by Annie | Mar 9, 2011 | Game Design, Illustration Station
Creating art that effectively communicates gameplay is hard. Not only must functionality and aesthetics work hand in hand, but the visual style must be strong enough to withstand round after round of iteration on game mechanics. Early in preproduction, we knew we had a strong mechanic: a character that throws balls and deflects them with his head to break blocks. However, everyone on the team and everyone we pitched the concept to imagined the game differently. Thus, the art went through several iterations to get to its current state, and certain aspects of the visual style are still undergoing further iteration. One of the earliest art mockups consisted of a small blockheaded character surrounded by blocks and environmental hazards on a single screen. We soon realized that our character needed to communicate more movement, and that perhaps gameplay would extend beyond a single screen. With this mockup, we started to get a sense of the environment around the gameplay. After some experimentation, we created a more whimsical concept, this time with a bolder look and a more memorable character. After further discussions on art and gameplay, we settled on a construction theme, providing more cohesion amongst the elements of the environment. Our current art style aims to communicate both gameplay and function through bold visuals and purposeful design with careful consideration in guiding the player experience. As the mechanics undergo further iteration and tweaking, the art will surely receive further iteration and polish as well. However, by going through multiple rounds of iteration on the visuals and continually going back to the drawing board to push strong visual communication, we’ve...
![Terms 1 & 2: Behind the Scenes Edition]()
by Annie | Oct 19, 2010 | Game Design
These days, you’ll rarely catch me without my handy black notebook of notes, thoughts, sketches, ideas, and plans. Now nearing a third of the way through the school year, my notebook is just about filled. Before I store the notebook away, I thought I’d provide some behind-the-scenes peeks at the rough concepts behind some of the projects I’ve worked on these past four months. Enjoy! Behind the scenes of LINK Early spider web tile concepts: Combining the spider web tiles with factors and multiples: Logo sketches: Behind the scenes of Tree Initial storyboard: Behind the scenes of Attack of the Alien Slugs Initial paper layout: Behind the scenes of Split Personalities Initial concept sketch: Behind the scenes of Cubic Clash Paper layout: Behind the Scenes of Rooftop Rumble Initial concept sketches: Paper layout: Behind the Scenes of Factory Frenzy Initial concept sketches: Initial cell diagram: Updated cell diagram: Needless to say, a lot of work goes into each of these projects, from planning to building to multiple iterations to testing. As I’ve been saying all along, game design is hard work. But of course, it’s also immeasurably fun. It seems that it’s time to shelve my first notebook of the year. Thanks for always being there for me, dear friend. Now, on to volume...
by Annie | Sep 21, 2010 | Game Design
Introducing my latest game concept, H2OMG: H2OMG is a photorealistic physics-based puzzle game in which you play as the various states of water, using different temperature zones to change between solid, liquid, and gas in an effort to gain as much mass as possible by colliding with other H2O molecules while in the liquid state. As steam, you play in first person, flying around in any direction, but you risk losing mass as your molecules separate. As water, you play in third person on a 2D plane, but while your movement may be limited, this is the only state in which you can gain mass. As ice, you play in third person in a 3D platforming environment, jumping around while maintaining mass. You must utilize the different states of matter in tandem to help you increase your mass as much as possible while navigating toward each level’s finish line collection beaker. With real world applications and simple mechanics, this game is guaranteed to have you saying...
by Annie | Sep 13, 2010 | Game Design
What’s inside you, on every surface you touch, in the air you breathe, and an integral part of every living thing around you? Why bacteria, of course, and in my latest game idea Culture Shock, you will have the chance to get up close and personal with the ubiquitous microorganisms. Culture Shock is a casual first person shooter game in which you play as a scientist racing against time to zap mutant bacteria in a petri dish. Similar to a sniper searching for a certain target, you must watch the colony carefully and patiently as the bacteria reproduce, finding and shooting the bacteria that differ from the majority. At first, mutants are easy to spot, as they display variations through obvious external traits, such as color, size, and shape. However, as their antibiotic resistance increases, mutants become harder to find as they start to blend in with their peers. You must protect your bacterial culture, finding and zapping all the mutants while saving enough good bacteria to ensure the survival of the colony. Microscopic battles. Macroscopic...
