Unit 16: Digital Art For a Media Product

JE10 - Task 2

To get me started on the general idea of the assets I wanted to create I produced some concept art

Sloped Rock

Fir tree

Oak tree

Boulder

I decided the best designs I sketched had to be the Sloped Rock and the Fir tree as they would both be easy enough to create in blender while still looking like Trees and rocks, I imagined that the rounded boulder would look too round in blender and wouldn't show off the rock shape I desired.

The first Step I took in blender in order to create my low poly rocks was adding an Ico Sphere object. As can be seen, the Ico sphere object is a nice round object that serves as a good starting point.

My second action was switching to sculpt mode and selecting the sculpt draw tool, After altering the ico sphere to the shape I was happy with I turned smooth shading on to see the results.

I was satisfied that I had made something that resembled a rock and thus copy and pasted the rock twice.

After repeating the previous steps on the two new identical rocks I sculpted them to their own shape.

When I was done I arranged the rocks so they would look natural when imported into Unity.

Using similar techniques I also created a low poly fir tree in Blender.

To begin I added a cylinder object, and turned the vertices down to six to give the shape a low poly look.

I then scaled the cylinder upwards and shrank the top.

I added five cuts into the object and puled the bases out.

This gave the general shape of the pine trees leaves.

I then added another cylinder and stretched out the base to make it look like a trunk, After colouring and merging the shapes the tree was complete.

After opening Unity and importing both my assets into Unity I set a scene and took a screenshot that I was happy with, This is the final Screenshot from Unity.

JE10 - Task 1

Primary Research for a Nature Exploration Game

For my Primary research on Nature Exploration games I created a survey on SurveyMonkey.com and tailored it suit the information I wanted to gather.

Based on the answers people gave me, people want to see an Open world Nature Exploration game with decent graphics and a combat system that they put a lot of time into made.

I was happy to see clear strong answers for certain questions such as if weapons an combat are necessary. With this information I can now create a game based around what the target audience for this genre want to see which in turn will make the game more successful.

Secondary research for a Nature Exploration game

After researching Nature Survival games and what defining features make them a part of this genre I decided that the best example I came across for a true Nature Survival game is...

The Forest!

The Forest is a survival horror game that falls under the category of Nature Exploration. As the lone survivor of a plane crash on a remote forest island you must survive and endure all the challenges mother nature and the mutated cannibal locals can throw at you. The game allows you to craft tools and weapons to defend yourself and carve out a safe haven amongst the dangers of the island, Tools like axes let you cut down trees and foliage which you can use to build bases and log huts, You can craft a fishing pole to catch fish to feed yourself and when night comes you'll need a weapon such as a bone mace (a crude mace consisting of a human skull strapped to a thick branch) to fend off the cannibals.

Due to the success of the game and the mechanics in the game, The forest is a very god example of a good survival or nature Exploration game, I believe if I used similar assets and gameplay elements my Nature exploration game would also be a success.

Sources:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/242760/

https://www.vg247.com/2014/01/24/the-forest-early-alpha-release-coming-to-steam-in-a-few-months-new-screenshots-are-spooky/

http://www.bitlanders.com/blogs/the-forestgamereview/4647588

JE9 - Task 2

Art Styles in Video Games

Many different art styles are used in Video Games. The majority of modern Video Games strive to be as photo realistic as possible as, usually, the general public consider the more realistic a game looks the "better" it is.

The game "The Witcher 3" Focuses on the life of a man named Geralt of Rivia, he is a hunter of sorts who hunts down and kills otherworldly beasts that threaten towns and villages, For a price.

Despite the fact that the game isn't realistic in the way it is structured the use of realistic graphics and an art style as close to photo realism as the technology used to create the game allows, Creates the opportunity to present a contrast between the games art style and gameplay. This helps unrealistic events and situations as it makes them seem and feel more serious due to them looking real, Players become immersed in the experience and in turn feel real emotions and reactions towards the things that happen in the games.

Borderlands 2 is a First person shooting game based around heroes saving their planet from an evil Mega corporation headed by a maniacal character who wants to unleash an ancient beast named the warrior that will destroy everything in sight. The game uses a cell shaded art style and doesn't strive to be too realistic, Many characters bodies are disproportionate for humor such as Mr Torgues entire upper body being almost double the size of his lower body due to him being an insane muscle man obsessed with explosions.

Because the game uses its over the top wackiness and adult humor as a selling point, realistic graphics wouldn't exactly help due to the humor getting quite dark at times. The above image shows body parts raining from the sky as the characters Lilith and Maya fist bump each other and imitate explosion sounds. The ridiculousness of this situation can be seen as humorous as the art style makes sure the scene isn't too gruesome.

Borderlands is known for its classic cell shaded art style and is instantly distinguishable from games like The Witcher 3 when compared side by side. It is due to to this fact that many games in a franchise keep the same art style and simply improve upon it whenever a new game in the franchise is released.

Sources:

http://wccftech.com/witcher-3-awesome-screenshots/

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1043668

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/borderlands_2/screenshot-18.html

http://www.snackbar-games.com/reviews/borderlands-2-mr-torgues-explosions-anyone/

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/borderlands_2/b/pc/archive/2011/08/17/bullymongs-attack-in-new-borderlands-2-screenshots.aspx

JE9 - Task 1

Websites

Final Fantasy is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Based around groups of heroes banding together to defeat life threatening monsters and save the realm (multiple times) The game is available through a monthly subscription and player retention is a huge part of Square enix's (The Developers of the game) marketing of the game.

The official promotional website for Final Fantasy 14 has multiple informative pages about the game, featuring reviews and ratings from various sources praising the quality of the game.

FFXIV-FreeTrial.com

Presenting a free trial almost immediately entices visitors of the site into downloading the game, Knowing they can skip straight to the experience and form an opinion for themselves is a very effective marketing tool.

The website also holds many "Beginners guides" to ease prospective players into the idea of the game. Having an idea of the mechanics and workings of the game before even buying it makes possible customers feel like they know about the product before they own it, Which in turn makes it more likely they will purchase the game.

Some of the pages show various copies of the game and the platforms the game will run on, Existing players do not need any of this information as they already own and have formed an opinion on the game already.

The Lodestone

Final Fantasy 14 Gives players more flexibility with their items, gear, stats and attributes using the games tailored website "The Lodestone". Here players can check what their friends in game have been up to through the feed on the lower right hand side, Players can schedule events on the right hand side calendar and invite in game friends to these events, The Lodestone will then email everyone attending the event when the date nears. The amount of in game currency and items held can be viewed also.

Unlike ffxiv-freetrial.com, The Lodestone is an online add-on to Final Fantasy 14 it serves as another window into the games world and helps players manage their experience. Both of these websites help the game Final Fantasy 14 in certain ways but different customers will use different sites for different things.

Game

Here are some images and a link to a 9 second long video showcasing the art style and layout of the Final Fantasy 14 User interface and In game assets, in game.

For better viewing Use this link; https://giant.gfycat.com/FlusteredCoordinatedEmperorpenguin.webm

As you can see the font used in game and icon design are identical to that used on the The Lodestone and ffxiv-freetrial.com, using the same font and art style as the game on the websites makes players of Final Fantasy 14 feel like the game is properly integrated into the websites and ensures the act of logging into The Lodestone or visiting ffxiv-freetrial.com doesn't feel disconnected from the game, Achieving this gives players a more active role in how they tailor their experience which in turn leads to a more enjoyable experience.

Art Style

Final Fantasy 14 has a distinct art style, The characters and their movement/expression are very animated and take heavy influence from the art styles of Japanese pop culture such as anime.

The similarities are shown in game such as big eyes and cat features on certain races like the Miqote (Cat people) a craze that is highly popular in Japan.