Motion Animation GIFs - Level One

Here are some quickly made GIF images of each character we are going to use in level one (including the main character) with all the frames put together into one sequence. The GIFs give a better idea about what the motion of the character will look like during actual gameplay.

Bird Pirate

Yellow Fish

Blue Fish

Crab

Walk Cycles - Level One

Here are the motion cycles for the characters in the first level of our game.

Yellow Fish

Blue Fish

Crab

The crab was a more interesting model to animate due to the number of legs that needed motion. If time allows it more frames will be added to each cycle for a smoother animation in the actual game. We are still unsure as to what we wish to do with the "Octopus" character.

Walk Cycle Test

In order to help bring our characters to life, we wish to give them animations for when they complete actions including walking and jumping. As stated in a previous post, to create a walk cycle we needed to create numerous frames of our main character during his walking process.

Our Main Character

Here is the initial design for our main character. To create his cycle we needed to save a series of images of the character in his walking process which we achieved through slightly rotating and moving his layers, in this case his legs for walking.

Each layer needed to show a different angle of his legs in the process of his walk. We created 8 frames as a test for the cycle, to see how the frames would be put together in the software and if it created an effective walking motion. The test cycle can be seen below.

We were quite happy with the results in the software, as after some tweaking the character did indeed walk whenever we moved with the arrow keys. Brilliant for a first test, but there are numerous things we need to iron out before the final release. For example, we can add more frames to the cycle to make the walking motion smoother. Our next task in regards to animation will be to look at the monsters we have for use within the first level, and complete all their motion frames.

Monsters

We've created a variety of different monsters for different levels, there is usually about three different monsters for each level due to the short length on the levels. If however the levels are lengthened we plan to make a few more maybe differentiating between colour to show the difficulty of level changing.

Underwater

The underwater monsters were developed to be bright and vibrant, to draw the attention of the audience in the first few scenes.

Cave

Within the cave we wanted a more gloomy creepy style, something that isn't so cutesy, as cave dwelling creatures are rarely the cutesie of critters.

Mountains

Within the mountain level we went for more mythical monsters, as folklore and myths tend to stem from high in the misty mountains, we wanted to play on that using the likes of Bigfoot/ Sasquatch. We also included slimes which will come in different colours, as something comical but you could imaging them slithering out from between cracks or from under rocks. We may also include the bats but that's yet to be confirmed.

Mustachios Lair

Within the main bosses lair there will again only be two mobs however there difficulty will be harder and the last scene is somewhat shorter then the rest and the main boss fight is longer.

Villans

Mustachio

This is Mustachio a hell bent shark with an obsession to to over throw the pirate crew and throw all he has in their way even stealing his ship and crew. Figure 1 is the final image of the character Mustachio we decided against using a fedora like in Figure 2 due to the lack in keeping with the storyline of the game, it seemed to lack context. However with a small bit of audience feedback it was the preferred representation of the character.

Fig 1

Fig 2

 

 Level Villains

With each level there will be smaller bosses with posses key items in order for the character to progress which are both on their person, these characters are the minions of Mustachio aiding in his evil doing. The chracters are more detailed then the monsters with a more aggressive looking demeanor, to add the fear factor but still keeping the comical feel.

Aggressive Mountain Goat

Captain Boo

Main Character and Crew

Main Character

 

During the development stages of the character i played around with different items to see what worked best. Were considering just having a hat, and ring but you could see something was missing, he needed to be detailed he's the main character after all.

Here is the finished main character; he’s a small whippy little bird with a taste for the salty air and love of all things gold.  I aimed to bring through the strong pirate themes without making him too Captain Jack Sparrow. A lot of research was put into this character, for example to make the style of hat ensuring it was of the correct style and shape which is iconic with pirates, along with the bandanna. I’ve included small detailing such as the scar, beard and ring to aid in giving him some added character, though due to his small size I couldn’t go into great detail without the imagery becoming cluttered when down scaled.

  

 

Crew

 

These are the crew members there is a possibility for more. So far the blue bird is the only one named and he’s called C. Legs. It was essential during development not to let them stray into the realms of the Angry Birds Franchise steering away from heavy black detailing lines and too rounder bodies. We steered away from Pixel art in the development stages as more detailing gave the game more depth and intrigue.

 

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