The Rackety Esperus: Negotiated Study 1- 'Bolide' Game Concept

I've now returned to University, and made a big start on my first Negotiated Study module. I also have my dissertation going well, with already 4000 words, so only around 1000 to go. Here's my Negotiated Study 1 brief, that I created myself:

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.