'The Day of the Jackal' movie directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Rest of the meetings I had this week were little less productive. There might be a one more option to collaborate with an 4th year GDPM student, however the person does not have an idea of what he would like to do/develop and is happy to do make a lot of prototypes for me. So now I will have to try and make a decision but before I do that I will try and get some advice from my supervisor tomorrow.

Also this week I have managed to complete a one more mock-up videogame screenshot somewhat based on my second year Game Design Document. To save time I chose to copy already existing games and just create my own assets. Used Orisinal game 'High Delivery' mechanics as an inspiration. Can find original game here:  http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/high.htm

I was trying to adapt the gameplay to my aforementioned game and attempt to recreate a watercolour look, at least for the environment. I think the paper texture is a bit too rough/pronounced and I should change it, but I do like how the clouds and the moon look in the uneven blue sky. Also I made a conclusion that actually trying to replicate a watercolour look and feel in digital form is a much more time consuming endeavour then in real life. Some of the patterns that form while adding paint to paper or when paint is actually drying have to be recreated separately and fine tuned using multiple steps while using software. It loses that watercolour hallmark of spontaneity which I like it so much. Basically the creation process becomes quite restrictive, repetitive, forced and time-consuming. It loses the charm of the 'happy accident' because there is none. I would say, a total opposite to using software for sketching, where the layers and the undo option makes things happen much faster without affecting final results especially if one chooses a brush that resembles a pencil or a felt tip pen.


I also thought it would be a good idea to actually try and digitally replicate some traditional painting. Just to get some practice and see how closely I can make my digital version to resemble what had been done on a canvas. I have found an image of a fairly simple oil painting. Reason for it, I was more concerned about showing evidence of a visible brushstroke on a large block of canvas than anything else. This is how far I have gone. (see image below)

 The original by José Salvaggio

My version

Note:  this painting is not finished yet and I did not pick the colours of the original using colourpicker tool.

I have experimented with a numebr of different digital brushes as well as with a sumge tool and paper/canvas texture. I think the texture ads a lot to the the realistic look/feel. Mainly because texture is hard to recreate especially when we are talking about the actual texture of paint mark/brush stroke on canvas.

 Here is the same digital painting  with the texture layers removed.

 I think it certainly looks more flat and digitally painted. I think the imperfections overall give a more naturalistic look. I think an eye subconsciously picks up the repetitiveness in digital art. For example digital brush strokes tend to be the same because it is a set tool (size, shape, opacity and other settings) I think varying brushes and their settings helps with achieve a  more natural look of a final peace. For example, I was trying to replicate a 'poppy' part of  'Chianti in Spring' painting by -by-Alexi-Zaitsev (see first image below) and the more I have varied the brushes and their settings the more digital version started  resembling oil on canvas. Note: did not try to replicate the colour but the texture only. (See images below)

Alexi-Zaitsev. Chianti in Spring. [online image]. Available from: http://www.artrussia.ru/pic_z/z478_110.jpg [Accessed 31 January 2014]

No texture added but a wide array of bushes used.

Papper/canvas texture added

I think the texture is too harsh. I think a softer setting would have made it look better, more realistic.

Same image as above but with a Find Edges layer overlayed on top of it.

Same image  but with a Stylise > Emboss layer on top.

I think the results are quite good. Just need to tweak some things on a layer texture to make it look more natural and use a variety of brushes while changing their settings. I think I might be on the right track here, but more work needs to be done. 

Reworking old game art ideas 3

I am back to reworking old game ideas and this time using a lot of my own brushes.

Here are some sketches that I did  while testing my brushes:

Pencil and Watercolour tests

Watercolour and Ink tests

Oil/Acrylic paints tests

And here is mock-up 'screenshots’ for the games:

Fianna

As I have mentioned in my previous post (week 7) I have decided to move back to using bright colours inspired by the original The Book of Kells (can also view it online at http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php by using search option ) and also re-watched The Secret of Kells (2009)* animation to see how they dealt with the art style that was also was inspired by the actual The Book of Kells. 

Columba, Saint (521-597) and Jones, Henry (1605-1682). The Book of Kells: Gospel of Matthew, Portrait of Christ. [online image]. Manuscripts & Archives Research Library, Trinity College Dublin. Available from : http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php [Accessed 5 January 2014]

The Secret of Kells. 2009. [online image] Available from: http://c8six.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/secret-of-kells.html [Accessed 5 January 2014]

Here is an image of work in progress with some colour reference (bottom right-hand corner) and changes to the background texture where I have tried imitating an old paper texture.

And here is a final image I came up with.

I think my new brush set definitely helped in producing a more of traditional media look, however the colour scheme and artwork ended up looking like the one from ‘The Secret of Kells’ animation even though it was not my intention. I think trying to replicate really closely actual Celtic art that can be seen in the real book of Kells is way too complicated, time consuming and possibly will not read well at all on a screen particularly for a game where player needs to see and understand what’s happening. If I was trying to do this type of art for my honours project I will need to really re-thing and re-design as well as test it more if it can work at all.

Conclusion: too complex and time consuming, won’t be using this art style for final production.

Books used for image references:

Bain, G. 1977. Celtic art: the methods of construction. Glasgow: Wm Maclellan Publisher

Courtney, D. 1988. The celtic art source book. Blandford.

Meehan, A. 1995. The dragon and the griffin: the Viking impact. Thames and Hudson

Meehan, A. 1995. The tree of life. Thames and Hudson

Dragonfly Dash

I've tried once  more to test the watercolour media look using a side view and see what I can do with the background plants: I wanted them to have that flowy watercolour look.

After considering art style from the actual gameplay view I have realised that it might be too confusing for a player to view it this way, as the background will get in a way: draw some unnecessary attention. Therefore, I have reverted back to the top down view and here is my final result.

I have used my custom brushes to create the final image: including the plant brush visible on a background). I think it looks much better than a previous attempt.  The player would have a feeling that there are certainly some plants below the flowers but the cool colour of the background makes it non-obtrusive. Flowers (obstacles which have to be avoided by the dragonfly) stand out well enough from the background by having warm and bright colours (reds, yellows) and the actual insects are black. Dragonfly is different from the other insects (dragonflies food) as it has red eyes and is much larger in size. Red trail drawn using stylus or finger shows the path it will travel.

The game art style design has traditional media look as I have used images of real ink stains on paper and converted them in to Photoshop brushes (the base of poppy flowers).

I think this game art version looks nice and could be taken foreword through in to semester 2 of my honours project.

NoBoy

Instead of continuing with my idea of an orchard I have decided to try an underwater scene instead.

Here is a thumbnail image of my initial idea for environment and character I have scribbled on my mobile phone.

Here is my first stage where I also tried applying a Bas Relief  filter effect (a technique I have found out about in one of the Digital Masters books) to create paint on canvas  texture. I was trying to imitate texture of traditional paint on canvas. See example image in my week 8 post by Alexander Sigov.

First version without the filter effect.

Second version with the filter added and layered on top of the original painting where you can see the texture somewhat reminiscent of paint brush texture created on canvas.

And here is a final image I was able to create.

I am really happy with the outcome. I think the Bas Relief  filter effect really adds to the traditional media look. I have changed the underwater plants slighlty: used different colour and black outline to indicate them as interactable objects. The main character supposed to have come from the stars, therefore I have created a 'star' brush and used it to add pattern on its body and that way show that he was not a regular creature. It also has a black outline since it falls in to the same 'interactable object' category and it was logical to make it stand out from the backgound. What I do realised now is that I need to look in to the game design and UI (User Interface) design in particular as I find it really hard to come up  with the game design logics and interaction therfore design suitable HUD (Head-up Display).

*  The Secret of Kells. 2009. [animated film]. Directed by Tomm Moore. Belgium, Ireland and France: Les Armateurs Vivi Film, France 2 Cinéma, Canal +, Cartoon Saloon.

Crit presentation feedback

Thursday Crit presentation went well. Just a couple of days before it I was worrying that I still do not have an aim or even a vision statement for my project. Luckily my conscious finally managed to make a connection in my head between all those ideas that I have been having last few weeks and I finally have a vision statement/aim: 'explore how traditional art practise can inform and enhance production of 2D game art assets'.

My final project goal stayed more or less the same: create art assets for a single game idea and try to implement them in to a test game or most likely a mock up playable level.

As my practical work I have shown all the images from my previous post. Feed back I have received was exactly as I have expected. I had been advised to tackle background and interactive assets issue: how to try and make it more easy for a player to distinguish which objects are interactive and which ones are not. also look more in to traditional art and see what I can bring it to my digital art project.

My further action points are:

• to continue literature research. At the moment i am looking in to art aesthetics and aesthetic theories.
• reiterate my previous practical attempts: change colour scheme and fix artwork for: Fianna, Dragonfly dash and Noboy games.
• make more practical tests: improve backgrounds, try and reproduce texture that is often seen in oil paintings. (see image below)

Alexander Sigov. [online image]. Available from: http://pinka.pl/pin/148714/Alexander-Sigov#.UukZWfnFJpg [Accessed 2 November  2013]

Also as the time goes by I am starting to realise that I will not have enough time to do any programing on my own if I really wanted to make a playable demo. In my opinion, it would be a much better outcome then having a video or a bunch of still images as a final peace therefore, if I really want the demo to happen I would probably have to get  someone else on board. It is a major step, as some of my previous experience shows, working with others or depending on others for projects is not an easy task. I might have to look at getting programmers or game designers on board.