Teaser/Trailer for a game (Pt.1)

I'm going to be creating a game teaser or trailer using maya and animating scenes. So far, I've been heavily inspired by dio de los muertos (day of the dead) and colourful type media including the films Beetlejuice, The Zero Theorem, The Fifth Element. And point and click games like Grim Fandango. I want to create an interesting and very visual trailer that ideally shows both witty, basic point and click type gameplay and surrealism.

The above image is concept art for the carnival world of Monkeybone.
This post is a first draft of my idea. I want to create a carnival like setting similar to the above image and combine that idea with a run-down dystopian feel. and introduce a few original characters somehow. The brief of this project asks for atleast 20 seconds of animation per person. I would ideally like to make the trailer/teaser last longer than 20 seconds if possible.

nDynamics

recently, I started a new 3D scene and looked at working with ndynamics (ncloth). Below are the results.

Working on a 3D scene Part 2 - Hand trees

Narrative Theory - Propp & Todorov - The Queen Bee

To analyse a fairytale, we have been looking at the narrative theories of Tzvetan Todorov & Vladimer Yalovlevich Propp. I have chosen to look at Grimm's story "The Queen Bee" and apply this to Todorov's theory.
This theory consists of five parts in which there is an initial Equilibrium, a disruption of said equilibrium, the recognition and plan to resolve, attempt to repair the damage and finally the creation of a new equilibrium before the cycle starts again. These theories will help me change and develop the original fairytales as I change them accordingly to suit a modern audience.

The Queen Bee

1. Equilibrium - Two of the king's sons want to leave and find a fortune.
2. Disruption - The third brother sets out to find the other siblings as they cannot return because they have started living foolishly. The third brother ventures out to find them, stops them from killing ants, bees and ducks and then they find an old man who asks indirectly for the three sons to find pearls and break the spell of people turning into marble. 
3. Resolve - The brothers plan to find the pearl. Two of them fail and turn into marble but the third brother attempts to find the pearls himself
4. Attempt to repair damage - The third brother, with the help of the animals he refused to kill, finds all the pearls and breaks the spell
5. New Equilibrium - Peace is restored and the brother becomes the new king.

The Propp Theory is a more concise, specific and linear theory. They share similar ideas. This theory is the idea that there is an original order including a family or community (Preparation), An event that compromises the safety of this community or family and introduces a hero to plan action (Complication). There is then a gift given to the hero. Regarding games this could be upgrades, a weapon or simply something that is necessary for the hero to progress within the story/game (Transference). Next, there is a conflict or battle that the hero must endure (Struggle). The hero can either succeed or fail, but restores balance and escapes or finishes the fight and returns from the battle (Return). Finally the hero is rewarded after accomplishing the task they have set out to do (Recognition).

1. Preparation - There exists a king with three sons. Two want to leave and find great fortune.
2. Complication - The third brother sets out to find his siblings as they cannot return because of their foolish life choices
3. Transference - The third brother gains the help of the animals because he didn't want to kill them like his brothers and this gives him the advantage of finding the pearls
4. Struggle - He looks for the pearls and uses the help of the ducks to retrieve a key from the river aswell as the ants helping him round up the pearls
5. Return - After finding all of the pearls, the third brother can break the spell and his siblings return back to normal along with everyone else who had been turned into marble
6. The hero is rewarded with the title of the new king

Working on 3D scene Part 1

Making a texture for a scene is one thing but actually applying the texture to a plain and seeing what it looks like in 3D is something else. After making different layers and adding bridges, trees, towers.. I've decided it's probably best to start over and try making a different texture from the map AFTER I've created the 3D model. Here's what it looked like with the texture I made in Photoshop:

3D modeling so far

Using various techniques we've been taught over the past few weeks, I've been able to make decent 3D models. I had no idea creating 3D models is as complicated as i've discovered. I'm still enthusiastic and interested to learn more but I feel like my brain is going to explode. And i've made a ridiculous amount of notes that I should probably transfer to here. I'll get scanning and upload them soon maybe.

Straying From The Path

The first assignment has begun and before I can create concepts, I've been looking at various games that relate to the idea of a twisted fairytale. The idea is to take a well known folk story or fairytale and use inspiration to turn it into something that resembles a twisted version of it through a game, trailer, cutscene.

A Wolf among us, created by Telltale games (based on a comic originally) uses this idea of modernizing characters from old tales and putting them together in a city where they have to use a potion called Glamour to keep themselves looking like a regular human or "mundies" as in mundane. That, or they are sent to "the farm". This game sets itself apart from most games in this topic of Fairytales. Fairytales usually come with the assumption of medieval type fantasy whereas The Wolf Among Us is set in a modern world with modern services, law, societies and realistic interaction between characters.

 Tale of Tales have created the game "The Path" which follows six sisters who are visiting their grandmother. On the way, they are to follow a path but the aim of the game is to ignore the instruction and explore the forest anyway. The Path disappears the further you run into the forest and for each sister, there is a threat or a "wolf". For example, one of the sister meets a young man in the woods and shares a drink with him before she meets her demise. Some people think that each sister represents a stage in a young woman's life and the dangers they encounter.

similarly, the story of Alice in Alice, Madness Returns, Depicts Alice as suffering from madness and being taken advantage of by people who otherwise seem harmless and for the most part helpful. She switches between reality and a disturbing dream like state where her subconscious is leading her to an important truth. Though a fairly charming game, the story at heart is disturbing. The only problem I have with this game however is that Alice, the main character is difficult to relate to and has little development throughout the game. She is formal, uninteresting and hardly likeable.

Designing a scene in 3D

Today has been productive! I've given this blog a banner and background and done some helpful drawings for an assignment. Next week, we should be starting to create a small 3D scene in Maya. We went out around college and took photos to use as textures but I've decided to give myself a challenge and draw all the textures myself. Below is an idea of what I'm aiming for. I drew it on Photoshop. Hopefully now I'll find the whole task a little easier!

Planet Modelling & Animation

In the first week of college (last week), We started on 3D modelling almost straight away. I had absolutely no experience in Maya before college started and already feel able to create just about anything, despite how long and laborious it'd be. We started off with animating a rocket around a planet using a path, fire effects and a sphere with a texture stuck on it (basically). I assumed by rocket, something like a missile was meant to be created when in fact it was.. well, a rocket. So that's why it might look a little bit odd. It seems i've been playing too much fallout as of late. Below are some screenshots i took during the process of building the rocket and the final product in all it's glory

Initial thoughts & Ideas

Not even a few weeks into college and I already feel overwhelmed with ideas regarding future projects. I'm incredibly sick of seeing the same game given a new title. The white male protagonist given another "edgy" back-story and a barely consensual love interest. What I love to see is what makes up the majority of not only my childhood but almost every other person my age. Futurism is appealing, there's no doubt. It's amazing how fast technology is advancing and how incredible games look but does that mean saying goodbye to classics like Spyro, Worms and Abe's Odyssey? It seems nobody wants a fun, childish, basic yet far from patronizing game anymore and there's an certain seriousness and realism being demanded in the games of today. My plan is to design a game that appeals to the people that miss the old Playstation and classic PC games.

Klonoa 2, 2001

American Mcgee's Alice, 2000

Ratchet & Clank, 2002

Gwhee is Born & Nostalgic Games

This is a place for game design inspiration and art. Ideas, opinions and the like. This blog is for college, more specifically the course of Animation in Games & Media.

To start things off on a high note, I'm going to express my love for nostalgic games that consumed my entire childhood. That includes Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet & Clank, Kingdom Hearts, Klonoa & Dark Cloud. I could go on. When I was very young, I bought a bunch of PlayStation demo discs from my cousin for 50p. He got them from his magazines and found no use for them so I wasted years of my life replaying the very short demos over and over and experiencing brief moments of fantastic games I'd never possibly hope to afford. In particular, the games that stood out to me the most and stayed in my mind up until a few years ago (When I could afford them!) were Klonoa 2 and Dark Cloud. To this day, when I mention either game, I often get little response or recognition. If it's this easy to remain oblivious to some of the best games I have ever played, then I can't imagine how many I've missed out on and how hard they must be to find. And afford, sadly.

The best thing about Dark Cloud is the customization from rebuilding a lost town. You visit a single house in a barren land and speak to an elderly man who sends you out on an adventure to find the pieces of the town and the people lost in a nearby dungeon. When I played this demo at the age of 10 and found my way into the dungeon, I was too scared to move because of the daunting music and distant footsteps. This isn't nearly as scary when you attempt the game seven years later.

Enemies spawn in random places each level of the dungeon and are hard to avoid as, if you hope to progress, you should be collecting every last thing they drop. Not only are the enemies difficult to get rid of, but your weapon weakens with every hit and you must stay hydrated. The levels are randomly generated and will have areas to drink from but at the rate of dehydration,  it's a good idea to stay equipped with bottles of water. There are ten levels of the dungeon and each level has five areas and parts of the lost town (houses, people, common household items) which results in lengthy addictive repetitive gameplay. And after all of that hard work, weapon repairing, town rebuilding and and a few ridiculously difficult boss battles, you gain access to a forest area which gives you just as many hours of play, if not more to continue doing the same thing! By then your town is starting to look like a real community and you can see all your hard work has paid off, which keeps you coming back.

Onto the design aspect of the game, which is something I should've addressed before going off on a tangent. Like most games created around the time of this gem, the textures aren't too wonderful and you'll most likely encounter glitches. Regardless of this, the characters and setting are charming and have a fitting soundtrack. Admittedly, the protagonist (Toan) Is the worst of the bunch with his typical link-esque appearance but the boss enemies have some strong cultural styles that really reinforce that fantasy feeling you initially get. The player is given varying styles of fantasy with the setting from the bright happy town to the moody dark dungeons and as time passes, the setting completely transforms the feeling of the game with only the use of lighting and soundtrack.

I highly recommend this game if you have enough time and patience to play it. I've yet to meet somebody who's even heard of it. It's tedious and difficult but very rewarding and from day one, will stay in the back of your mind for as long as you haven't completed it.