Brief

 Unit 78: Digital Graphics for Computer Games

To be able to create concept art and a plan for a video game.

Client Brief:

The brief we have been given is to make a 2D sci-fi platformer/ scroller with an implement of maths or puzzle to give the player a challenge. What we haven't been given is the artistic style and what type of audience we have to do the game.

My brief:

For my game I will be doing a space themed game with a spaceman who has to find different parts to fix their spaceship using maths to find codes to open the doors to find the parts, but you will also have robots that are stopping you from getting these parts and you have to fight these off with certain weapons you find outside in creates, they can be heavy firepower or a small wrench to fight off these robots.

Art Style: Pixel
Characters: 1 main character called Apollo Agent 56 (or for short AA56)
Enemies: Robots bigger the part harder the enemy
Type of game: Scroller for the player to find different parts

PEGI:
My game will be rated 12 and up because of the violence in it, i have researched what the age rating is for scroller shooter games and it is 12 and up because I don't want to teach a 4 year old that shooting robots is good and how to shoot a fire arm.

Inspiration:
I got a lot of my inspiration from old 80's films and pixel games like super meat boy and Saturn 3 (Old 80's sci fi film) which gave me the idea of the robots chasing down someone but then i realised i could have it in space like the game Dead Space as that is set on an abandoned space ship and you are trying to find your way out but you have really weird aliens everywhere, so i decided to change the aliens to robots and we now have the game Desolate Space. I got my name from a CS:GO skin named Desolate Space and i felt like it would fit my game perfectly.

Royalty Free:
I used one royalty free image in my title screen that's because i needed to find a cool 80's retro style back ground, but i couldn't find one which was free so i looked around and found one which was royalty free. What is royalty free? royalty free is where you are allowed to use that image because the maker or the photographer is allowing you to use that image so it gets out there, or they are just feeling generous.

Mood board:

Sprite Making:

This is the start to my enemies and they will be robots that fly around via a small antenna on the bottom of his body which is connected to a satellite that they are controlling the robots and make them attack AA56 by squirting acidic oil on him.

This is some kind of shark shape which is a cosmetic skin for this weapon,






I coloured in the robot and shaded one side of his body and head and added a small antenna at the bottom of his body for the satellite to move the robots to control the ship whilst AA56 tries to recover the engine parts and kill all the robots.











I coloured his eye in which has a white background with a small black pupil to make it seem human-like, I added this feature because I want the robots to have as much human detail as possible to make the movement as real as possible and make the robots fight as human as possible to make it feel like you are fighting a random dude on the street.

This is going to be my home screen, I have gone for an 80's kind of retro look and a sci-fi kind of aspect to it, to keep the gamer interested. I have used bright colours and a nice big font so people can read it nice and clear, I have used a big basic font with a nice gradient with the right colours as the back ground or a little lighter to make it stand out.












This is my finished astronaut design, it is like my other drawings which i am proud of, i haven't had time to animate the astronaut to walk or jump like my concepts have been.

















This back ground concept art is my final one, I have added some fine detail into the windows and added some planets and a few stars including a satellite which controls the robots that you have to fend off from killing you.

This is my jumping animation, i did this because i wanted to make my character move about in the game and make it seem realistic as possible to make the player seem like you are the actual character itself in the game.

This is my walking animation drawing, i have made him walk so they can get around different places and get to areas where some people cant.























These are my robot designs, i have drawn a few i like but i have decided to go with the top one as it suits the whole satellite theme very well with all the antenna's on their heads to make it seem like they are getting controlled to manoeuvre around the ship to attack the astronaut.

 These are my HUD designs, i have added a health bar and different arrows for where the player has to go if he is near a part to fix the engine so he can get out of there.

 The different arrows show him which way he has to go, if the arrow is pointing up then he goes straight, if its pointing right then he has to go to his right where there is a door.

This is my finished robot design, i have gone for the ones with antenna's as it would seem the most realistic as they are getting controlled by a satellite so it acts like there are a small car to a remote control.

This is my finished SMG design, i have added more detail into it as i have added different colours and a new design on the weapon, i also added a small switch where you can change into single fire mode or fully auto where it has a fast fire rate but uses a lot more ammunition, i added a grip to it to make it more realistic as well as a holding belt for when the character has to hold parts for the engine and carry them back.










Evaluation:

What went well:
I am pleased with my final sprites and how they have came out, they suit my game very well and the colours suit the characters and the weapons as well, they all fit the theme as well as it is a sci-fi game robots are well known for sci-fi films / games which is where i got some of my inspiration from, I also love how my hud came out, its really simple but it suits the game well as my game will have a lot of detail to the back grounds and items the character has to carry.

What didn't go so well:
Im not pleased on how I didn't get to do my background, i tried a few times but my PC decided to turn its self off half way through doing the background which really annoyed me so I decided to leave it as i got really far and didn't want to start again at 2am in the morning. I am also annoyed i didn't get to design any of my parts for the engine so that the character had nothing to carry except a small SMG to fend off the robots.

Conclusion:
In all i am very pleased with how it all came out and how i have done my sprites and how they fit so well with the game genre, i am also pleased with the home screen as well as it took me a while to do that and how it came out is brilliant.

Year 1
Unit 78: Digital Graphics for Computer Games
P2 Be able to Generate Concept Art Ideas for Computer Game Graphics
Legal & Ethical Considerations
Research and answer the following questions.



What is copyright law?

- The current act is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the ways in which their material may be used.


What is intellectual property?

- Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial Property includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.


What is the Equality & Diversity Law?

- This is where it has to not be racist or sexist in any game or photo or video you have taken, this is because the way they are portrayed in media, so if you took a picture of a celebrity coming out of a random house or her friends house, she could be portrayed as doing something rude e.g. sleeping with them or doing something with them, but we wouldn't know as the media is portraying them in a different way than that celebrity is.


How are female characters represented in Games?

- More females these days are being represented as quite strong in some violent games and like first person shooters, they are becoming more manly like but in some games they are becoming more slutty and wearing very skanky clothing revealing a lot of skin in some games like GTA and Saints Row the 3rd and 4th.


What is PEGI?

- PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information, this is where it sets age rating for every game that has been on the market and giving them an age rating so that little kids don't buy a 18 rated game and get scared by it and get told off by their parents.


Who are the BBFC?

- PEGI version but for films this is called the British Board of Film Classification was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationality


What are the ASA codes of conduct?

- Advertising standards authority this means that you have to stay loyal to your customers and not give false information or give a certain race in your adverts and then they ask why you have chosen a certain race, it has to be fair an accurate, for example you have a bleach bottle that says it has 99.9% of killing germs they then can't have it at 100% as it would false information and then therefore not being the right information and then selling out.


What is Libel?

- This is where it is a false statement where it affects the customer.