Negotiated Study #1: ‘Bolide’ Game Concept
Subject: BA Design:
Digital Art for Computer Games
Rationale/Working
Statement:
A
new game is being produced for the Nintendo 3DS system titled ‘Bolide’, which will be a Fighting game with hybridised
elements of an RPG. It features
2.5D battles, with two-dimensional sprites on pseudo-3D backgrounds and
the game will feature 12 playable characters with varying rich
back-stories and designs. The game focuses on the struggle between the ‘Legatees’,
receivers of magic that was released into the Earth’s atmosphere by a meteorite that fell from another dimension.
Aims:
The
aim is to produce a set of 2D sprites with animation, as well as pseudo-3D background and some
concept art of both the character’s appearances
and the weapons they wield. I will also produce some mock screens
of the in-game menus and a title screen, as well as a game poster. The
assets must match the resolution and capability of the Nintendo 3DS screen.
Details/Content:
I
will produce concept art of the 12 playable characters with regards to their appearances and the magical weapons and moves they
display. The next step
would be then converting them into a retro sprite-art style. I will animate
the sprites, with their default fighting poses and at least
two of each character’s special moves. Each character will also have two 'Fatality'-style moves which I will produce as animatics. I will also produce backgrounds of various locales which
represent the diverse backgrounds of the
12 characters, and these will be made using a combination of Google SketchUp
and Photoshop. The title screen and the in-game menus will be produced using
Photoshop, keeping to the screen resolutions of the target system.
Specific Skills:
§
Concept & Ideas
§
Research & Development
§
Sprite Art
§
Digital Painting
§
SketchUp Modelling
Here's the game's synopsis that I created too:
A meteor from another dimension (a bolide) enters Earth’s
atmosphere and burns up. A strange but wondrous power is released and instantly
integrates with the Earth’s atmosphere. It is a force that comes to be known as
‘magic’.
The world changes swiftly, with daily reports of miraculous
happenings and geographical changes due to the magic. But nothing prepared the
world for the Legatees, twelve once ordinary humans that absorbed the magic and
became forever altered. The magic melded with their bodies, pouring into their
mind and granting their most precious of desires. Near instantly, the Legatees
become globally recognised celebrities and their normal existences are ripped
from their grasp.
Almost as suddenly as the world changed, it became under
threat. An entity known only as Isten appeared, vowing to forcibly extract the
magic from our planet’s atmosphere, which would cause destruction on a global
scale. Only the Legatees stand a chance of repelling the marauding invader, but
only if their powers were merged… and some are not willing to play teammates.
Choose from 12 distinctly unique characters, and follow
their journey as they seek to extract the magic of rival Legatees and banish
Isten from Earth for good!
The game's story focuses on the twelve Legatees, of whom the player chooses one to play through the adventure with. The story is inspired by the likes of Highlander and Chronicle, as a moral story concerning what happens to people when they have power, and how it corrupts. Many characters will also undergo internal changes during the story, so while some seem initially antagonistic, it may change as the game progresses. The gameplay is inspired by Dissidia Final Fantasy and Mortal Kombat, with fantasy-style violence and darkly comic 'fatality' style finishing moves. The game features some exploration and platforming elements between the fighting matches, but will mainly focus on the fighting element.
The fighting arenas will be 2D parallax backgrounds, that will have 3D perspective. The characters will be rendered as 2D sprites, formed from hand drawn frames that have been coloured and detailed and then resized to fit the screen resolution. Once resized, I'll touch them up in Photoshop and apply filters to simulate what the sprites would look like on the screen.
I've redrawn my characters as a simple front view and side view, as well as their weapons.
