ART BIBLE:
"To establish the visual language of the setting"
MAJOR FOCI
In this section I will be providing the guidelines to define the look of my game.
ART STYLE
The setting of my game takes place in Space. The virtual environment will consist of both authentic and fantastic elements of Space and spacecraft functions. I am hoping to provide players with an experience that combines these realistic elements with a modern/futuristic style environment.
MOOD-BOARD INSPIRATION
This mood-board demonstrates the style of interior that I desire as well as the use of lighting to achieve this.
COLOUR PALETTE
Colour Values:
These are the values of my desired colour scheme for the interior of the spacecraft. In order to keep the art-style consistent these colours should be used throughout all design assets.
Historical Setting:
These designs are appropriate for the historical setting of my game and represent the Futuristic/Modern style well.
Tone:
Gameplay is fast-pace and overwhelming at times - therefore I have chosen to keep the design of the interior minimalist to balance the intense gameplay and to not distract players from the main focus being their interaction with the environment.
INTERIOR INSPIRATION
CUSTOM TEXTURES
In order to achieve the desired style of environment, I gathered inspiration based on futuristic sci-fi settings and developed a colour scheme (with values) and textures accordingly.
Software Used:
I achieved the textures by using Adobe Illustrator and creating my own spacecraft texture markings using the Shape Tool. I coordinated the colours used to my preferred colour scheme and used the "Outer Glow" technique to achieve a luminous appearance. The source of light will come from this, giving the environment an eerie ambience. Players are more likely to expect intense and fast gameplay due to the bright lights and dark surroundings.
COLOUR PALETTE AND VALUES
INTERIOR ASSETS
- All assets should be made in 3D due to the platform being in VR.
Only those assets visible should require detail - the assets in which players interact with the most should require the most attention and be designed accordingly. However elements of the environment that are lost due to positioning of the player won't require as much detail.
ASSETS LIST -
I have based this asset list off player interactions and what requires the most detail due to the positioning of players. These assets were also chosen according to the geographical setting: (Can be found in Game Theme Research)
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Control Panel
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Airlock Doors
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Helmet
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Astronaut Tether
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Objects in Microgravity environment
AIRLOCK CONCEPT - I have provided a simple airlock concept design. I used the same techniques throughout for example "Outer Glow", and using simple geometric shapes to achieve the basic design of an airlock door.
Players will be interacting with this asset by moving the Lever Upwards.
Keeping the design simple throughout will focus the players attention on their interaction with the environment rather than its appearance. Due to the intense gameplay I desire to keep the environment minimalistic to avoid too many distractions. Although I would like the environment to appeal to users and still be of interest.
In order to achieve both I have kept designs simple yet effective.
CHARACTER CONCEPT (CREW)
I have designed a character concept for one of the Crew members on board the spacecraft. The Crew members will appear seated at all times to indicate that they are ready for the journey.
PHOTOGAMMETRY
Photogammetry software can be used to generate 3D models from reference images of an object/asset.
The appearance of the Crew Members should be as realistic as possible, to achieve a realistic immersive experience.
I used this inspiration mood-board to develop a colour scheme and specific values used to create a suitable character concept.
How will Characters Appear?
The Crew will be seated at all times, but the Players view of them will change the appearance of how they are seated. (Due to movement in VR) I created two silhouettes to gather an understanding of how they might appear, and then created a concept of how they'll look using my chosen colour scheme.
The Crew should stand out against their surroundings, allowing players to establish exactly who they are and in order to interact with them. Therefore, I chose to develop the Orange Jumpsuit Idea as I felt this was most appropriate.
Historical Setting
The jumpsuit design is a mixture between authentic astronaut clothing and my own more modern take on it. This again combines the idea of authentic elements of Space.
REQUIREMENTS:
I used Adobe Illustrator to create a 2D concept of a Crew Member, however during development this should be 3D modelled according to the requirements.
This is so players will be able to change their positioning in the Microgravity environment which will also give them a different perspective of the NPC's.
SCALE/PROPORTIONS
The scale of the NPC's compared to the environment should be much smaller to make the environment seem bigger than it actually is.
Although the scale of the Crew will be essentially the same as the average person or user of the game. (1.8m Male, 1.6m Female) Depending on the users height, the scale of the Crew will appear bigger or smaller - Oculus Headset tracks height of the user.
The scale of both NPC's should be the same. As they will both be seated the comparison doesn't matter as much. The important thing to consider is the scale in comparison to the environment.
The environment dimensions should be just a bit smaller than the average room size, to make players feel like they are in an enclosed tight spacecraft, but not too small to trigger Claustrophobia.
(330 Square Feet)
I tried to find the exact dimensions of the inside of a spacecraft however couldn't find anything relevant.
If i was to have these measurements, the room scale will be similar to this as well as its assets. Also the scale of character to environment would be designed according to this.
(Scale can be found in: Technical Design)
Helmet only requires detail from a 'below' perspective. During the game, players pull their helmet from above them over their head therefore detail is not required for this.
HANDS APPEARANCE
POTENTIAL OBJECTS FOR MICROGRAVITY ROOM
ENVIRONMENT DESIGN
The outside Space environment should demonstrate the 'emptiness' of Space, therefore will be kept simple and appear just how we assume space does:
MY SIMPLE RENDERED APPLES
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
Due to the geographical setting of where my game takes place, there must be a significant amount of light outside the Spacecraft.
My Space research states that Asteroids can be found in orbit around the Sun. Players are essentially travelling through asteroids with increasing speeds, therefore this must be suggested through using light.
This means the environment must have a source of light and will affect the environment accordingly.
Player Perspective/Scale
As well as this, the players outside view into Space (from inside the spaceship) should consist of a variety of different sized asteroids.
Asteroids come in different shapes and sizes as well as textures. Using Blender I 3D Modelling an assortment of Asteroids which will be suitable in this environment:
APPEARANCE OF SINGULAR ASTEROID
APPEARANCE OF TRAVELLING ASTEROIDS IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS
SPECIFIC SOFTWARE - BLENDER
PROCESS
I have documented the process of these asteroids which can be found here: Personal Development>3D Modelling Environment.
Essentials
The essentials for achieving these asteroids are as followed:
- Apply Cloud Texture to create the rough textured appearance.
- Increasing the number of Sub-Dividers makes the texture appear much more detailed and refined, although this can lead to slow software performance, it creates a much more realistic effect.
- Create one simple asteroid and duplicate this. Then adjust the vertices of each one in order to create several different shaped asteroids. Also increase or decrease the scale to develop a variety of shapes and sizes.
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
I designed the space environment by creating a Starry background using Photoshop. I kept the backdrop colour Black and coloured the asteroids to be a dark brown.
Adjusting the light source strength and colour made the environment come together and I am very happy with this end result in terms of appearance.
SCALE
In comparison to the player, the asteroids should appear bigger but must overall differ in size.
ASTEROID ANIMATION
I created an animation using my assortment of asteroids which I was unable to render due to technical difficulties, however the Blender File can be found in the Upload File in Teams.
FRAMES PER SECOND
The animation started at 1 and ended at 250 frames. (20 Frame Per Second) Players aim to last as long as they can during the game without causing maximum damage, meaning the length of the game will vary. Because of this the animation length must be infinite, the asteroids must continue to increase in speed and make gameplay more challenging for the player.
SOUND
In my Sound and Haptic Feedback section I have attached an audio-sample example of how I'd like the asteroids to sound during travel. This is very important in terms of achieving an immersive experience, the environment must be a realistic representation as if they are really there. As well as this I have included a sample of the projectile impact once it's hit and destroyed an asteroid.
SPEED
The speed of the asteroids during gameplay should increase. In this video I animated them to travel towards the Camera by decreasing the Gravity amount down to zero. I used a particle system on a 'Plane' to produce my asteroids and have them fall towards the camera.
Process:
PROJECTILES INSPIRATION-MOODBOARD:
PROJECTILES
Players main ability includes firing projectiles towards asteroids to destroy them and decrease the risk of them damaging their spacecraft.
Appearance wise I'd like the projectiles to be designed similarly to the art style of the interior, influenced by the luminosity/glowing edges. They should be fired and instantly take effect. The audio samples can also be found linked above.
CONTROL PANEL DESIGN
The functions of the control panel were influenced by my research into controls and functions of a spacecraft. I combined my knowledge with my creativity to develop panel designs (Development>Design) which I then narrowed down to one. In accordance with my chosen art style and futuristic theme I used the same colour values to achieve a concept design.
MOOD-BOARD INSPIRATION
COLOUR VALUES
These are the colour values from the moodboard above. In relation to my desired colour theme/art style, I want to keep this consistent throughout so have designed the control panel according to this:
FINAL COCKPIT DESIGN
I have designed the cockpit according to my chosen colour theme consisting of all the appropriate controls and functions.
INSPIRATION
Apollo 11 - 1969
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Consisted of hundreds of controls and displayed
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Located in the cabin
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Switches, Dials, Meters, Circuit breakers, controls and displays.
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This was to control spacecraft and monitor performance.
Dragon Endeavour (2020)
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Controlled completely by touchscreen computers.
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Consisted of only a few buttons which were used to trigger emergency operations.
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Had a manual control option.
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Spacesuit gloves were designed to function with touchscreens.
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Provides real-time information - such as its position and environment on board.
CONTROLS
FIRE PROJECTILES
FOR VISUAL PURPOSES ONLY
SHIELD SHIP
YOKE, STEERING DEVICE
RADIO
RADAR DISPLAY
WARN CREW
SYSTEM DIALS
USER INTERFACE & HUD
Using my Moodboard Inspiration I developed a series of User Interface Designs.
Moodboard can be found here: Development>Design
POSITIONING
I chose this as the final design outcome because it's an easy way to track the amount of damage without distracting players during gameplay or taking up much of the screen. This bar should be in the left corner of the screen at all times.
I had the idea of implementing this into the players spacesuit gloves to have easy access and also means it would not take up space on screen. However this is just an idea.
COLOUR SCHEME & VALUES
I've used the colour red to symbolise danger and in this case the damage caused. This colour also stands out against the style of interior.
I have used the Outer Glow effect to alert players and bring their attention to it.
USER INTERFACE - Dialogue Encounter
COLOUR SCHEME
The colour scheme for the Dialogue (Player Responses) consist of light grey tones and a slight blue glow.
I made these UI concepts on Illustrator by combining my research into Spacecraft Textures and my prefered art style. I used Geometric Shapes to achieve the modern style and used the same techniques to keep the style consistent.
APPEARANCE ON SCREEN:
Players will hear the Audio Discussion from one of the Crew first, where they'll be given 3 response options.
PROPORTIONS
One response option should take up maximum 1/3 of players view.
Players can then point and press to select an option. (Like a button function)
HUD - Descriptions of Functions
This will provide players with an audio commentary as well as visual description & illustration of the controls functions. This is also a way to provide players with an explanation as to how other things work around the environment. For example, how to attach the tether to their spacesuit or how to open an airlock door.
I kept each illustration simple and text clear enough for players to read. I wanted to provide players with a precise explanation on how to interact with the environment, without boring them or making the interaction too complex.
HOW WILL THE HUD APPEAR?
DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES
MENU & LEADERBOARD
The Menu and Leaderboard will feature in Space at the beginning and end of each game. Players will have to interact with the "LAUNCH" button in order to start the game. This display will fill the whole view of the user. These designs give the player an insight into the style of the game and the futuristic theme.
I applied the same colour scheme as the previous User Interface in the game to keep the art style consistent.
The Leader board will be displayed at the end of the game, when maximum damage is caused. Players results are recorded on the leaderboard where they can compare with friends and compete against other people.