Sunday 20 January 2013

From Sketch to Illustrator

Character design in Illustrator


Shark

Main character

Sailor

Swimmer
I created these characters in Illustrator, using my sketches. I am going to use the background,below, for my short animation. I created it, also, in Illustrator. I used this graphic design software as it creates vector graphics, which are scalable and can be used for future projects.

Background

Mood-board 
These images helped me to design the background and characters of my mobile game. I used similar colouring techniques in Illustrator such as black outline, shading effects, gradient colour and just colour. I did not use any combinations of special textures such as Mosaic Tiles, Grain or Stained Glass.

Monday 14 January 2013

Designs of dolls

Here are designs of Russian dolls for the first level of the game. The main character has to decide which of these he will use in order to pass the level. The order of stacking is very important as when the main character leaves the island, he couldn't be able to change it. I you want to change the size of the doll, you have to tap on it.

Swimmer

Sailor


Shark


Mood-board


These images helped me to design a swimmer, sailor and shark dolls.

Sunday 13 January 2013

Dipity Timeline

Mood-boards

Mood-board 1

This images helped me to create a 2D environment of the game.

Mood-board 2
This menus from different mobile games helped me develop my own menu. 


Designs

These are sketches of the first level of my mobile game. The location of Matrioshka, the main character, will be on the biggest island. His aim is to reach the shore, using abilities of other Russian dolls on the island. The main character will have the opportunity to explore the island. He has the ability to stack into larger dolls and unstack respectively. The order of stacking is very important. When the main character leaves the island, the order cannot be changed. Once unstack, Matrioshka looses a particular ability. The threat is a sharp in the sea and having fewer points. The game emphasizes on decision making skills and strategy. There are multiple solutions for each level, which give you different points. Bublik gives extra points to the player. It is a traditional Russian  bread roll very similar to bagels.

Design of level 1

Island Design

 Boat Design

Palm Design
I have designed separately some objects of the first level in order to colour them in Photoshop and then, make them part of one background.

Menu Planning

 Mind-map 
This is a mind-map of possible intuitive symbols which can be part of the game navigation menu. I chose intuitive symbols rather than text as they conserve a space, readable across different cultures and easy to learn.

These are plans of symbols arrangement on the screen. The first one is based on Angry Birds navigation menu. The second one has a text based menu similar to the menu from the game Cut the Rope.

Plan 1

 Plan 2


Sunday 6 January 2013

Three Mobile Game Concepts 

Santas Flight
This is a short simple puzzle based game. An elf has stolen Santa’s presents. Now, Santa has to return them back. He is going to lurk to the elf’s sled and throw the presents back to his sled. The goal of Santa is to arrange the presents on his sled so that all of them can fit the carriage, unless the level fails. The player can compete with himself and increase the score as there are multiple solutions to arrange the presents. Each level of the game offers higher difficulties.

Angry Snowman
Angry Snowman throws snow balls onto the Santa’s house. Different hit parts of the house give to the snowman different points. If the house is collapsed, which is the goal of the game, the player passes to the next level. This is a puzzle based game as it emphasizes on problem solving skills such as logic and strategy. The player can compete with herself/himself and increase the score. The threat is not to destroy the Santa’s house and having fewer points. Each level provides multiple solutions and offers challenges appropriate to players of different skill levels.

Matryoshka Adventure
Matryoshka is a third person puzzle game where you play as the smallest Russian stacking doll whose name is T. Each level of the game offers different challenges to T. In order to deal with these challenges, T has to stack into other Russian dolls. Therefore, he uses their abilities. Each level provides multiple solutions and offers challenges appropriate to players of different skill levels. Choosing the right solution, it gives you more points. The threat is to not to pass the level or to gain fewer pints. Also, you can compete with yourself. Therefore, you can increase the score or to pass the level. Firstly, the player can use abilities of the biggest doll. When the player unstacks the biggest one, he/she can use the abilities of the next doll.



Matryoshka Adventure


Mood board for the Main Character

The mood board includes characters from Russian fairy tales as well as Russian national clothing. Also, there are some examples of Russian stacking dolls which incorporate different designs. These images help me to develop the design concept of the main character of my mobile game.

First Sketch of the Main Character