Saturday, January 25, 2014

Global Game Jam 2014 {Toronto}: RGBeats!

Alas, the last game jam is finally upon myself. Sure, there's another one by DMG but my mental and physical health calls quits after this one!

UPDATE:
Here's the game, available for download!
Windows
Mac

I was enrolled in a team of 8 called DF: Tidans! The theme this year was "we don't see things as they are, we see things as we are".

The first thought that appeared in my head were people's perceptions on experiences and objects. As a group, we all agreed on using colour to cover the theme and the mechanic, specifically on how being one colour you only see that colour (horrible wording but you see what I mean...I hope).

With that in mind, we focused on producing a platforming game using Unity where the player controls a sprite (a television mascot of sorts) through various coloured platforms to reach the end goal (aka the remote).

The "twist" or mechanic on the game is that the platforms are timed based on colour. When the level loads, the game starts with only the green platforms displayed for instance. Based on the music (specifically the rhythm of the game) the colours of the other platforms will appear but only in that colour. So once the blue platforms appear for instance, the green ones will disappear.

As there were many people in our team, the assets were divided amongst many team members, and one did music and 2 did the level design and programming.

My role was mainly designing the background for the game and creating the goal (the remote).

The team originally had the idea of having a plain black background or something plain and neutral so the colours would be very contrasting. As I had the role of doing the background, I decided to add some detail to the background as I was not entirely sure how all the assets would come together.

Concept art of character controller.


Once we decided on having the TV character (as the colours that change are like the lines on the TV, specifically RGB) I thought of the movie Pleasantville when the black-and-white fictional TV show transitioned into colour (there is much more context to that movie so I'd highly recommend that you check it out! Despite Tobey Maguire...)
I first checked out 50s and 60s themed wallpaper on sites like Pinterest to get some inspiration (at the time I pictured the TV set walking through a 1950s home of sorts).
Upon discussing with other team members, they suggested something more geometric as the art-style would be very simplified aesthetics-wise, and pointed to the direction of something like art deco as an example.
On the first night (Friday night) I focused incessantly on producing an art deco background. Needless to say, as a PhotoShop...well..not sure if novice or just not aware or every single feature available of PhotoShop CS6, but re-creating the art deco was extremely frustrating. It's doable yes, but within a few hours time and it looks aesthetically pleasing? Aw hell no.
Right before I decided to fall asleep (aka 4 in the morning) I decided to Google geometric backgrounds and PhotoShop in the search bar and found some useful tutorials that inspired me to create a geometric background but maintain a grayscale colour scheme so the platforms still stand out due to the contrast.


Using a reference, I decided to do a second background for another level.


Lastly, I did the remote aka end goal using Photoshop.


The most I learned was Layer Styles and shortcuts on combining a bunch of layers into one layer (cooool). Geometry!

So far, the most I can show are Splash Screens and the model (without the rig and animation).
The post will be updated soon...after the JUMP!






On a side note: I *attempted* on a concept level that I thought up of within 10 minute (20? Definitely not that much time ahaha) for the game. It was intended to be difficult but I guess without the controls on the timing etc. it would be hard to tell however, it shows how much you need to playtest!



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