For my animatic it was a fairly basic and straightforward process, upon completing my storyboard I then took pictures and exported then onto my computer, after that it was a simple process of uploading them into premier pro and organizing it so it would play as a slide shows there was little to no animation as the opening scene of my game would be still images, to introduce the reader to the environment and game world, there was no reason to have any animation involved. once I was done with the animatic iI Exported it and placed it onto youtube to be watched.
Category: Unit 72 Narrative writing/ game story development
GAME narrative Experimenting with art styles
This task was all about experimentation, we were tasked to draw our character or resembling characters in different art styles, such as Dragon Ball Z or Simpsons, the focus was to be quick and loose about these concepts, and to just experiment. I think this task is relevant as it allows us to get out of our comfort zone and really gain an understanding for different illustrations, Peronsalnllyy it also helped me choose my art style for my game narrative as I tried many different styles.
Game narrative Lucid charts
This blog will showcase the Lucid chart I created basically describing how my games work and the features it will consist of, This method of planning is important and in my opinion useful even in modern jobs as it allows you to visually plan and categorize your product, mapping out what features it has and giving you a greater idea of how it will function.
(Made using Lucid Chart.com)
Unit 72 Story script
[Should I stay or should I go by the clash playing on an old banged up the radio,(non-diegetic) the radio will be featured in a closeup, the camera starts to zoom out slowly revealing an old bar with two men talking]
Ryder- “ You know how it is Jim, the worlds turned to crap, no more livestock to live off, we can’t exit a building without wearing a gas mark, we should just leave man, catch the next exodus flight out of here,”
Jim- “And where will we find the money Ryder, the family finances are dried out, we can barely pick up the scrapes. I just think its best if we wait it out, catch the next unsuspecting couple and jump them, then we make our move.”
Ryder: “it’s not as easy as it use to be Jim after the blight war people are more aware, more focused, we can’t just jump the next couple we see demanding for money.”
Ryder: “and Jim you hear about the wanderer people talk about, he’s the brooding type, no one knows who he is or what he looks like, all they say is he’s trouble and if you ask me we should get as far away from him as possible.”
Jim: “There you go again talking about legends and fake news, when are you gonna grow a pa-”
[Thudering sound of glass shatters and music on radio stops playing (non-diegetic) Ryder and Jim, who were mid-conversation get startled and hoister their guns]
Ryder: “see Jim I’m not crazy he’s not a legend! he is real.”
Jim: “don’t be stupid, it’s just some fool playing a trick. You best come out you hear!.”
Ryder: “Shut up Jim shut up! you hear that.”
[the sound of footsteps emerge from the shadow, getting louder and louder with each step, an empty silhouette begins to form]
Ryder: “He’s reallll!”
[jim starting to sweat looks at Ryder, then shoots a warning shot towards the direction of the footsteps]
Jim: “not one more step you hear!!”
[the silhouette clears now and both Jim and Ryder can now see a figure standing in front of them, he stood tall at 6ft 3, sporting a mighty beard and long grey hair]
Hunter: “Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, a tip of the hat from Hunter green, How you all doing?”
[scene fades to black and multiple gunshots are being heard (non-diegetic)]
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UNIT 72 STORYBOARDS
To compliment my game narrative I was tasked with creating a storyboard, visually showing how my opening scene would pan out, I aimed to draw these illustrations very louse and fast, due to the fact that this was a storyboard and I am aiming to get a brief understanding of how my game will look. Upon completion of my storyboard is when I could add details to the characters, or environments moving into the concept art phase.
Unit 72 Story board
This blog will showcase the storyboard I made on paper, As the storyboard only consists of my opening scene didn’t not fill in all the boxes and I only filled the necessary amount of boxes that showcase my opening scene accordingly,
When it comes to storyboards In general I felt I have greatly im0porvesd since the beginning of year1 as now I am able to locate and find reference images, all points, and use them to implement my imagination and eventually help sculpt my storyboard, of course I still have much to improve on , however I have now been grasping to the fundamentals of drawings and our implementing them into my work such as human anatomy, or using basic shapes as foundations towards my drawings.
Unit 72 Game treatment
Within this blog `i will give a detailed treatment of my game, going through all its key aspects.
Game overview/Plot
Far into the distant future when the earth is now a mere shell of its former glory, being transformed into an ending world, where what little of human remains to require to wear hazmat mask outside of any shelter due to unstable living conditions, Hunter Rodges, the protagonist of this tale, endlessly wanders the barren wastelands of the world, with no knowledge of where he is, no aim of what he is doing, and know will to rebuild or save, can this broken soul really be the key to earths survival?
Genre
Action, Storytelling, survival
COMPETITORS
The last of us
Walking dead Telltale series
Madmax
Heavy rain
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience will be 18+as this game will contain graphic scenes as well as mature content and sexual scenes.
GAME ENGINE
The engine is implemented on this game is the Re engine (reach for the moon, being implemented in games such as resident evil biohazard, resident evil 2 and Devil may cry 5, I decided to produce my game using this engine as its a fairly modern and updated engine, the games that this engine is found in are fairly mature games, adding survival aspects to there game which link to my specific themes, the innovative and simple approach Re uses allows the player to be fully immersed in the system adding no loading and making gameplay feel smooth and consistent, this is the outcome I want in my game and the RE engine will aid that.
Platforms
The game will be available for pc, Xbox, and PS4, unfortunately, it will not be available to switch as the games specs are above Nintendos switch requirements allowing the game not only run at 21-27fps which is below are bleow minimum game standards. If we were to make it accessible to the switch we would have to downgrade the game Tremendously downscaling graphics and adding loading screens to enable the console to render the scenes which will ruin the experience of the game as a whole.
CHARACTERS
Hunter wild (main protagonist)
Lilly sing (the Supporting protagonist)
To Be Continued
MISE EN SCENE
The game will start with Should I stay or should I go playing on an old banged up radio, the radio will be featured in a closeup and that’s what the player is introduced to, as the camera starts to zoom out slowly revealing an old abandoned bar in poor condition the music starts to fade into the background where we are introduced to the first shot our our main protagonist Hunter slumping on the bar table with a bottle of whisky in his left hand and his right hand tightly gripped on his back pocket revealing some sort of weapon. he is revealed to be intoxicated and barely conscious. From this scene already the player is introduced to this barren wasteland, from the very few shots that were available, the rundown radio that looks incredibly outdated, (especially for a world that is based in the far future, A bar that is barely standing having chipped wood everywhere, rotting corpses on surrounding tables, dusted covered alcohol beverages, and a door that is barely standing revealing the harsh sunlight outside.
SOUND AND MUSIC
We want the music to implement the tone of the game, in particular, the combat, as the combat will be fast paced close quarters combat built we have handpicked certain tracks that showcase this loud noise combat system using songs such as kIller queen, another one bites the dust and more, to capture the adrenaline and excitement of the fight. When it comes to the character roaming this empty soundbox, the player will be accompanied by the background sound of the environment around, there will be no music as we want to really allow the use to emotionally feel like he is alone, like the world is empty and all that is left are those who take advantage of this empty world claiming there own territory. The sounds that will be heard, will be the rustling of the sand, the whistling of the harsh wind, the revving engines of ongoing bandits, and distant gunshots that can be heard from over a mile away.
REQUIREMENT AND RESOURCES
To make this game a reality we will need a few tools to start this off,
A lot of a4 drawing paper, this will be used for many things, concept art, storyboarding, realization, story planning, mood boards, perspective drawing, character analysis, and general record of all planning.
An Adobe account, I say this as it will allow me to use software such as photoshop or illustrator for character endeavorment refinement, I can use animate form animation, as well as other software to aid me.
I will need access to Maya to animate and the RE engine to create the game.
Legal and ethical considerations
Upon brainstorming and creating this game we have taken into consideration the legal and ethical, we have a roster of characters all from different backgrounds and upbringing having secondary characters being African American cockasian, Mexican and much more. to show diversity. The main character, in particular, is half white half middle eastern, showing respect and acknowledgment of different parts of the world. We also stayed clear of any gender shaming or confusion within this game, allowing players to not have that as the main worry.
Budget
Since I am only showcasing game narrative as well as minor animation my budget won’t exceed that of 15 pounds, as I already have access to all Adobe software, All I require Is plain paper, the right tools such as pencil, pen, and ruler.
Schedule
This project will be Completed and handed in on time for the deadline which is 5 April 2019, As I am already on track and completing tasks to an efficient rate I won’t exceed this deadline.
GAME STORY DEVELOPMENT – MOODBOARD (Unit 70)
This blog will showcase the selection of Moodboards that I had created on Photoshop, These mood boards reflect the tone and atmosphere of my game, as well as representing the emotional ties that are linked to the game. My mood boards will contain pictures based on environments, character designs, and color themes. These mood boards were developed on photoshop.
Moodboard 1 Environments
Unit 70 Character Bio
(Only character design that I was unable to finish due to lack of time.)
Name: Hunter
Title: Mr
Age:62
Ethnicity/race: Unknown
Complexion: white
Height: 6ft2
Weight 86kg
Eyes: Green
personality and demeanour
Appearance: white slicked back hair, full grey beard, torn clothes look dirty
Mental state: Broken
Summary: After witnessing a tragic turn in earth stability blaming himself for the loss of others, Hunter A now broken man wonders the barren wastelands, drinking his sorrows away, He has given up on life, and has thrown all his morals down the drain, What hunter does not know is that his very blood could be the key to purging all they mayhem, for he belongs to a near-extinct bloodline called the Uchiha. The Uchiha wield the ocular power of the Sharingan and with this power can bend time and space itself. Legend has it an ancestor of Hunter was even able to go back in time. With this power dormant within Hunter’s body, it is up to him to discover the truth and fulfil his destiny.
Name: Jack whiteheart
Title: Mr
Age:32
American Japanese
Complexion: white
Height: 6ft
Weight: 83kg
Eyes: Green
Appearance: Black thick hair done up in a pompadour
Mental state: lively, enthusiastic, hopeful
Summary: Jack has always been longing for a normal life, avoiding the horrors of the Blight war he was very sheltered from the damage and death around him, even after the earth was declared inhabitable he resides in one of the only standing cities left. Beirut Being a bustling metropolis full of people and vented oxygen, Beirut is truly the only safe place left. Jack is a seeker which gives him a strong link to the father. he can see into future events and predict the outcome of certain situations. he knows he has immense power but decides not to wield this awesome power to help benefit mankind. Will Jack come out of his safety net and do what is required of him or will he continue to live a temporary life of false hope?
Name: Tailed demon
Title: N/a
Age:N/A
Ethnicity/race: Unknown
Complexion: N/A
Height: N/A
Weight:N/A
Eyes: Blood red
Appearance: Demon Fox, appearing to have shape claws and teeth, with nine tails, towering over any normal person being compared to the size of the empire state building in length
Mental state: Aggressive
Summary: Being one of the last demons that swore loyalty over the human race, The fox now has a change of heart for humans after seeing the world go to ashes, he blames the mistakes and selfishness of mankind for the fall of earth, he served there will and did there bidding but to no avail, they didn’t listen and now he grows to resent humans. He slumbers in the Earth crust feeding of its power and using the roaring energy as substance, he used to be a noble protector, and now has become a resentful demon, will he sacrifice his life once again for Earths survival, or forget about mankind for good.
Name: Akira
Title: Mr
Age:61
Ethnicity/race: Japanese
Complexion: white
Height: 5ft11
Weight: 81kg
Eyes: Green
Appearance: Black long locks, being pulled back neatly in a man bun being held only by two chopsticks.
Mental state: Surviving, knowledgeable
Summary: Working close with hunter during the Blight war, Akira was one of his most trusted allies, upon the destruction of the earth inhabitants, Akira set himself on a holy pilgrimage, a way to atone for his sins, and his view of failure. Akira believes he is responsible for the Earths decaying state. He shoulders the weight of the war on his conscience and he blames his lack of strength for how things turned out. He resides upon the highest peak of earth, Mt Everest And lives in the harshest weather conditions, no one knows if he’s still alive or not. Although Hunter is the chosen one his quest won’t be fulfilled without the help of his allies, that includes his closest friend Akira, Only time will tell If Akira will decide to rejoin the fight and deem himself worthy of living in harmony with mankind again.
Unit 70 EGX game article.
Section 1
How do designers use the story to enhance the player experience?
Firstly, to begin with, to establish how story enhances the player’s experiences we must understand the history of storytelling, This includes the origins of storytelling, traditions, and Reasoning behind them, I will begin with researching the history of storytelling understanding its roots and developing a conclusion from my research.
For the case of stories, they root back and have been around since the beginning of time, and throughout the years these stories have expanded and developed into different genres such as short stories, animated stories, fictional stories and much much more, In particular, is you describe the first recordings of stories they would be located and described and cave drawings, and the story would, in fact, be illustrated in art form, These cave paintings dated from around 15000 and 13,000 BC https://elementsofstorytelling.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/forms-of-storytelling/ (list and pictures of all different recorded storytelling genres.) These stories usually contained illustrations of animals or spirits.
Oral Traditions
After the cave paintings, stories transitioned into oral paintings, the tradition of telling stories through word of mouth. languages came around, thus more people larger communities were together, as people began talking to each other, stories were being past on much faster, and spreading gaining new and exciting ground and content.
Even though oral stories were extremely old they are still being used today to project and explain stories, this is the significance. that these stories had on our culture.
Fable
A fable is a short story usually including animals, or telling the tales of heroic individuals. the reasoning behind these was to tell or teach some sort of moral lesson, often told to young children. The Fables that are most common and well known and are most probably ‘Aesop’s Fables’, Aesop being a slave in Ancient Greece times, who told many of these short moral stories to people, These stories go on to be passed down through generations, written, and preserved making it very popular throughout the years.
Fables were so popular that to this day game developers such as Lion heads studies have made game adaptation basing there context and genre of fables, with game such as the Fable trilogy,
Fable’s started off possibly before text storytelling was around, but has however been carried on through the ages still.
Myth
A myth is a story that is usually often about the creation of the world, or and about Gods/Goddesses and higher beings usually greek gods, or mythical characters. Although These myths have no truth to them, they are an opinion on the creation and existence of this world, and there are people that used and still are devoted to these teachings and worship gods such as Odin or thorn Believing there are more than one realm and the father, being Odin rules them all. Another example of a Myth would be Hercules or Medusa. Both including mythical creatures and Higher Beings.
Again Myths now days are still widely popular and have been adapted into movies, tv shows and even World renowned games, like God of war Winning game of the year.
“Illustrated Norse myths” at Usborne Children’s Books
Legend
A Legend is a historical story that is told to show human features such as bravery, courage, and honesty, much like fables these stories aim to inspire and enrich the mind of children,,. Stories such as King Arthur are legends that represent a historical figure that showcases these characteristics, the main difference however between Myths legends and fables, are that legends are in fact stories that are based on real people, and but may often be exaggerated or manipulated in order to show some sort of hero or major event to represent something, again using the example of Arthur legend says he pulled Excalibur out of the stone, unlocking awesome mystical powers, however realistically that is most likely not true but they may say that as he might have been a very influential and strong figure within the past. They also have been passed on throughout the generations as most forms of storytelling are, and may have changed over time depending on where and when in order to make sense.
Theatre
Now moving on to a more common form of storytelling that has dated back for centuries however is still highly respected to this day, Theatre was A live audience based form of storytelling. It was the move from just telling the story acting it out, and more commonly now singing to give off a much better impression and enjoyable view of the story. Theatre started in Ancient Greece, which the Greeks performed stories in giant amphitheaters which were great for the acoustics and projection as the bowl shape allowed the sound of the voices to carry out through to massive audiences.
The theatre is much more interactive e and enjoyable of storytelling. On ocasion The actors encouraged the audience to join in and interact with them in later years, creating a link between audience and actors.
As theatre has developed we have witnessed legendary plays such as the worlds of Shakespeare like McBeth two more recently, Harry Potter and the cursed child being shown on Broadway.
Globe Theatre – the Theater of Shakespeare Rosegarden hotel.
Text
Second to last text has developed and adapted over a long time and has been a pinnacle of storytelling through the years, more often then other text is the key reasoning for why historians are able to gather and piece actual factual events and scenarios that have happened in the past as they had been recorded on paper since it first started. it wasn’t an ideal form of storytelling as it was very time consuming, and only one person could read the story at a time. Not to mention many couldn’t read and write at the time as it was a luxury to learn both. The text became a popular use for storytelling when the printing press was created. This meant that multiple copies of a book could be made, and over time ways were found to cross them over from different places as transport developed.
as the text has changed throughout the years, being handwritten to printing, Using devices such as mobiles or computers and not pen and paper anymore.
There are many examples of big text-based stories, but some big modern examples would be book series’ such as Harry Potter, The Hobbit, etc. These are Recent and highly received franchised that link stories together to create a massive universe. as some were extremely well received some of the text stories that have been transformed into the Film form of storytelling.
Film/TV
Film and TV is the most recent form of storytelling due to technologies sudden rise of Its visual and audio form of storytelling, and film first came around in the 1880s when it was originally made and showed a series of images using a projector. It allowed things to be filmed and recorded to create a story and shown later to a large audience. To create films, they usually follow the same structures, and all films that usually do this are the most well known and successful( Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Rings, Titanic)
The TV came later as technology developed even further being even more recent, As tv is now becoming more cheaper and convenient using streaming services such as Netflix, the demand for physical DVDs has shrunk and the demand for Ongoing series has risen,. TV’s were made which allowed people to be able to watch films and shows from the comfort of their home, This was not an option in the past as films were strictly limited to Cinemas and home shows, Now with this assessability the storytelling film industry is booming and is only expanding more with better quality 4K Versions or implementation of 3D . Examples of Tv shows and movies
(Eastenders, Coronation Street, SPidermna Trilogy)
Section 2: Discuss different game genres and how games create emotional responses and character representation:
To begin with, nowadays games can be very flexible in there genres ranging from the First person shooting, all to MMO Games.
The different genres in games consists of: Shooting, Rpg Platformers,, fighting/ Arcade games, , beat ’em up,, survival/Stealth, rhythm, action, adventure, survival horror, Metroidvania, Adventure, Text adventure, graphic adventures, visual novels, interactive movie, real-time 3d adventure, Side-scrolling, Jrpg,s/ Shooter looters and much much more. As you can see from this extensive list There have been many games fitting all these criteria, and it’s only expanding more allowing the industry as a whole to expand and become more popularised in today’s society.
When it comes to emotional responses in games, there are many variables that affect emotional engagement. Whether that be the acting, the production going into the animation, color scheme, helping set the tone of the game. I think the voice acting and motion caps really help to not only involve but immerse the player into certain feeling and unique experiences that the character would be involved in.
“A Way Out” was a game that really incorporated third-person gameplay within a co-op player setting, it was impacted greatly not only with the original character design but how it combined teamwork with decision making. The storyline really reflected real challenging life experiences that people go through which made decision making difficult. It involved not only the characters deeply but reflected the way you think as individual players, forcing you to encounter and solve puzzles as a team, progressing further through the game. Anticipating the end, the climax appeared and for me this was one of the most thought-provoking scenes in a game because having the respective characters turn on each other after a narrative of trust was built strongly throughout the whole game surprised and reminded me of familiar situations that have happened in my life where I had been betrayed. That contrast between a game and real life showed me how even though games are set in unreal settings, these real human emotions made me emotionally attached to the story. It was unique how they drew a line between you and the character but somehow involved you to the point where it was indistinguishable, you weren’t only the player but the character as well. That is why I think storyline, as well as gameplay, has a vital role in emotional response and character representation.
Conclusion
To conclude characters can also be represented in different ways, for example games often have a man protagonist as well as a main antagonist, Many variables highlight who is good and who is bad such as music scores adding non diegetic music as a character’s theme, it would become recognizable to the players as it would be repeated every time we are introduced to the villain/hero Eg(Batman Arkham city), as well as this if the developers portray the antagonist is a negative light by perhaps murdering NPCs, or completing evil deeds, that will also correspond to a clear protagonist and antagonist.
Tarek's Game design college course 