Game Art: Exercise - World Creation

07.04.23 - 10.06.23 (Week 1 - Week 10)
Chai Yi Xuan / 0346645 / B' Creative Media
Game Art / Entertainment Design
Exercise / World Creation

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INSTRUCTIONS

To-Do List:

• Propose a game you want to work on a new art direction for

Week 1

I was trying to think up of which game I can use to for the project. At first, I thought of a few games like Ace Attorney and Danganronpa, but since this module can be in combined with Environment Design, I decided to go with Persona 5. I looked up the game's fan wiki since it's the easier way to collect information about the characters, settings, etc.

It takes a while for me to collect the information for the game, since there's a lot of playable characters and even more side characters (plus antagonists). There's also a lot of destinations the player can travel to, and I tried to cram them all into my proposal slides. Mr Kannan told me to reduce the amount of content in my slides, since it's overwhelming and the information's purpose is to understand the game's setting (and not for a thesis-). I took out everything else that can be summarised and leave only the important ones in.

Week 4

I started sketching for my villain character. As stated in my proposal, I wanted to base her design on Greek Goddesses, but with a mix of Japanese elements here and there. I started with a tamer design, since I was still trying to visualise her outfit. I managed to create a few designs, but they obviously need a lot more refinement.

The next week, I continue to work on more thumbnail sketches for her. I added more 'menacing' elements to her design, and she looked a little more like a villain. I didn't want to overdo it, since my intention for her character was that she hides her true nature to deceive others.

Figure 1.1: Antagonist thumbnail sketches

Week 6

I moved on to work on my protagonist thumbnail sketches. In a way, it was hard to visualise her character since I made her to be a silent protagonist, like Ren Amamiya (Persona 5 protagonist). I based her designs on Baban Nyonya culture, but I realised that it was a hard task since I was not used to drawing batik nor was I familiar with their cultural fashion. I also had trouble with the anatomy and had to take my time to continuously fix it. After a few more tries and guidance from Mr Kannan, I finally got a more reasonable anatomy and design.

Figure 1.2: Protagonist thumbnail sketches

Week 7

I was still planning out what Persona I wanted my protagonist to have, so for the week I decide to further define the character designs for my protagonist and antagonist.

Figure 1.3: Antagonist progressive sketch

Figure 1.4: Protagonist progressive sketch

Week 8

I finally decided to make my companion character based on Chinese designs, which I'm more familiar with. He is also based on Qi Lin, a Chinese mythical creature. I did have some trouble in defining his anatomy, since I was giving him horse legs to make him more similar to the Qi Lin.

Figure 1.5: Companion thumbnail sketches

Week 9

I further defined my companion character design.

Figure 1.6: Companion progressive sketch

PDF presentation file for Exercise

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FEEDBACK

Week 4

Greek elements are all okay, but look too friendly. Add some elements that makes her look more menacing/mysterious. You can reuse elements from design 1,4,5. Look up on Maleficent or any evil queen designs for inspiration. Another suggestion is to add a staff or a pet.

Week 5

Define the traits of your character (sexy, cunning, etc.) so you can implement it further into your designs. Antagonist design 4,7,8 are acceptable, but exaggerate the elements to make her more menacing (maybe bat wings, or high collars, or sharp armors). Try not to use thin strings as part of the design due to anti-aliasing, replace it with big/mid shapes.

Week 6

Define body type for protagonist, it's best to look up for characters similar to ideas and draw over it (just for pose). Adjust anatomy on design #7. Design #6 is fine, you can combine other elements you like from other designs. Add your description in your sketches.

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REFLECTIONS

I was pretty excited for this module, since I get to do character design again. I also took Art Direction as a module last semester, so some of my knowledge is being applied in this place. The exercise is on the simpler side, since it's technically just a breakdown of the game I'm proposing and defining the character I wanted to do for the new art direction. There's not much reflection here, but I will write more of it in Project 1 instead.