Sunday 30 June 2013

Flooded Tomb level section

Female player character design

Rocky Beach Illustration
High rez here: http://scriar.deviantart.com/art/Rocky-Beach-381887688


Here is a bunch of work I have done recently. The first is the final level section for my summer project. Its a flooded tomb concept, I decided it would be some sort of entrance area to a dungeon. The next is a female player character, part of my summer project brief. And the last I just finished is from a sketch I did the other day, I decided I liked it enough that I should take it to finish for fun.

Monday 17 June 2013

Summer Project - Crossroads, and Fortified Hamlet concepts

CrossRoads

Fortified Hamlet
Since I am on my summer holiday; whilst those that started my course in september are doing their final projects, I thought it best to do my own self initiated summer project. My goal is to add to my portfolio of work, prepare for my own final project which ill undertake next year, as well as giving a more structured approach to my own study. The above are the first 2 designs for levels in the game.

Here is the brief I have set myself:

The Brief

You have been tasked with designing a level and its contents in an action RPG game. You will also be expected to model some of your designs.

Action RPG. Ala Fable, Kingdoms of Amalur, Batman Arkham franchise, God of War, Torchlight, Diablo etc Or create in sub genres, such as an MMOARPG such as Guild Wars 2, WoW, Rift, Tera etc.

This can be a game based on pre existing franchise as listed above, or it can be one of your own design. (I decided to go with my own design so I potentially have my own I.P to develop upon)

Aim:

Concept art section:

Design 3 sections of your chosen game level. In Kingoms of Amalur for instance this could be the opening area to a dungeon, its mid section, and the final boss area. See the concept art for Torchlight 2 and Kingdoms of Amular. If designing for an mmo this could be 3 unique points of interest within a particular section of a zone example a village, a watering hole, and an enemy encampment. Might be worth planning your overhead layout for your designs first.

Design the players character the character should look like they fit within the world of the game. If choosing a game with a clear protagonist such as Batman. Then you should create a unique character that can be played within the context of that world.

Design a grunt npc – npcs that you fight on a regular basis, not usually very strong individually. Almost always found in groups, for example the bandits in Fable. Perhaps split these in to 3 designs, a character that fights at range, one in melee, another who is a nuisance npc (throws bombs, hinders the player character etc)

Design a squad leader npc – a special unit, still a unit that appears regularly but is much more powerful individually than the grunts. Usually these types of enemy npcs come mixed with the grunt npcs. So create a visual link between the two groups is advised. An example would be the baton carrying grunts or the dual weapon wielding grunts in Batman Arkham asylum.

Design a mini- boss or Special type of creature, example the Titans in Batman Arkham Asylum, the special powered creatures in Torchlight. These could be unique mobs or lieutenants of the boss etc

Design a Boss. Remember that usually the boss is a reflection of the level design and the previous npcs are usually the minions of the boss or have some relation to it. Doesn’t have to be friendly to the previous characters, for example maybe its a experiment gone wrong or a creature the previous characters were trying to secure for their own purposes. Moreover this could be a rare unique boss that appears randomly in the level, however again it should look like it belongs there.

All characters or creatures must have model sheets which include front, back, and side views.

Create a prop/modular asset sheet. Props or assets would be things like weapon racks, barrels, piles of rubble, buildings, walls, vases, books, shelves, treasure chests, coins,etc basically the things you would use to populate the level. Usually these can be unique designs for that particular level or modular. Think of each one as having a specific purpose either to enhance the visuals of the level, or to have an effect on game play. Example see the prop sheets for Torchlight 2, or have a look at dungeon prop sheets.

Design 3 weapons this could be a low level, mid range level, and a high level weapon. Or it could be 3 unique weapons that have specific functions example the boomerang, sticky bomb paste, etc in Batman. Alternatively design 1 main weapon, and 3 unique attachments or upgrades for that weapon.

Design 3 armour sets or costumes for your main character. Like the weapon this could be a low level, mid level, and high level set. It could be also be 3 variations of the same armour such as in WoW where you get different tiers of the same armour depending on the difficulty of the dungeon.

Alternatively design 3 unique items that create a set to be collect. Such as the special sets that give you bonuses in Torchlight.

Create Icons for your weapons/armour/utility items. Basically anything you have to select in game to be used/picked up etc. Create a sheet with all of the icons on.

Create a splash screen/main menu background for the game, ie the contents page for the game that has new game, multiplayer, options etc on.

3D section:

All 3D work to be based on previous concept art.

Model:

1 Character, either main character, grunts, boss, etc.

3 weapons or utility items

3 props or modular pieces such as a building, vase, treasure chest, book shelf etc

Aim to texture all of your models.

Create all models to a UDK reference size

Either render all items in UDK or create a render in Maya using mental ray.

Summary:

Concept art section:
Design 3 sections of your chosen game level.
Design the players character
Design a grunt npc
Design a squad leader npc
Design a mini- boss or Special type of creature
Design a Boss.
Create a prop/modular asset sheet
Design 3 weapons
Design 3 armour sets or costumes for your main character.
Create Icons for your weapons/armour/utility items



3D section:

1 Character
3 weapons or utility items
3 props or modular pieces

Sunday 2 June 2013

War Magi version 2


This is a reworked version of this Illustration [link] that I did for my portfolio just before my MA started. I thought Id try improving it now that I'm on my summer break :)

I started initially by changing the pose and rendering, then I tried adding more figures. In the end I felt it would be better to essentially just redo the whole illustration from scratch by cropping it down and make it more focused on the character.