Year 2 Research / Log for game

This project we are asked to create a game mainly focusing on the mechanics of the game and the core game style.  I have started to look at certain games with the 3d and 2d look to them, also looked in the core game style of them and what sort of mechanics they have with them.

I have looked into terraria and i have looked at how the could of been created, the mechanics of the game and the core game style. I am recently playing terraria so i am very familiar with the game aspects which we are meant to cover within the project and apply within our own game. Terraria is a 2d sandbox which has no win or loss factor to it, so is it a game? I would say no because a game with a win or loss factor is because you are able to achieve the win the game or not. However terraria on the other hand does not, due to its massive exploration and repetitive game style it is not classed as a game, it is a sandbox. The main objective of the game is to collect certain items, such as go mining and get ores which ables to upgrade certain weapons to help you survive. The game has spawning feature, however allows you to choose a certain mode to play on which gives you different out comes on your items when dieing.



Journey is another exploration game where you go through different environments and survive. However at the end of the game if you repay it the story will change. I found out the second i played it that i was helping other people survive not figuring out myself. The game allows you to roam freely and choose your own path ways. It is more about the exploration on the story.
The art style within the game is very unique because the environment and objects within the game have been drawn digital and then put into a game as sprites. The art is done using many different medias, however the most popular one would be photoshop due to its extended software uses and professional tools added to the software to give you better quality work.

Art Styles

I have started to look in  depth with the core art style of the game and what i would like mine to be like. I have looked at game such as trine which is a 2d platform game, However has a 3d effect to it with give it depth and a optical illusion look.  The colours also are very vibrant and colourful which makes it look very aesthetically and attracts you to the game.

I like the game art of terraria because it is very simple texture but makes the game very addictive. The textures are simple but there i many different colour to make it very aesthetically pleasing.

The texture of the objects can be very simple or high resolution like the game  elder scrolls online.



The elder scrolls online is a exploration game which has had detailed textures which give a different aspect to the game, for instance it gives and more serious feel to the game and gives it depth unlike terraria. Elder Scrolls online is 3d game so it has had to time and effort put into it so the out come will become much greater.



Log and Medias 

Log: For the first week i started to do a mind map and come up with some thoughts and process for my game. I started to choose what my game way going to be able as a basic thought and came up with the ideas of an exploration / puzzle game.

For the second week of my project i started to sketch down certain ideas and designs for character and environments. I know that my game was going to be a exploration game to i chose to d different environments such as a desert , jungle and waterfall styled one to give it a imaginative idea.

The third week, instead of focusing on my environments i started to come up with monster ideas and character for my main character within the game. I used the game call binding of Issac to reefer back to when coming up with ideas because the game has many different and unusual monster / character through out the game which helped. I look at the monster and then started to do some pages of my own ideas instead of relating it to the game.

The Four week of the project i started to look at the art styles of what my game could be portrayed as and what types of medias i was going to use to do that. I started to look at photoshop because i wanted my game to have a cartoon effect but also have depth and tone to the characters and environment so i thought photoshop would be a great media to use. However i still wanted to experience using other media so i and a go at using acrylic paints for my a jungle environment and also used pencil, to sketch out ideas do do some final pieces with. I personal found acrylic paints quite hard to use, however this will not stop me from practising with them and become more found of how they are applied on paper and the techniques used to portray certain piece of Art.

Week five was the week of where i started to produce my final design pieces of my game i mainly focused on the art style of the game, environments and character because i think that i can be able to explain for about my game with the key aspects in it.

 Week 6 / 7 was where i started to finish off my work and look at what i could improve so it will be easier to self evaluate my work. I also started to think about how i was going to present my work on the board to present to my tutor. Then i mounted all my work to present to my tutor and explained about my game and the final designs.