Our new character

AS mentioned in a previous post, we decided to change the character design from a battle mage to a Van Helsing style hunter. Well, here are some of our best reference images as well as some early concept work. As you can see from the designs we already have and the reference board, we’re going towards a roguish type warrior and plan on using a lot of leather and fabric, perhaps with small pieces of armour over the top. Buckles and straps are another feature we’re focusing on as well as some form of face mask in order to make the player character anonymous.

 

Crossbow

While working on a new logo and GUI to better suit the new theme of character we where going for, I found myself inspired to design a crossbow. I realised that the basic shape of a dragon is not too different from a basic crossbow shape and so got about designing one. It started with a simple outline in photoshop based on various sources from the internet and some of my own drawing. After I had a couple of views, I took them into Maya and got started. The following is the basic model. It still needs some work; the poly count is too high and the quality inconsistent. That said, it’s a good start.

This is the top down template I used as a template for the model.

 

Changes and new features

After finding out we needed new character designs to seperate ourselves from that other game, we decided to go in a whole new direction. Instead of armour clad battle mages, we are now moving towards Van Helsing style dragon hunters. The most notable difference here, besides the drastically different appearance, is that our characters will now use crossbows instead of magic staves. As such, this has brought about a slightly different mechanic.

In the old idea, the players got two different attacks; a magic beam and a magic missile, each fired using different buttons. Now, there will only be one button used for ranged attacks. Tapping it will cause the player character to fire a bolt quickly, and this attack may be used in quick succession for multiple hits. However, the player can also hold down the attack button to charge up the crossbow, unleashing a much more powerful shot at the cost of standing still while the attack charges. This maintains the same basic idea we had with the battlemages, but executes it slightly differently, in a much more crossbow friendly way.

But that’s not all. Another feature will be introduced to add an extra dynamic to the game: a sprint button. During discussions about animations, we where trying to decide whether the player should face where the direction they’re running in or the direction of their crosshair. This gave us an idea; the player will now be able to switch between two states. Normally, the player will face their crosshair and walk at a slowish speed. they will be able to aim their crosshair and fire whenever they wish, even on the move. However, if they hold the sprint button, their crosshair will vanish and they will be able to move much more quickly. However, they will also be unable to fire until they stop sprinting. There will be a slight pause when transitioning between aiming and sprinting in order to stop players from abusing the system.

Art Style

While developing some of the ideas and concepts for Dragonfall, we had to consider the overall art style of the game, so our assets would flow together nicely and not appear mismatched. The characters will have realistic proportions for the most part, but somewhat exaggerated features, especially when it comes to clothing. Large buttons, buckles and the like. Colours will also be brought out, avoiding low saturated colours. Details such as patterns, hair, scales ETC are to be clear and defined. We’re going for definition over realism, so each detail stands out separately. However, these should all be finished with realistic effects such as ambient occlusion.

The main game view is stationary and at quite a distance leaving the characters quite small. As such, any small details would be lost if we where to go for a very realistic approach. There’s very little point in adding patterns and details if the player is never going to notice them, so instead it makes sense to exaggerate these details and make the obvious even from a distance by increasing their size and making them bright and colourful as well as defining them with shadows.

In addition, this is a helpful way to reduce the texture size of the models while keeping the scene vibrant and interesting. Smaller textures can be used due to the absence of minor details such as scuffs, scratches, intricate patterns and the like.

Please note that the following images are not concept art nor inspiration for any of the characters or environments we are designing. They are simply here to help demonstrate the artistic style and finish we are aiming at.

The dragon takes shape

 “…basic two legs, two arms and two wings design, so you’ll probably want to start with a humanoid base, add some wings and then start making changes here and there to make it more animalistic.”

This is a mood board created using a selection of images found over the internet. Every image is supposed to reflect an design element that should be carried through to our design. Many of the same design aspects can be found in many of the pictures; this is to reinforce that particular idea.

These are some shots of what Josh has created so far. As you can see, many of the most important elements from the mood board have been retained. Sadly, these models currently carry too high a polygon count and will have to be reduced in quality before they can be used in the game.

Meeting

A few of us managed to meet up last week and get some better idea of where we should be going over the weekend. Of the many points to consider, these stood out;

• To create and demonstrate a solid art style.
• Modify the character to not look like the protagonist of the iOS game ‘Dragon Slayer’
• Consider how best to approach the dragon fight.
• Develop a whitebox demo

In order to get ourselves on track, we have been continuing to use Trello as our main organisation tool, as well as Facebook as a tool to communicate thoughts and ideas within the team.

The Pitch

Looks like preparation and a little organisation go a long way. This the pitch we delivered last week, and it seemed to go down pretty well. Definitely a good start…

Our Prezi