Monday, 25 January 2016

Player Character Example (Concept Design and Pixel Art)


This is a pixel art rendering of a potential character within my game concept. The game I planned had a function that allowed players to create their own character, and thus the protagonist could look however they wished. This character design acted as an example of just one of the almost innumerable ways that a player character could look, and also acted as a stand-in for examples of gameplay and screenshots that I created for project that required the protagonist. I am quite happy with how this image turned out, as I believe I was able to effectively translate shading and depth into a pixel art format in order to create a character in a fairly semi-realistic style, while still maintaining the art style of the game.

This is the pixel sprite rendition of the protagonist stand-in that I used for the game project. This sprite is the avatar that the player would control in game. However, because of the games Character Creation function, their avatar would most likely look vastly different. Nonetheless, all in-game avatars would, for the most part, maintain this similar pixel style. I am quite satisfied with this sprite as I believe it accurately reflects the design aspects that I established in the concept art, and the two images are recognisable as representing the same character, despite the fact that one uses vastly less pixels. 


Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Queen Isolde (Pixel Art and Gifs)

This is a pixel art rendering of one of the characters in the video game project, Queen Isolde. The image acts as a concept art design of the character, but also the image would be made use of as an in-game model occasionally, as the face section of this image would be used as the characters icon during sections of text. The entire image may also be used in the introduction of the game while elaborating the backstory of the game, which includes Queen Isolde being one half of a civil war which makes up the greater bulk of the games story. I am very happy with how this pixel art design came out, as I believe that the design for the character is quite unique and interesting, with a bold and eye-catching colour scheme that is suitable to a royal character as it includes very regal colours of burgundy and gold. I am very happy with how the shading has come out, as I believe it makes the character look far less flat and two-dimensional. I am also happy with the creases and shading on the gown which I believe have come out quite realistically. 


This is a pixelated sprite version of the character of Queen Isolde. This sprite is how she would generally be represented in-game, as most characters would be. While this pixel version is much smaller and more compressed, and there is less space for elaborate designs, I still believe that this is a fairly faithful rendering of the character shown in the concept design, and that the character would still be fairly noticeable and identifiable among other pixel characters. I am quite happy with how the pixel figure itself looks, and the shading on the character and on their outfit has come out very well and given them a great deal of depth. 



This is a moving gif version of the character of Queen Isolde, still as a pixel sprite. This would most likely be her idle animation in-game, and consists of her fanning herself, with the veil of her headdress fluttering, and her blinking. I believe the animation of this gif is fairly fluid and slow-pace, which is what I was hoping to achieve with this gif. 


Noblelady (Pixel Art and Gifs)

This is a full-body digital art rendering of the character. It acts as an example of the character's concept art, as well as being used as an in-game model in certain situations, as the characters face (as it appears in this design) is used as their icon. The image uses a somewhat cartoon-ish style, but I have tried to ensure there are still a few hints of realism. I tried to implement realistic shading to make the image look less flat and two-dimensional. When designing my characters for this game I have tried to give them unique colour schemes in order to ensure they are easily distinguishable when in the much smaller and simplistic pixel format. In this case, I chose a deep blue shade for the main colour, with gold acting as the secondary colour. This is meant to reflect that the character is quite wealthy and affluent. 





This is the pixel sprite version of the character. This is the version that would appear in the game and act as their general in-game avatar that the player would be able to control. I have tried to accurately translate the features of the characters design as best I could in the much smaller and more simplistic pixel format, and I have tried to ensure that the character still had a unique and interesting design even when they are much smaller and more compressed. The bold and recognisable colour scheme of blue and gold is meant to help the character stand out against the rest. 






This is an example of the pixelated sprite of the character in motion. In this gif, the character is making a sword slash movement, which reflects the sort of actions that they would be doing in the fighting segments of the game. I am quite happy with how this gif has come out. I believe it is fairly clear what is happening and that the gif is supposed to show a sword slashing motion, and I think that the animation is quite swift and fluid, which is what I was aiming for it to look like.