Keeping up with my reflective journals fell behind a ways at the end of the last module, and over Easter break. I'm making this post as both a reflection and catch-up.
The current module is a game development project, in which we work in a small group to create a game. This project allows the different classes -- artists, designers, programmers -- to learn to work together productively. Much like the game jams at the start of the year, our group is lacking a programmer, leaving our team with three artists and two designers.
At the end of the module we'll need to present our game, and create a personal vlog of our progress. I am aiming to use my relfective journals as rough scripts for the vlog.
The early stages of the group project involved pitching ideas. A few of us suggested games we'd enjoyed as inspiration, myself putting forward the visual styles of Tunic (2022) and Death's Door (2021), and one of our designers suggesting The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014).
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| Fig. 1: Tapsell, 2021. Death's Door. |
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| Fig. 2: McEwen, 2014. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Photograph: Nordic Games |
Very quickly the initial ideas stage became more about restricting ourselves based on limitations; e.g. no programmer, no one experienced with animation, etc. Personally speaking, I would have preferred a longer "Blue Sky" stage -- a term coined by Disney imagineers, used to describe the concept phase of a project, during which limitations such as budget and time are ignored in order to allow the flow of ideas.
There were some benefits to this limitation however, as it meant we quickly started working on something realistic within our team. The idea we began working on was a fantasy board game, with six different factions working against each other to achieve a goal. Myself and the other artists began by discussing what the six different factions could be, deciding on six fantasy races.
I personally wanted to avoid designing these groups based on pre-existing works such as The Lord of the Rings, which I feel is often a go-to for fantasy design. After some discussion we decided to base each group on different creatures: foxes, snakes, warthogs, fauns, birds, and trees. With that, myself and the other 2D artist began some loose designs.
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| Fig. 3: Spence, 2023. Rough Sketches |
The artists on our team utilised the Mural app (fig. 4), which allowed use to keep all of our design references on one collaborative board.
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| Fig. 4: Spence, 2023. GAM703 Mural Board |
References:
Images:
Figure 1. TAPSELL, Chris. 2021. Death's Door. Eurogamer [online]. Available at: https://www.eurogamer.net/deaths-door-review-wonderfully-honed-zelda-like-with-a-soulful-edge [Accessed on: 25/04/2023]
Figure 2. MCEWEN, Kirsty. 2014. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Photograph: Nordic Games. The Guardian [online]. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/07/the-vanishing-of-ethan-carter-review-a-spell-binding-sinister-mystery [Accessed on: 25/04/2023]
Figure 3. SPENCE, Nel. 2023. Rough Sketches. Private Collection: Nel Spence
Figure 4. SPENCE, Nel. 2023. GAM703 Mural Board. Private Collection: Nel Spence
