Final Submission Notes

Final Major Project - 30/05/20 - HAND IN UPDATE

As I previously emailed my tutors about, I was having a lot of technical difficulties in getting a link to my ebook. As a solution, I had to create a shareable link that takes the viewer to lucidpress to log in in order to see my document. I hope this is sufficient. I also uploaded my PDF and everything else that was required.

On another note. I realised after my hand in that I had completely forgotten to include a small section of my work in my book. I have no excuse for this, it just left my mind somehow. I will be posting that left over work on this blog post and will email tutors about this.

Overall, this whole project came to a very anticlimactic end. I was unable to complete parts of my work. It was extremely hard to work from home, especially when we were unable to go out as usually we would. I also emailed Teo but I don't know if she ever received my emails as I never got a reply or confirmation. It's been a real challenge to push myself to keep working but I did what I could and hopefully I am not lacking too much.


The unpublished work:


The main character of the game (Val) has been bestowed with the powers of the ancients. This gives her unique abilities. Sneak, Movement, and Shielding (which I was not able to produce work for).

I started by sketching Val and then experimented with shapes and different layer types to determine the visual effect that comes with her ability to move things. Note that this power is not telekinesis. Val can only increase force on an object temporarily. For example, a pile of rocks could be manipulated to tumble or a broken tree trunk could be pushed to fall over.

I chose yellow because it is associated with energy.

I was having a hard time designing something that I felt was right, so I moved on to the next power: Sneaking. Val can use this power to bring her shadow to the surface world in order to avoid being seen by enemies. At first I began with some smoky shadow idea, and then thought about having her switch places with her mirrored self from the "shadow land". 

So that is all the work that was left out of the book by accident. Thanks for reading. 

Final Major Project Update – 21/05/20 – Forest Deities

 

I recently finished work on the deities that can be found around the environment and at native settlements, where the main character can “pray” in order to level up skills etc.

I began with inspiration from clay sculptures and pottery from Africa, as well as pottery from the Jomon period of Japan. With these in mind, I sketched 6 iterations of what the sculptures would look like. I made sure to give them all the same trait of having 4 eyes, and a head crest, to relate to the natives and creatures.

I got some feedback from my peers and concluded that the final design should be sturdy and not too delicate, as most of these “shrine deities” are old and scattered through nature. I chose the top right to be the basis of my final design.  I moved to Zbrush next to sculpt the final version. I thought it would be much faster and easier this way to edit and show different views. I mostly used the clay build up, dam standard, move, and trim dynamic brushes. After, I applied some materials and then screenshotted some angles to move back to photoshop.

Next, I added more realistic lighting and texture using textured brushes on multiply and overlay layers. I also painted moss on top. I then made an aged iteration. I created a new layer in Zbrush to subtract chunks of the model and make it appear broken and worn. I took this back into photoshop and edited the colours and shadows.

I took this aged version and added glowing lights to some areas, showing how it would react when “praying” at it.

Lastly I quickly bashed this guy into one of my own photographs to give a rough example of how they could be found. The environment is not as tropical as the in-game environment would be though.

 I really like how this little guy came out, I would like to do a couple more versions but I am quickly moving to my next task.

Final Major Project Update – 21/05/20 – Main Character master dump

 

It’s been a long time since my last post, the world has been strange, and everything has become more difficult. I have been working from my university house now for almost 2 months and it has been anything but relaxing and easy going. Doing work in the same spot you also relax, play, eat, and sleep in is not the most effective way to get things done and it has been a real struggle, hence me momentarily neglecting my blogging duties.

But, here is a compiled post of all the work I haven’t posted of my main character design development, as I realised a little bit ago that I had actually forgotten to post about her after I had done some work on her.

So, after I finished the general block-out for her outfit, I actually came back to the design of her face after taking feedback from my tutors. I needed to give her face and hair a bit of wear and tear, and so I sketched a whole new face for her and experimented with scars and dirt etc.

I chose the far right face, and the added detail of greyish hairs and metal accessories in her hair to keep it tied up.

Next I sketched her in more detail in her outfit, and tried a couple slightly varied colour schemes.

From this, and feedback, I gathered that she needed more detail and a colourway that wasn’t so murky, so it wouldn’t blend in with the “enemies” which have a muted colour scheme.

I also had to concentrate more on the design of her back, because this is the area that players will be seeing most of the time. After sketching a design for the back, I decided to add a knife, because what kind of wilderness-exploring creature-hunting person would she be without a simple hunting knife.

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After my formative feedback (which I found very helpful), I came back to my main character to work on the colours and details. Inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn concept art, I drew the character with her layers of clothing and detail being added in steps so I could compare easily and see how everything would fit together and add to the previous silhouette. I found using small silhouettes helpful. This is why I added details like the claws on her leather shoulder guard, and the feathers on her sleeve.

I then used photos of fabrics to create a more tactile looking texture, which I then adjusted into a desired colour. I realised it was still looking mute, so I made a copy and turned up the saturation. I also adjusted the brightness and contrast of certain garments, after using a colour layer to view what the values were like in black and white.

I did the very same process for the back of the character. I’m quite pleased with the outcome, as I think it is a good combination of practicality and visual interest. 

Of course there’s a lot more I could do and improve and continue upon, but I needed to hop to the next task. I decided early in my project as well that I would not be doing a male version as I felt in no longer made sense, and would eat up time I could spend on developing things like my creatures and native more.

Thanks for reading!

Final Major Project Update – 09/04/20

Over the last few days, I went about sketching more dynamic poses of my docile creature, lightly experimenting with its design.

I also started a rough sketch of one of them being chased by the predator creature.

I decided to leave the refining for later so I could finish the anatomy drawings and move on with the next part of the project. I used rhinos of course as my main reference, and used the 3D model of the head I sculpted to draw it in different angles.

Final Major Project Update – 06/04/20

Since my last post I have continued work on designing the docile creature of my game.

Design reference board:

My aim for this creature design was for it to be the cattle equivalent of our world (kind of, a bit more capable). Big, herbivorous, and defence oriented. After creating some initial silhouettes and rough sketches using the references on my design board, I prioritised display and deterring features. Considering the previous design guidelines I had used for the other creature and native designs, I sketched crested heads and spiked bodies. I took a lot of inspiration from the stegosaurus, pangolin, and javan rhino.

After picking out a body shape I liked, I drew over it, using these inspirations, and started inching closer to the kinds of features I wanted to refine in the final design process. After changing the body shape to resemble a rhino more than a dinosaur I found I was close to what I wanted.

I decided it was time to start sketching loosely. My process and design was getting stiff and felt boring. I sketched new heads to experiment with different crest/horn ideas.

I used references of rhinos again to aid in the illustration of dynamic poses. I ended up sketching something I really liked again. I took to Zbrush to sculpt the new head. This made it able for me to consider every angle and the general 3D shape of the key part of the creature design. In the sketch I also added clear definition of where plating would be.

Currently I am drawing more dynamic poses using my sculpt as a reference for the head, and considering the plating on the back more carefully.

Final Major Project Update – 27/3/20

In the past week I have gone back to working on my creatures, starting with the scavenger creature. Here is the design reference board:

As previously posted I started with some sketches and silhouettes. I used the silhouettes to determine what kind of body shape I wanted to use, whether it would be something more raptor-like or more bird-like. My aim was to make the creature look agile and somewhat threatening. 

With the sketches I continued the idea of the anatomical similarities with the first creature I designed (the predator). I gave this creature a crest, four eyes, and spikes along its spinal cord/tail. There are also smaller similarities to tie it all together.  I made one of the eyes bigger and one smaller to emphasise the bird qualities. I was very happy with the head I created in my first sketches and only made small alterations along the way.

Next I took note of which bodies suited the creature most and continued to sketch with this in mind. I used oviraptors and velociraptors as reference. I sketched something I really liked, and went on to refine it. 

I changed the body shape, feathers, and spike placement. I found that the final iteration looked best. It gives a sense of agility and mischievousness. It was also eye catching and unique.

I tested some colors. I already knew I wanted red from my previous sketches, especially because I had incorporated the red and turquoise feathers into my natives’ designs. So I mostly experimented with pattern and color placement.

After choosing a color scheme, I made some gestural/action sketches to show how this creature would move.

And finally, I created anatomy sheets, showing muscle, skeleton, and head views.

I also began a photobash+painting of the scavengers’ head. It is a work in progress.

Final Major Project Update – Environment - 23/3/20

I created a new photobash recently to depict a fortress built by the enemy race in the middle of the woods. I began with base images of a forest, some giant sequoia trees, and a mossy ground. 

I manufactured the hole in the tree by using two images of a tree and merging them together. 

I then added the fort itself and decided it would look more convincing to cover the front with a gate, so as not to make this fort look very welcoming. Something felt off and then I thought that as they are such a practical group of people, they probably would have created some kind of rough road to make it easier to travel and use transportation (like carts etc.), so I added a dirt path (made up of two images of the same path). I also felt that there was a lack of depth behind the fortress, so I bashed another image into the back to make it feel like there was space behind the building. 

At this point in the photo bashing process, I have gotten all the main/base features down. This is the point where I start to add a color pass and lighting. I also added the important red ivy detail. 

I needed the environment to look more like a jungle-like forest than a regular forest. I added some viney tree images into the background behind the trees to make the forest look more tangled and cluttered with overgrowth. At this point I had also hand painted over a couple areas to make them appear more natural. 

I duplicated the group and merged it into one image and edited the hue and levels to give the scene the same color scheme as my previous environment pieces. I still have some finishing touches to add but I added some guards to the gate and painted a native scout hiding behind the large tree in the foreground. I've left this piece on hold for now to have fresh eyes next time I edit it. I want to make the native appear more realistic, since I think she looks a bit too 2D right now, and I will change the guards a bit to match their actual uniform designs (showed in previous blog post).