Xanthe Pollard

We communicated primarily on Teams whilst also using sites such as Padlet and Onedrive to upload files to share. We also used a live GANT chart to keep track of tasks and deadlines. During our in-person sessions, we discussed certain aspects of the project, show our work. Generally the process went smoothly, however, there were a few setbacks and communication issues which needed to be dealt with. 

Here are all of the links which we used for communication with our team:

https://artslondon.padlet.org/GusDeTommaso/marvin-the-mushroom-wz4ac6g94utfjvjt

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ADHrKYO73loTCy8&id=17DF20C7E441A8AB%211245470&cid=17DF20C7E441A8AB

https://app.clickup.com/9005058318/v/g/8cbwj8e-228

Here is a demo for the final game. As the Game Design team have longer to submit, the game is not finished, however here is a video of the basic construction. Overall, I am happy with how the project went and there were many learning curves; from figuring out how to communicate with a team, to technical difficulties when dealing with new programs and approaches. I have definitely learned a lot and altogether proud of what my team has achieved.  

Here is the third level tile-set where I changed the art of the first two levels to work for the third one. For example, the tree stump does not fit the cave environment and thus I changed it to stalactites instead. Additionally, the Games Design  team wanted to add another mechanic into the game where water/ice would make the character move faster and thus I added more to the design if needed

I struggled with the wind tiles for the game as they wanted it to be animated and tileable at the same time. In the end, I did not get to animate the wind as there was little time left and needed to focus on some more important aspects of the game, such a the third level tile-set. I did find a solution in which I created two tileable wind sets which I think are still in line with the art-style but was achievable in the time frame given. 

The drawing on the top is the victory/end screen for the game (made by the other game artist, Tia Josling).  I knew I needed to match the art style for continuity and therefore I roughly sketched out the design and then used her work to reference the shading style and shape design. 

On this page I have laid out the different alterations some of the backgrounds and tile-sets went through to get to the final stages. The final iteration of the first level was changed as it was too similar to the second level, therefore I removed the overgrown vines and some of the glowing eyes on the mushrooms to make it more distinct. The third level is a cave design and initially I had it in a brown colour, however, the leader of the Games Design team thought it more appropriate to match the colour palette of the original design. I simplified the design of the tiles to match the artstyle of backgrounds and character and was done by removing some layers. One learning curve I had was to make the designs fully tileable. By using GIMP, I could offset the design by half of the original canvas parameters and fill in the gaps. This was very valuable to learn as it could be applied in numerous occasions and helped me understand how games are used. We also had to use specific dimensions for each piece so that it would fit in the playable world. The first two levels were in the 960×480 dimension and level 3 was 1920×960. The tiles had to be 96×96 in order to be in scale with the character who was 32×32. 

Here is the initial concept sketch which I showed to the Game Design team which matched the overall set level design. They liked this and I moved on to the colour palette. I wanted to use colours which would be both mystical and earthy. I also incorporated contrasting tones in order for everything to stand out against one another.

Here are the initial concept thumbnails for the three levels. We decided as a team to gradually increase the contrast and values to create an increasingly dark and sombre effect. The levels represent a journey for our main character as he is lost in an overgrown and mystical forest. 

The first level is quite light to set up the overall aesthetic of the game. This reflects the introduction of controls into the game and as the player enters the second level hazards are introduced. Thus we decided to move towards a darker background which allows the player to understand the journey the character is on. Finally, the third level is the most difficult and we had the ability to create a unique level design. Therefore, we chose a cave design as it appeared to be the most visually threatening.