Looking at more character designs

Focusing on existing game characters 


After doing some image research into different 2D character designs of different art styles and mediums I thought it would also be important for me to do a little research into different characters from video games. As what I am designing later on in the creative process would, theoretically be used in a video game which could be made up of 3D animation, depending on which route I choose to go down, it is important to keep this aspect in mind when I am creating my designs so I don't end up with flat designs. So baring this in mind and had a little think about the different games I have played previously and to try and pick out which characters stood out the most to me and stuck in my brain either design and personality wise.

There were a few characters in particular that I had really liked from different games I have played in the past and a few of them can be seen in the images below. Each one of these characters interested me in different ways as they all had their own merits and individual personalities mixed in with a deep and detailed plot. I always seem to find that in a many different mediums, it is always the characters that are the part I focus on or like the most, whether it is a TV or film, or book and this was certainly the case with the characters I have picked out below as they really made the game exciting to play in my personal opinion. For example one of the main reasons I enjoyed playing 'Alice Madness returns' so much is because the main character, Alice Liddell has such a bizarre twisted personality with a back story that was a mystery to the player at the beginning but, as you progressed through the game, you would unlock parts of her story to reveal what happened to Alice in her past. This was a key part of the gameplay that motivated me to keep progressing level by level as I was curious to find out what had happened to Alice to caused her to become this twisted and sour little girl. All of this was simply based off of the fact the she was a interesting character.

It is a well known that a powerful character design can really make a game and build some ones interest to want to play it. This is something I must bare in mind when I get into the creative side of my project and start producing my character designs. I must also remember that supporting characters, may not be AS important as the main protagonist, but they still play a crucial role in adding to the game's story and feel.

Connor Davenport from 'Assassins Creed 3'

Alice Liddell from 'Alice Madness Returns'

Lee Everett from 'The Walking Dead'

Lara Croft from 'Tomb Raider'

Morrigan from 'Dragon Age'

The beginning of my research

Looking at 2D character art 


As for BA6 I have decided to be focusing on 2D character art as my specialised area I decided that I should start off very basically with my research and have a look into different 2D pieces. This would help me right from the beginning of the process to help me to get some artistic and creative inspiration as well as starting thinking about how I want to go about my project, what art style will I be working in, what medium will I use ext. I started off by simply having a browse through the collection of artists pieces I had Favorited from the site 'Deviant art' and picked out a few that were of 2D characters and then put them into few mood boards so I would easily be able to refer back to them if I wanted to use them as a reference for anything. Not all of the pieces I choose were typical characters designs, which usually consist of showing a full body figure so you can see their full design in detail, some of them were simply head and torso pieces that I liked either because of the colouring or expression or just the design in general. Either way, each piece I have picked will become some sort of inspiration to me when I come to designing my characters.

Once I had completed this, I thought about a different aspect I could briefly have a look at. Instead of just looking at character concepts by other artists, I wanted to make another small mood board but this time it would be of different character designs from Animes I have watched. I have spent quite a large amount of time watching Anime as it is my favourite form of 2D animation and one my absolute favourite things. It's many different shows and stories always seem to interest me and make me feel inspired. I had a brain  storm through the large amount of shows I have seen and picked out some images of characters I had liked the most. This aspect will also allow another element of design ideas for me to consider when I get to the creative process.

Now I have completed this small bit of artistic research to begin with, I am going to move onto the more scientific side of my idea, looking at the different circumstances earth could be up against in the future which is something I need to pin point and get done before I continue with anything creatively  design wise.

Focusing on the project brief

What I am thinking about doing for BA6

Today was the second instalment in our introductory lectures to BA6. We weren't really told any extra information on the project itself, it was more of a group discussion were we went round the room and each person was able to explain to the class what their idea was and get feedback from classmates of our tutor Nigel. Unfortunately when they got round to me, like a few other members of the class, I still had no clue what my concept was going to be so I wasn't really able to discuss anything with my peers. Once we had been round the room we were given a little free time to work on whatever we had though up so far and get Nigel's individual help if it was needed. This allowed me to have some time to brainstorm what I could possibly do for 2D character art. 

I remembered from our first lecture Nigel mentioning that we can include a theme to our work which would help give our project meaning right off of the bat, some of the ones mentioned I believe were things alone the line of global warming, sexism, abuse, emotions, ect. These are just random topics that would could use a starting point and then expand from there as Nigel said if you game doesn't have meaning from the beginning, you are pretty much destined to failed this unit. Baring this in mind I started to have a little think about what my concept for BA6 could possibly be.

After a mental brainstorm and scrolling through a few pages on Google, I came to the conclusion that my project would be focused around the ‘the future of humanity’. The future is something people are constantly thinking or fretting about and this is simply because no one really knows what is going to happen. We can only predict the events that will occur in many years to come but until we get to that point it time it will only be speculation. These speculations of the future are thoughts that people have everyday of their lives, whether it is something small and petty such as thinking about what they are going to have for dinner tomorrow, or predictions that are on a much larger scale and effect a far wider range of people, such as what will come on humanity in the future if an epidemic breaks out and kills hundreds of thousands of people? There are many different growing issues that face the human race at this current place and time which could very easily spiral out of control and end with a large amount of the Earth's population being wiped out. These complications are either repeats of past events such as a epidemic break out or a natural disaster such as tsunami, or they are a rapidly growing, overwhelming new issue such as the theory of global warming  or how the earth is going to be effected once our sun dies and transforms into a nuclear radiating ball white dwarf. So, what will happen to the humans when one of these future events take place?

What I would like to focus on is the how the humans of Earth are going to adapt to their new, possibly lethal and very advanced environment in the future. Each possible speculated event would affect them differently which means there are many different cosmetic or design changes that could happen to a human. This is an area that I would love to focus on as it holds a wide range of different possibilities for me to create an come up and I believe that it would be really interesting to envision the humans of the future in different situations. 

Now that I have my creative idea in mind it is up to me to think of what work I would realistically like to produce by the end of the unit so that I have a clear goal to work towards through out the project and am less likely to change my mind part way through. Although I don't have a final idea set in stone of what I want to produce, I know it is going to revolve around creating 2D character art so this is my starting point. From here it would be wise of me to research into pre existing piece of 2D character concept art for inspiration and stylistic ideas. 

The beginning of BA6

The new brief 


Now that the small break after BA5 is officially over it is time for us to move onto our newest assignment, BA6. We were all told very briefly what it is we would be doing for this unit a pretty long time ago so a refreshment lecture was in order for us all to learn probably what it was we would be doing and what work we needed to complete. 

In our most recent group lecture we were told that BA6 is all specialism project. This essentially means that each student much choose a certain artistic area that they would like to focus on for the duration of this project. It must be fairly specific and be a medium that the student feels most comfortable with and is most likely to continue to focus on in the future. This could be anything really, from 2D environment art to 3D modelling, as long as it links in with game design, we can choose it. We must then, after our specialist area is chosen, create a small project to our own specifications that must include an important and key aspect which is to strongly focus on the meaning behind the project work we are producing. We mustn't simply come up with a concept and then have no other basis behind it, it must be a detailed and thought through idea that has a strong and understandable premise. This project is very strong focused on making sure we are creating meaningful work so when I start thinking about a concept I must bare this factor in mind. 

Overall although we have only been given a very brief introduction as to what we need to focus on for this unit, with more expansive lectures to come in the next week, I am really looking forward to this unit. It looks like it is fairly open so I will be able to work on something that I feel comfortable and happy with which with hopefully keep me motivated through out. I really do not want a repeat of what happened in BA5 so it is crucial for me this term to keep up to date with everything I am doing and to not let myself fall behind or become overally stressed. I am a little worried about how I am going to keep myself motivated over the three week Easter break we have coming up but hopefully I will find a way to be able to balance work and enjoying the holiday at the same time. 

Right now I am not really sure what I want to do for this project.I know that I am most comfortable with 2D character design so that makes sense for my to be focusing on as my specialist subject but then I don't really have a meaningful concept to work with at the moment. So my goal by the end of this week is to have a solid idea which a good am mount of research behind so I don't find myself lost and losing focus throughout the 3 week break. This also means that I will have an opportunity to talk to my tutors about it too and get there feedback so that I can make sure I am focusing on the right thing because there would be nothing worse than me coming back after Easter and realising I had been doing completely the wrong thing. The next stage for me now is to have a good think about the concept I want to work on and what I want to be able to produce. I have posted the brief for BA6 bellow so that it will be easier for me to refer to as I work though my project and check the specifications of what work I need to produce.