Art Test- 2D Character Concept Art- Monkey Island TellTale Games- Week 2

Second week of Art Tests, I worked with my final design, first creating a model sheet for the human form...

I tried to take on a 3D modeler's perspective, as my character's in a loose patchwork coat, the body underneath would often be seen, so I presented that and a size comparison. I considered having the bag on a seperate sheet, but though it would be easier to have it all on a large image.

For the character sheet

I tried thinking more from a riggers point of view, butting bones in the beard for animation's sake. Some very loose sketches explaining posture and overall feel.

The twilight form, where my shopkeeper takes on the form of a seasnail...

The chest on the back I thought could use some different perspectives.


The character sheet here serves to illustrate the jokes to be had at its expense, expressions and player interaction.

The character piece, with of course some reference from yours truly, mainly for gesture and expression.




A line and block-in, I wanted to include the snail form and have some duality in the composition, but the forms being so different in shape, I couldn't find a way of having the two with it looking balanced, explored in very tough pencil thumbnails.



To the value and colour passes. I received some critique about focal point and value, the lighting needing to direct the eye, the gems needing to be pulled out a little more, so going back to the value layer and adding some highlights and experimenting mildly with a texture brush...



I was concerened this would obscure the character, but it adds far more mood. Im full aware environments should be something I practice in future, some texture studies wouldn't go amiss either. On to the next Art Tests!
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Mazes and Labyrinths- Research


Beginning with the theme of Mazes and Labyrinths, I scrawled a mindmap listing games that could be associated with mazes.

Sprawling game worlds with twists and turns, like Middens which can serve as a true maze, something to explore for explorations sake with multiple strange landscapes and rooms. "Metroidvania" like games, large sprawling 2D maps that require players to backtrack to places they've been with newly acquired skills, Cave Story being a favorite. Any game with a dungeon, with puzzles to solve, like Legend of Zelda which in itself, has moments throughout the series where you must follow a path to get through maze-like areas.

Games with multiple paths, endings or routes are also to be considered, the player's navigation of their play depending on their choices, which route they take. The game Virtue's Last Reward features 28 different endings and can be compared to a multicursal maze, the player swapping timelines and alternative universes to piece together information. Ace Attorney where you play as a lawyer, navigating text and options to defend or prosecute, wading through options to find the right answer - any sort of mystery game can be included here, like the live action game Contradiction. Undertale which features different paths can also be seen this way, solving puzzles and navigating the game world.

Horror games that see the player trying to traverse environments and avoid abyssal monsters, comparable to the story of the Minotaur in the way a beast lurks within. Games that feature actual mazes like Pacman and many older arcade games revolve around the concept of a maze. Roguelikes with randomly generated dungeons  can also be considered.

With this in mind, the term "Metroidvania" could be explored, open ended platforming, action games that focus on the navigation of large game maps, often with puzzles, enemies and items to collect. From reading a Gamasutra article, indie developers see this subgenre as "timeless" as its core mechanics of exploration, character improvement, platforming and combat are highly compelling. If we look at this idea of character improvement, getting stronger through traversing a maze, perhaps a link can be made to church mazes, monks shuffling on their knees whilst praying in penance. To prove devotion, strength, by suffering or going through this ordeal, you'll come out stronger- mazes as a challenge, mazes aid self-improvement.

Exploration is key to "Metroidvania", as players are exploring the world themselves, not being led by scripted events, a player can feel more in control and therefore immersed, character upgrades see ensure enjoyment out of new discoveries right up to the end. Discovery is another crucial aspect that makes these games fun, forging their own path...

"I think it's extremely important that players guide themselves because, ultimately, it is something the player should do. Personally, I prefer, instead of going to a park to play, I would rather go to ruins to play. Because you can think, feel, and search, for yourself, your own way to play,"

 Daisuke Amaya 2011- creator of Cave Story

 "Nothing is more exciting than possibility"- Matt White

 Making discoveries and forging your own path, my own primary research here, playing Undertale, I went into it "blind" making a lot of discoveries myself and choosing my own way of playing the game, choosing which path to follow. This constant decision making underlines what Espen Aarseth describes in his book "Cybertext" where he talks about the concept of Ergodic Literature:

 "Nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text....each decision will make some parts of the text more, and others less, accessible". 

 An example of Ergodic Literature is the ancient Chinese classic I-Ching, a divination text that influenced Religion, Business, Literature and Art to name a few. It had a specialised way of reading in cleromancy, casting lots, the four numbers 4, 5, 6 and 9 were turned into a hexagram, then looked up in the book. 

 Aarseth goes on to say...

 "I refer to the idea of a narrative text as a labyrinth, a game, or an imaginary world, in which the player can explore at will, get lost, discover secret paths, play around, follow the rules...."

 Later within his book, he goes on to cite Penelope Reed Doob, who wrote "The idea of the Labyrinth: Metaphorical Labyrinths of Classical Antiquity" which explored the complex artistry and the important metaphor and motif that is the Labyrinth during the Middle Ages. She herself went on to cite Virgil (70- 19 BC) in that the multicursal and unicursal types of maze, are in fact one in the same. The artistic order and chaos and impenetrability, the shift from confusion to perception- this could be linked to solving puzzles in games. From a narrative point of view it could also include any plot twist ever, and when considering the concept of the oragami unicorn- within the book Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide  by Henry Jenkins, one could easily backtrack the way they came, to make more sense of a narrative.

 An example to tie this together, the game Nier has Shades that you must kill, a second playthrough however gives the player the ability to understand what they're saying, and reveals these "monsters" to be much more human with their own backstories and identities, the duo you just killed were a child and guardian, you just murdered a young women and her friends- therein lies the oragami unicorn, the player rethinking their actions, yet in this game there is no option to spare. Not every game can be Undertale!

 Maze as narrative and play are interesting threads I may follow up soon. 

   

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Art Test- 2D Character Concept Art- Monkey Island TellTale Games- Week 1

Project Monkey Island: Lost Cove 

 Project Description Telltale is creating a new installment in the Monkey Island franchise. Following on from its successes with Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. Lost Cove features a mechanic where the player can switch between normal day time and a mystical and spooky twilight dimension. 

 Task Requirements: Design a shopkeeper character that resides in a remote underwater sunken temple. You don’t know how they get custom but they are surprisingly happy with their situation. 

 Design and present both their normal and twilight state. 

 Task Specification ❖ Model Sheet ❖ Character Sheet ❖ Concept Painting
Having chosen this art test to get into some character design, I started out by scribbling some loose doodles to vent some preliminary ideas, research the visual style and understand the world of the game- will what I design fit into this universe?

I looked into existing designs and TellTale concept art, studying what kinds of characters already exist as a point of reference.



I was really quite taken with LeChuck the zombie pirate, who has many different forms throughout the series; its interesting to look at how that may influence my character's two forms. The ferrymen, a more supernatural character, I felt had a compelling design, an emphasis on curves seems paramount throughout the art direction of this game.

I wanted my shopkeeper to have an interesting quirk, like finding and keeping notes in bottles, displaying them. Among my first ideas, I liked the idea of a sea hag who was a beautiful mermaid by day, but monstrous in the twilight- or a thespian ghost who by day would pretend (poorly) to be a human by wearing a mask and a cape. There's a lot of comedy in the characters and world of Monkey Island, so I wanted my character to have a joke or gag tied to it, something Guybrush Threepwood could play with in an interesting way.

I got on a created some silhouettes.




Having only just learned the joys of the softbrush, this silhouette out of those I'd chosen and scribbled over stood out the most. I was really fond of the squat body and angular, thin arms, the backback roll also gave me an idea...


Scribbling these two forms out, I liked the idea of my salesman being some form of seasnail by twilight, his huge bagpack filled with wares becoming a snailshell. The idea of Guybrush making puns about my "Snailsman" who could've once been a "snailor" amused me too much not to push the idea forward.

From here I started iteration, focusing on head design to lead the rest of the character.


I was really fond of the original face, but decided upon the bearded head as I thought it was the most expressive, appearing as a more well-kept person- I also like the idea of attaching a snail shell to his beard.


Having a clearer idea of the head, I had little idea about the rest of the body, so did some quick sketches playing with shape and posture. A more sort of "Gollum" like crouched posture appealed, yet a more sophisticated, taller, thinner character also seemed like it could work, a little like the Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask.





I eventually made the head more disheveled, extending the beard and adding nautical paraphenalia, however a compass monocle was an idea I quite enjoyed. I then played with body shapes, posture, costumes and colour.


Putting different objects on the backpack could really add some dynamics to the overall silhouette- I was most fond of No. 3 as of the sleeves and position, I feel he's be really tall but permanently crouching under the weight of his wares. I was fond of the sombrero, but preferred the hat from No. 2 due to the interesting shape.



   I like the idea of the coat being patchwork, handstitched from loose scraps taken from what washed into the cove, anything he finds being anything he sells. The hat he wears would have a coin attached, the first he found and what he took as a sign to become a salesman. I wasn't originally too keen on more rustic colours, so tried a more clownish palette.

However, I went back to my original colours, I just removed the blue and opted for purple instead.

I then started work designing the Twilight form, that of a snail. I imagined this "spooky twilight realm" to be like that in A Link to the Past, where people animals reflective of who they are, a sea snail in this guy's case.


Sketching out head designs for this form, I opted with the highest one, though a barnacle beard could've been a quirky feature.

I wasn't sure about placeent of the hat and originally wanted it held aloft by his right eye, but now think it better on his left to make the overall shape more harmonious.


I then started playing with shell designs, but felt the first, more traditional shell would fit the world of Monkey Island better and keep with the similarities of the human rucksack.

The interest would therefore be in the details, adding crystals to the barnacles and then a whole treasure chest, flag and seaweed. This I feel more comic and fitting.


I wanted colder colours for the twilight form, to contrast the human one and fit better with the them. I went with the bottom right as I felt it worked the best. Im quite keen on the idea of my snailsman sellking things that latch onto his shell, heeping his earnings in his chest. All things to be explored in the character sheet!

The human's bag I went back and redesigned, scribbling some loose shapes to the detail.


I now have enough to work on model sheets, character sheets and a final illustration, shall get on!
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Tying up Interactivity

Having received feedback and reflecting upon previous play testing, I've decided to keep the glitch in the game.

Having watched an Extra Credits video on the concept of mechanic as metaphor, something I've really tried to push with my game, I now see this bug as an extension of the message. You can literally be dislodged from the world, be free-falling, but you can still make progress. You just have to find another way of working. How can you make this work for you?

I very much felt incapable, dislodged and like I was perpetually free-falling when making this game due to my own mental health being at an all time low due to many factors- this bug is highly reflective of what I've faced and what many others have and do. The point is, you push on regardless, despite how broken and disorientating everything may feel.


Adding the above prompt among the others into the game, I've also added the exit gate, and a small rock- placed at the bottom of the pit as a tongue-in-cheek "rock bottom".

The fact Ennui sets you back to the beginning isn't always a bad thing, it fixes "the glitch", and sometimes starting back at square one can give you the perspective you need to move forward.

Also, going back to the art game "loneliness"  and seeing how there's no narrative present, it leaves the player to create their own, is rather like what I've done. There is an objective given, but little else, players are to explore and experience the game in their own way. I've had one playtester use "the glitch" to their advantage, to further explore the game, and in fact, do so easier as the walls no longer hold them back. An idea present in another Extra Credits video is whilst developing the game, all devs should consider what it is their exploring whilst developing, leading to cohesive development. I've been exploring the ups and downs of depression, the game world itself being an emotional landscape, of climbing up or sinking below, climbing up from the depths being quite difficult and taking time.

The game Spec Ops The Line  which didn't have the budget to compete with games like COD, used its disadvantage to create a game that served to critique the genre, the game being about PTSD and ridiculing the idea of pretending to be a hero in a virtual environment, when the reality is far more macabre. It reflects PTSD through disassociating the player with their actions through mechanics and gameplay, players feeling as its a game they must shoot their enemies, however through loading screens the game guilts the player for their actions- reflecting the cognitive dissonance the protagonist would have for his violent actions. The game breaks the 4th wall a lot, it reaches beyond the game and to the player themselves, engaging them in a very direct way. Metaphorical mechanics have large impacts on players.

***Play-testing***

With all features in my game now collated, I decided to get it playtested one more time. My tester, at the pit to rock-bottom, actually chose to float down to investigate, the only player to have done that so far. She was very engaged, and really enjoyed mode swapping and how the Notions each had something different to say in different worlds. In this version of the game however the killzones were not big enough, so appearing in "the void" was still an issue, the feature of slipping through the world actually helped and was enjoyed! Some visual feedback from the harp could be good when its used, maybe even a sound clip! The lights were hard to find, which is intentional, but maybe a Notion to underline this and make it seem intentional would be good, perhaps some more arrows as well as it was rather difficult to navigate and the prompts were hard to see so may need some replacement.

Other than that, it was engaging! An Easter Egg of sorts (a prompt holding a light at the beginning which if you fade through you can collect) was found which was an interesting feature the tester revealed to me. The Notions she felt were neither good or bad, not on her side but with no power to hurt her. A main feature was that the harp was very hard to find, I may add some more clues.

I'll tweak these features in Timor, before testing it again!
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Preliminary Essay Research

During a lecture we were re-briefed on our piece of Academic Writing, in which we compare games of today to entertainment of the past, with the following categories to look into:

-Books and Comics

-Art, Animation and Film

-Fairgrounds, Amusement Parks or Themeparks

-Arcades and Parlour Games

-Board games and Cards

-Circus and Arenas

-Mazes and Labyrinths

-War Games and Sport

But I'm also going to add Theatre to this (we theatre students die hard, Ibsen, Artaud and Brecht still course through my veins)

We were tasked to swiftly venture up to the library, to hunt down two quotes from two books on one of the duos above, and how the context or history of that subject affects contemporary game culture. Having picked bourd games and cards, I discovered the book "The Right Way to Teach Chess to Kids" by Richard James (2013) which housed the interesting passage...

"...whether your main priority is just to teach them a game they can play for a couple of years at school, to use chess to make your kids smarter, to develop beneficial character traits, or to give them a long term interest."

I thought this an applicable comment on when to introduce kids to games, complex rules of the game engaging kids, much like complex worlds and stories could expand a child's mind. Childhood and the affects games can have could be an interesting thread to follow.

I also found "The Card Games Bible" by Hamlyn which discusses playing cards, the games to be played with them and how these card games bring people together socially...

"Women and men from all walks of life were soon playing card games at home and in taverns. New games - and different decks of cards - were rapidly invented in every region as the popularity of playing cards spread across Europe and went on to cross the Atlantic."

I feel a connection could be made here with how card games brought together a whole host of different people and how mobile games appeal to a wide range of people, from all walks of life. Online MMOs bring together a grand spectrum of people from all over the world - games unite us. This could also be something to further explore in different modes of play, how arenas, sports and films unite people, the social aspect of play. There was a mode in Super Smash Bros Brawl where you could choose to bet on who would win an online match for example, rather like arena fights.

Another point I'll note doubt, I'm rather interested in virtual spaces of games. The map layout and digital landscape of Majora's Mask's Clock Town is something I used to love exploring as a kid, and still do and can as an adult! This could be compared to a digital doll's house of sorts, your interactions however being played out before you, feedback being more meaningful as actual events are taking place, not merely being imagined. Games in comparison to older, perhaps archaic toys could also be an interesting topic to delve into. Further, broader research is needed however!
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Specialism- Anatomy Project

After our Interactivity project and a week long game jam (that I missed due to some really horrible medical reasons, will deffo be catching up on that!) we were then set self directed projects, to practice the area in which we want to specialise in. I've chosen 2D concept art and focused on anatomy, using this project to practice rendering value and colour, as well as learning joins, bones and muscle groups.

I also did brief research into jobs, finding a junior concept artist role at EA, a concept art job at sega and internships at Jagex, King and Ronimo.  Jagex were looking for people who are...

  • Talented - and have a strong eye for form, shape and colour
  • Proficient in Photoshop
  • Able to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary art team to help bring environments to life
  • Self-motivated, smart and a fast learner
  • Interested in games
Whereas the junior role at EA...

A Junior Concept Artist's portfolio should demonstrate the following: 
• Strong traditional art skills 
• A strong ability to draw in perspective 
• A strong ability to think in three dimensions 
• Great use of light and shadow 
• A good grasp of concept development and design 

All demand brilliant technical skill and a mastery of the fundamentals, an eye for detail, knowledge of anatomy, architecture and lighting etc.

However, whilst looking through the plethora of roles in these big companies, it was whilst looking at the smaller companies like Compulsion Games makers of Contrast, Owlchemy Labs who're working on a great VR title entitled Job Simulator whose ethos is in the creation of "absurd and highly polished games" that I felt a much stronger connection to. Personally, I'd adore to work in a smaller, tightly knit group where my role would cover more than just one specific thing: being a general artist of 2D and 3D appeals to me, of course I couldn't find such roles advertised, but it's something I felt strongly as researching. Indie is where I feel I'd love to go! So I must definetly partake in Game Jams with friends and other groups, acquire much more experience!

So, I started to familiarise myself with human anatomy, starting with sketches looking into bones and muscle groups.





I also started practicing gestural drawing, something I'd like to make a regular habit, like a morning warmup! 



I then moved onto value studies...


I also tried a colour study, my first time trying to render human skin! I've recieved critique suggesting use of slight colour burn for shadows as the colours are off, but I'll practice and refine further!


And another colour study where I started with value and used an overlay layer!


I need to work on getting things a bit more accurate, and this way of colouring I've heard is frowned upon, as one should actually use colours opposed to painting over; but I'd never tried and wanted to give it a go. I should've really attended some life drawing classes and perhaps tried a life painting! I did have a model booked but complications arose. I enjoyed scratching the surface of anatomy and know I've a very long way to go, but I'll practice and further my knowledge!
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Workshop 3

Within this weeks workshop, we started to be introduced to colour, and methodologies behind using it effectively. Hue and saturation shifts being key, how there are colours that make up objects that you might not necessarily think is there, how different lights have different effects on the colour of objects.

Doing a line sketch, value, local colour block in and eventually a colour render...


I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to on this task...but all good practice, I decided to do a colour study to practice these techniques further....


This I feel was far morse successful, yet realise the coat could and should have a greater variety of tones, hues and values and that certain areas are too dark, a paint over from my tutor underlined this...


The background has been improved and I like his use of brushmarks that makes the peice feel more alive, definetly something to consider in the future, shall practice further with colour!
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