Character Design

Main Character 

In regards to the main characters we began research into heroes and villains and the general styles and characteristics they tended to have.

 
In reference to heroes for example you have Mario, Luigi and Rayman which don’t really pull on the cute factor as such for ease of audience relation; they do however they are relatable on a more human characteristic factor. 

 (Mario & Luigi)                                                                                                  (Ray man)

 

In some ways angry birds have their main characters as grumpy looking birds which are cute, with their round squishy bodies and comical noises, another is the craziness that is the Worms which though not human or even cute but you always want your gun wielding invertebrate to win.

(Angry Birds)                                                                                                                                                          (Worms)

 

We plan to create a main character being a dumbfounded pirate with an unhealthy obsession with gold.  He’ll also have a crew of birds with their own little quirks which will be seen at the beginning and then again at the end. 

Villain

We proceeded to look more into villains as well, looking at what makes an effective villain as with every video game a good character always needs a good villain.

 

For a couple of examples Dr Neo Cortex who’s an evil scientist, he compensates for his ghastly appearance by being as brilliant and maniacal as possible, constructing robots of mass destruction faster than most people put together furniture. In a delightful twist, Cortex is actually the creator of his hated enemy Crash, after zapping the bandicoot with his Evolvo-Ray.

                                                                                   (Dr Neo Cortex)

Another loved to hate character is king pig from Angry Birds the big, green idiot laughs and smiles as your flung birds bounce ineffectively around, and the stupid grin he cracks when you fail is infuriating. 

                                                                                           (King Pig)

But not last nor least in keeping with that ultimate villain theme it has to be Wario, Currently Wario’s less of a villain and more of a rude jerk that Mario still invites to parties and sporting events, but he started out much more evil than that. When he first appeared in Super Mario Land 2, the fat oaf stole Mario’s castle and all his possessions. 

                                                             (Wario)

So our goal is to create a character that we love to hate, but who we have a sense of sympathy for with all his vain attempts at succession, you really he’s just a bit of a loser.

 
- Kat & Chris

 

Overall Design Influence

We began looking into design influences within the early development of games such as Original Mario and more modern pixel plat formers such as Terraria. Throughout the development however it was considered to be somewhat simplistic and lacking in some character for what we wanted from the game; we proceeded to look more into modern games of a similar style to draw inspiration.

(Super Mario All Stars)

(Terraria)

 

Angry birds was studied however mainly for the vector styling and simplified detailing, furthermore the franchises has also been copied a lot, so we’re trying to keep clear from too much association. Another couple of key inspirations were the more modern day Mario though in some he’s 3D the detailing really draws the character alive along with more emotion which can be portrayed easier allowing for the audience to relate to the character.

(Angry Birds)

 

  

(Super Mario Bros. 2)

 

Looking away from character design and more into the background style we were aiming for a long distance whimsical style, which is built up of layers, similar again to Terraria and a few other games, This style I believe comes across more dramatic but avoids drawing the eye too far from the main focal detail going on within the game, a lot of detail will be shown within the platforms on which the character jumps upon to help build the atmosphere and environment.

(Terraria Scenes)

-Kat & Chris

Character Animation

An important aspect of video game development is the animation. As well as making the game look smoother, it also adds interest. If the user were to control a character where their arms and legs didn't have any motion when they move left and right, it would be boring!

Games have used animation on their characters for years. Take Super Mario Bro's for example. When the user moved Mario, his legs and arms move to create the motion of walking. As a preview, here is the first level of Super Mario Bro's being played.

Mario has simple animations when he walks, jumps or shoots fireballs. So how would we achieve this? Animation is done frame by frame, as is all of Mario's motions. Multiple images of the character are created displaying each individual step (or frame) of the motion, and then those images are brought together as one.


Here is the walk cycle of Mario. The image on the left shows his right arm up and his left foot forward. The middle image has his arms and legs coming back towards the centre of his body. The final image shows his left arm up and his right leg forward, thus completing his walk cycle. The cycle is repeated over and over again whilst Mario moves to make him appear as if he is walking.


When we design our own characters, we will start by creating a motionless image with their different body parts separated into layers. These layers will act as the characters "joints" of which we can move into different positions to create any different positions for the character. All the positions will be saved as separate images, of which we will eventually bring together into a cycle to create the motion of walking or jumping.

- Kat & Chris

Genre Decisions

Although there are numerous genres within 2D video games that we could design a game for, we wish to create a 2D Platformer.

This means the structure of our game will be to advance from the start of the level to the end of the level on a side-scrolling plane. In our levels we wish to incorporate enemies that must be disposed of or avoided and obstacles which must be jumped over/across. We are also thinking of incorporating puzzle elements into the levels, which could involve anything from having to press a sequence of switches in the correct order or destroy blocks in a specific pattern in order to continue.

We will design all the elements of the game, and use Construct 2 to import them into the game. This will include characters, obstacles, level and background design. Also if time allows it, we wish to animate our own cut-scenes between levels to add a sense of progression.

- Kat & Chris

Software Decisions

Throughout this research process, we were pondering which software to use to develop our game. We have come to the decision to use the software "Construct 2" by Scirra.

So why Construct 2? The software is designed to still use all of the fundamentals of video game development but remove some of the complications. Our focus in developing the game is the design and the functionality rather than the actual coding. The software uses HTML5 which is rapidly becoming the most common programming language for video games, and is more suited to what we wish to accomplish.

The software allows for quick and easy import of our own character and level designs which we will be using, and also has the capability to create games for a wide variety of platforms.

Below is a few videos of other users Construct 2 developments, to show what the software is capable of. The website for Construct 2 can be found here: https://www.scirra.com/construct2

Bumpers Quest by MadFactory

Space Star Shoot by English Acorn

- Kat & Chris

Action/Adventure

Another popular genre in retro games is the action/adventure. The genre appeared mainly on the consoles at the time, and provided a different style of gameplay compared to other games. The gameplay is different in a few notable ways, one being the camera. Instead of the camera scrolling with the character horizontally or vertically, it uses a fixed position whilst the character can freely move around on screen. The point of view of the camera is from an angled perspective above the level, allowing you to see the top and the side of all the design elements including level and character. The player advances from one area to the next by entering doors and tunnels which separate the different screens. This provided an alternative dynamic in gaming, as it allowed more to be shown on the screen and provided a sense of progression whenever you advanced to the next area.

The Legend of Zelda, 1986

One of the most notable retro games of this genre includes The Legend of Zelda (1986) on the NES. The game was the beginning of a huge series, and combined action elements with puzzle elements to create an overall adventure game. The game used the fixed camera perspective, and provided the player with different types of weapons and items to advance through the game, including a sword for melee attacks and a bow and arrow for ranged attacks. Puzzle elements that were incorporated into the game included standing or moving solid objects onto switches which would open new pathways, and firing an arrow to hit a switch you cannot gain physical access to.

Goof Troop, 1993

Another game that stood out within this genre was Goof Troop, which was released on the

Super Nintendo in Europe in 1993. Release many years after The Legend of Zelda, but it refined the genre in the form of local multiplayer. The game had two main protagonists of which the player could choose between. Alternatively, two players could play simultaneously as each character, providing a new element in the action/adventure genre. The concept was very similar to that of previous action/adventure games, but provided a new element in the form of two players being able to play simultaneously.


- Chris