Game On!- Dr. Cardone Final Concept Art

My last asset that I completed for my Game On! brief is the concept art of Dr. David Cardone, in the same style of Steven's concept art. I also put the two characters side by side for comparison.

The deuteragonist of Ignis Lake, the psychiatrist Dr. David Cardone.

My previously posted artwork of the protagonist Steven Bauchwitz.

The main characters of the game, side by side.

Game On!- Further Improvements

I further enhanced the shadows and lighting on the artwork of the streets, simply by adding more layers.

Game On!- Prop Design Sheets

I did some proposal sheets today for the look of certain props in the game.

The first is the Concentra (Romanian word for 'Focus'), an artefact made of quartz unearthed in the nearby mines in Ignis Lake that resembles a triangular-based pyramid and bears symbols from various cultures. It was deduced to have been made by natives around the time that foreign settlers moved into the area (the game is set in New England, so privateers and colonists mainly from Ireland and England would have settled in). The various symbols (from Japan, Greece and the Mediterranean) are believed to have stemmed from the natives' collaboration with various foreign settlers. The quartz material was revered by the original inhabitants of Ignis Lake as a conduit between themselves and a god they believed lived within the lake. It was eventually unearthed in present day and then exhibited in many locales in Massachusetts, before returning back home to Ignis Lake, whereupon it was bought by Dr. David Cardone who took an immediate liking to it. It now rests on his bookshelf, and he sometimes introduces it into his therapy sessions in order to study a patient's reaction.

The second sheet depicts the light sources that Steven utilizes in the gameplay. At first he uses a traditional everyday flashlight with a halogen bulb, but he loses it halfway through the game and has to switch to a slightly more unconventional light: his lighter. I wanted this to happen as it is the same lighter Steven used many years ago to burn his coaching inn down, and is therefore the genesis of his current condition. The fact that he is forced to use it halfway through the game is symbolic of him coming closer to realizing the truth of what he did that night.

The other thing I did today was write the text for our teaser trailer that Chris (click here to see his blog) is working on currently. I went for short and simple, as it's quite a short teaser that will rely mostly on the text and soundtrack for it's effect. Here's the text:

"What if your entire world disappeared?"

"What if there was no one to help?"

"What if something was after you?"

"What then?"

(Show significant image, music builds up)

"This year..."

"Your sins are coming back for you..."

"And there's no escape!"

(Music reaches crescendo and fades out, show title)

"Ignis Lake"

Online Portfolio

I just managed to get my online portfolio started. Here is the link if you want to check it out!

Game On!- Inner Demon Proposal Sheet

Here's the finalised proposal for the 'Inner Demon' monster, which is only briefly seen in cutscenes, where it is depicted as a menacing presence in Steven's hallucinations. It will feature prominently in the teaser trailer for our game (which my partner is working on), and it will also have more significance in one of the game's endings.

Game On!- Old Sketches

I scanned in another page of sketches I'd done previously, that show the newer look of the monsters that me and Chris had agreed upon.

Game On!- Final Poster

I used my previous work in putting the poster together, most notably the piece of Steven with his arms outstretched. I also demonstrated a new strategy for depicting flames, by using the Smudge tool.
Because we managed to find a Biblical quote to relate to our game's storyline and the themes of guilt, sins and forgiveness are prominent in the game, I felt that a religious connotation would fit in well.

I decided to depict Steven in a pose suggesting he is begging for forgiveness, and I added a small tear of blood to his face to suggest massive internal suffering. The burnt monsters (his family) emerge from the flames that Steven is consumed in, and grab him in vengeance for their deaths and Steven succumbs without resistance.

The image of being consumed in fire and the town's name 'Ignis Lake' (meaning Lake of Fire) hearken to the Biblical concept of sinners being cast into a lake of fire in the afterlife, to punish them for their mortal sins. In the game, it's also symbolic of suffering and being trapped in your sins. The Bauchwitz hotel is also a reference to the real-life 'Hot Lake Hotel' that burned down in a fire and is rumoured to be haunted today.

Here's the final poster, both with and without the poster text:

The poster's image.

The finalized poster's design.

Game On!- Improved 'Ignis Lake Streets' concept

On my tutors advice, I scrapped the previous concept (itself a screenshot from a model of some streets I made on Google SketchUp, a basic 3D modelling program), and decided to go a little further with the lighting. I also felt that the fog I drew was a bit too light in colour, so I wanted to change that too.

Here's the result of my editing:

I made the image darker overall, and changed the opacity of the fog to make it less 'solid' looking. I then added several layers, and blocked out dark areas with pure black. On the next layer, I did the same, but only blocked out the areas which were darker than the previous layer. I repeated this process until my last layer only blocked out the darkest areas. I then altered their opacity levels to display them as shadows. I'm much more satisfied with this result.

Game On!- Full Game Synopsis

As I'd forgotten to post the game's plot, I'll post it now:

The game begins as we see Steven Bauchwitz enter a psychiatrist’s office at Briar Falls, complete with couch and office desk. Steven enters and sits on the couch as Dr. Cardone begins asking him how he is, how he feels, etc. Steven answers “as well as I can be after what happened to me” and remarks he has been having anxiety attacks. Cardone asks him to recount what has happened. Steven becomes hesitant to retell his story, opening up the main storyline/scenario of the game.

We see Steven flashback to a past, but undisclosed time period in which he receives a phone call in his empty bedroom in the middle of the night. We do not hear the caller’s voice, but we see Steven’s eyes widen with fear as he listens. He then begins shouting “You’re not her! No, you’re not! My wife is dead!” and slams the phone down. He then huddles on his bed, trembling, and hearing audio hallucinations of news reports (“Fire at Ignis Lake claims three lives”) before finally resolving to go outside in investigation of the phone call. When he opens his door, it is apparent that the dark outside offers very little vision. After taking a few steps, the player gains control of Steven.

The streets outside Steven’s residence are abandoned and in terrible states of disrepair. Audio from Steven reveals he is bewildered at the vacant and dilapidated state of town, and wonders exactly what is going on. Steven is frightened by various things in the streets, such as noises. Suddenly, Steven is accosted by massive flames that engulf the streets.

At this point, it shifts back to the psychiatrist’s, and Cardone discusses Steven’s loss of his wife, which Steven (in tears) elaborates that his children too, were killed. Dr Cardone asks him to remember what his wife was like. Steven describes her, her favourite things, her background, and their life together, before switching back to Ignis Lake.

Steven is on the ground, in shock at the raging flames. The town begins to deteriorate rapidly and uncontrollably, crumbling debris to ash and scorching the buildings black. The player is put back in control, as you must navigate through the broken, ablaze streets. After a certain point, a woman’s screams are heard and a feminine monster with charred skin, begins to pursue Steven, trying to grab him. The player is unable to fight back and will succumb to flames if the monster grabs him too many times. Focus will be on fleeing from the monster and losing its pursuit. Once done so, the flames disappear and the crumbled, decayed town ‘reapplies’ to the environment, confusing Steven and forcing him to question his sanity.

Back in Briar Falls, Steven explains that he saw his wife after she died, referring to her monster, which he believes came back to haunt him. The doctor explains that he was probably hallucinating under stress, which Steven vehemently denies, saying “the heat was real, I felt it! It’s not just in my head!”. Cardone recounts Steven’s story so far and expresses disbelief at his ramblings. Steven then begins to explain more.

Steven makes his way through more streets until he happens upon an abandoned school, still periodically being pursued by Dana’s monster. When Steven enters the assembly hall, the school is set ablaze and a new monster emerges, which resembles Steven’s deceased daughter, Sunny, clad in medical braces. Dana also appears and the two monsters stalk Steven through the charred school halls. After escaping the school, the flames again dissipate as if nothing had happened.

The game carries on in this fashion, with Steven encountering one more monster (Tristan, his deceased son) and perspective switching back to Cardone’s psychiatry office to further the doctor’s appointment with Steven.

The two storyline’s eventually converge when Dr. Cardone gives Steven an artefact from his shelf (the Pyramid), which contain strange scientific symbols that apparent focus one’s thoughts. It is through this examination that Steven recalls the truth behind his ordeal.

Steven was the one who caused the fire that haunts him. His financial situation became desperate and he set fire to his hotel in a desperate bid to claim the insurance. Unfortunately, he was unaware that his family were spending the night at the hotel after he had an argument with Dana, and she left the family home. Steven assumed she went to Briar Falls to see her parents with the children. His entire family perished in the fire, and the fire destroyed most of the street in Ignis Lake, causing Steven to become mentally unstable from the shock. He was placed on trial for the murders and arson, but was mentally incapable of testifying. He was then sentenced to rehabilitation in a mental institution, revealing that Dr. David Cardone is in fact Steven’s carer at the institution in Briar Falls. The whole experience in the streets of Ignis Lake was in fact an intense hallucination brought on by Steven’s repressed guilt.

The game then ends in several ways:

• Steven fully realises the extent of his actions, and the end scene depicts Dr. Cardone discharging him from his treatment following successful rehabilitation.

• Steven realises what he has done, but succumbs to his despair and stabs Dr. Cardone to death in a blind rage.

• Steven wakes up strapped to a chair, just before a lethal injection is administered to him. Its revealed that he was convicted for his crimes and sentenced to the death penalty, and the entire game was the last vision he experienced before he dies. 
•  Steven realises what he has done, and is suddenly stricken with a violent flashback of the burning demon (which has haunted him throughout the whole game) and it is revealed that the demon is a product of the town's past and is in fact the real culprit behind Steven's actions, using Steven as a conduit for its horrific intentions.
 

 

Game On!- Improvements

After hearing some advice from my tutor Sonia, and also in preparation for doing my poster, I decided to radically improve my Burning House concept art. My tutor explained that the shadows should be deeper and that there should be better light emanating from the fire. There were also some errors with the shadows I'd already done. I was also not completely satisfied with the fire effects I'd painted, so I wanted to improve them as I was going to paint fire again for the final poster. While I was at it, I also improved my Psychiatry Office concept art, as my tutor had given some advice with that too.

First off, I darkened the initial shadows considerably, and also corrected some of the errors I'd made, for example the edge of the roof on the building to the right, whose roof looked irregular due to the shadow I did.

I then improved the flames by using a new method, of painting blobs of red and yellow and then using the Smudge tool to extend the colour into flames.

I then added a new layed and painted in yellow the light from the fire emanating from the windows and doors, etc. I then set the opacity down in order to make it look like actual light.

I then wanted to make the entire image darker, except for the flames in order for them stand out even further. I did this by adding a new layer and painting it black in its entirety (except the flames).

Altering the layer's opacity allowed me to darken the whole image without altering the flames, and here's the finished image.

I then did some work on the Psychiatry Office piece, mostly with the shadows:

I darkened the initial shadows, and then added a lot more, especially to the bookcase and the curtains.

Game On!- Beckoning Steven

We are now approaching the final week of this brief, and we are expected to submit all of our work electronically on the 16th May. I've made a checklist of stuff to do now and expected in the next week is:

• Improved 'Bauchwitz House Fire' concept art
• Improved 'Streets of Ignis Lake' concept art
• Final concept art of Dr. David Cardone.
• Design sheets of props
• Final poster
• Two final prop proposal sheets
• Proposal sheet for the 'Demonic Hallucination' monster

 Today, I worked on a new piece depicting Steven holding his arms out, as if imploring the audience to forgive him. It's what I will use in the final poster, in which he will be surrounded by flames, with the monsters just barely visible in the background.

Game On!- Monster Proposal Sheets

After reviewing my first proposal sheet, I realised that the monochrome background didn't help to bring the image out too well, as they were the same brightness. So I decided to change to a slightly warmer gradient in order to bring out the redness of the monsters. I also did some more proposal sheets for the other two monsters. I still have the horned 'demon' monster (that haunts Steven in hallucinations and nightmares) still left to go, but otherwise I am making good progress.