block after block after block..

So today after I posted this morning ive been working on the finished version of the level map.. the temple part took hours but now its finally done it looks quite good :)

Updation to the nation!

So ive now got 2 minutes of the trailer done, for 2 minutes it doesn't show alot however its perfectly timed to music so the viewer wont get bored.. i hope

Ive now found myself lost so i spent this morning working out exactly whats coming next in the trailer and with the hand in being in a month im starting to get abit scared..

Environments was my next big step for the trailer, it is vital to the trailer to have a good solid environment piece, something ive never focused on heavily in past modules in uni etc so i came up with this level mock up which im working on today

Update

Im currently having issues with uploading what ive done to this point as the files are either 8GB or unsupported by blogger but at this point ive timed tested to appear to a song called "HERO" is a drunk and base song remix that builds dramatically in a way.. ive timed the following script text:

I have also animated the 11 characters flying into sight in time with the music which has been a long process of setting up roughly in Sony Vegas and then working over it in AdobeEffects and then placing back into Vegas too add the music...

Im currently working the character select screen for the trailer which will be chopped up into PNGs for animating AfterEffects which im working on today!

"business trip"

So a week or so ago I went to the best place for ways to show of a game..

GamesCom
The experience was incredible and the environment was mindblowing! so many IPs and new ideas and titles in one place, Im currently trying to retrieve my photos taken but my phone micro sd seems to be corrupt :(

From this experience ive learnt that to really get across to the player and idea it needs to be bold, fast and perfectly structured around a song of music that relates to the emotion of the game..

It feels like a while...

So its been a couple of weeks since I've last posted anything so its time to update!

So during this time I've been up too the following:

• Took a "business trip"

• Creating a script for intro too the trailer which will explain the narrative

• Finding music that will fit the trailer and also be the guideline for the trailer

• Creating PNGs of characters and chosen intro sections

• Animating on Sony Vegas and Adobe AfterEffects

• Setting up character selection screen

• Creating PNGs of above point

Side Scrolling example

So now Ive animated the sidescrolling aspect of this, however when doing this i realized its going to be impossible to make this character run.. the cat like legs will be a challenge to animate which would take up too much time so im going to use this as a game play example for the trailer the more i have the better

Side Scroll Pieces

Next I wanted to move onto animating a gameplay example, choosing Hale once more I drew up a side profile of Hale and then placed them together in AfterEffects ready to animate..

Lancer

Lancer pieces

Lancer

I tried with one more Character before trying something different and I chose Lancer

Graiden Pieces

Practicing

I needed more practice at this technique so decided to produce a second and third one with characters with more objects to work with so I chose Graden and above is the result

Bits and Pieces

This where the pieces used in the previous video blog

Move on up!

Now all the Characters are complete It was finally time to move onto better things, animating!
I wanted to be doing a range of different animating at the same time as so far on this brief I feel I grow tired when Im repeating the same things like 11 characters heads, then 11 profiles, it grew tiresome..

So First off is Hale, the character Ive been started with at every stage and produced this video, this was the result of three tries and I had issues with making it seem natural and less block like movements

Riot

Duel daggered warrior whos speed and agility in combat is unmatched, guardian of an mountain temple this hero earned his name.

Poster Essay

Nelix

Nelix
A strong hound warrior who value of pride powers him through all his battle,

Odin

Odin
A cave dwelling bat goblin hybrid that uses his sight in the darkness to pick out his enemies and take them out without a sound

Jaxx

Jaxx
A tall powerful hero that glides using his feathered wings and uses his huge claws to tear apart enemies

Calix

Calix
A molotov mage, wanderer of a wasteland city

Gauge

Gauge 

A Forrest woodsman, fearless and an exquisite hunter guage only requires 2 huge arrows as he he never misses his pray and with an arrow like that, how could you miss

Gradon

Gradon
In a post apocalyptic world this warrior runs the wastes hunting giant armored lizards for the sport of the kill

Rivet

Rivet
This armored hound shreds trees with its montress claws and strides round mountain forests

Zeno

This character is designed to be a dlc character, a sort of comic relief player, the reasons for this is because I feel in the design of the player is the most unique of them all so I had to persist with its design despite the difficulty of drawing the body. I did however aid myself by modelling the suite and helmet in 3DSMAX so I  could position a body shot.

Zeno

A creature of an unknown home, this jellitine blog of a character sludges through the environment with its intensely stretchy body, using his technique Zeno can grab enemies from far away and attack them with a sludge attack that slows them down

Lancer

During the process of finishing the first character I developed a background for the heroes with a matching colour scheme for each, this consistency with the games logo in the bottom corner will build a strong portfolio piece to say the least

The second Hero is..

Lancer 

From a dark swamp land planet Lancer strides through swamps with his powerful legs and cuts down any enemy that would cross his path, His strength resides in his huge insect like arms, the sword is more of a shape walking stick for this hero..

Hale

Ive  been given three days off this week from work which is nice and unfortunatly Ive strained my back muscles and have been in pain for the three days, the bright side is its given me a chance to catch up for the first completed character is...

Hale

Spear wielding warrior, From a jungle inhabited planet this hero has taken a beating over the years and has scars to show for it.

Hes built with immense power and has cat like strength in his legs to jump to charge at enemies..

Dont go out the lines!

Next I went about colouring the characters head shots in, this was to give me a feel for the bodies and colour schemes the characters will have, While I was producing these characters Ideas where already building for each of the own aesthetics.

Next is the longer process, Actually doing the bodies and anatomy isn't my strong point so lets see if this years earlier practices in life drawing pay off..

Busy Busy Bee

Right, its been awhile since a blog update however this is because I have been working on alot at the same time and didnt see a point uploading it all in pieces,

So once I had my chosen characters with there side profile I decided to do a 45 degree angle aswell as in the past Ive done just front and side but I feel I need to progress more so here are my results for the selected Ignition Aura players

Final Chosen characters and side profiles

Selected Characters

Its been awhile again since I last posted work on here, this is due to having a hectic couple of weeks as Ive now moved out from home into a new place so sitting and doing large amounts of work has been difficult though I hope to rectify this now by spending the next couple of days solidly on my work!

So above is the selection of 17 of my favorite characters, Im now going to redraw these in new PSDs and draw side profiles and perspective shots of each to try and learn the designs for these characters

finalizing sketches

 In todays lesson Ive done what ive been looking forward to doing for a while, narrowing down the huge pile of character sketches too 10 - 15 solid ones, I also went through a process that I find really helps where I piece together my favorite elements of certain faces to create new ones, I did this process on my Honours project to create the characters I used and below are two examples of new faces created and which piece as come from where.

(Above) Goblin Assassin (Below) Tech fighter + Wasteland warrior

MA poster

We have been asked to make a poster of our MA work so far to be presented to the other MAs so they can get an idea of where we are, here is mine which I had printed in A3, Im not sure if feedback will be given for these however I think it was just for the benefit of the other students :)

No more please..

I no I said i wasnt going to do any more characters but shortly after the last ones I didn't some more sketches and a couple of these I felt needed to going over linework process as elements of them could help to create the new final characters 

...this IS the last of my characters though finally! 

New Characters Continued

This is my best character sheet to date I feel, there is alot of strong characters in this and clearly its down to practice which makes me wonder if I continued to do characters, will they continue to get better or will the ideas run dry, also... Im getting bored of this so now its finally time to move on and chose some of these for full character concepts :)

New Characters

Ive decided to go back to what I did on my honours project in university and only draw my characters from solid face one, that way I can mix and match aspects of characters I like to create new ones with my favorite elements of them, I'm coming up to 80 concepts now so by now I should have atleast 10 characters Im happy with!

After this sheet Im going to produce another one as I have been sketching alot in my spare time creating my ideas for characters :)

Logo decision

 Now I have some characters in development I'm starting to get excited about the outcome itself so ive been having a play with logos and Im battling between these too names the top one sounds better but the second rolls of the tongue easier in my opinion, so for now this is the logo my game I will be making

Character Concepts

To save alot of time and also my sanity ive decided not to shade the other character for the concept sheets as it is taking way too much time so here are my concept sheets so far.. 

Cat Creature - Forrest like environment,          Weapon -claws/short daggers

 Cave dweller - Cave environment,          Weapon - sword and shield

Mech Fighter - Futuristic city environment,          Weapon -Laser Rifle/Energy sword

Elemental - mixed environment,          Weapon -varied to element

Lizard Warrior - mountain environment,          Weapon -sword and shield

Potion Girl - city scape fantasy based,          Weapon -varied skill Potions

Enemy - Center of planet,          Weapon -Darkness