Evaluation of the Game Product. Overall Opinion. As an overall opinion I would say the work is pretty okay for a 8 Bit, being simple as it is I only used Piskel to create the assets, which made it easier. Creatively the work is okay being an 8 bit game. Technically I could have improved a bit but I do think it is okay how I have done it. Technical Decisions. In terms of programmes/softwares I thought Piskel was the best idea for an 8 bit game, I felt confident using Piskel because I have used it before. One thing that I would regret is how they are made (Size, It would be beer if they were made as 64 x 64).
One of the best ideas while creating this teaser was the usage of Photoshop to create the animation.
It made the animation simple and successful which made me enjoy the work. Creative Decisions.
Creatively wised I think the job is pretty good, the logo matches perfectly using LED's as decoration under the name LED Studio, I think piskel was a good programme to create the assets. They are simple and great in my opinion,The logo could be improved but simplicity suits the idea. I feel like I could have added a lot more detail to the background to show more of the context that the player is within but, I wanted to keep it simple as possible due to its 8 bit looking nature that it gave off to players and myself.
Over all artistically I think the Teaser looks great with the 8 Bit theme
Have they met the requirements? In my opinion they have met the requirements of the brief because I added what they asked for.
Module Dock and Production Log I wanted to do a 8 bit design based game so I used this programme to create my assets. This website is called Piskel, it is perfect for 8 bit sprites.
This is the brand logo for Led Studio, My first idea was pretty simple, Led Studio using different colors in the design but I decided to add LED's in the logo so it matches the Brand Name. People would get the brand name with the design of it.
This may look empty or just nothing but this is the first part of the gameplay, the player will have to select the best place to start the Colony.
After selecting the place rockets will be launched from earth and controlled, each rocket will have a Module with it.
When you fin your exact spot you will leave the Modules and come back to the earth, ill be a return mission to get more module.
A colony will be formed, if you progress too fast without any type of controlling the colony will explode and will be transformed into space junk:
Here we can see the different parts for the trailer.
Production Logo - App Logo & Sequence
I used a Space Module which look like my Assests (Module).
In my case I sued a filter giving a special effect something like cartoon style.
Then I added a simple text that matches the style of the image with that filter.
This is the final logo for Module Dock.
After finishing the logo I created a sequence as a Teaser for Module Dock. I used Photoshop to create my animation.
To create them I used mixed assets I have designed previously with some Photoshop content that I created. Teaser Trailer.
This is the final Teaser that I created using assets I made in Piskel and some content made in Photoshop.
This is he mind map I designed for the game, it focuses on the Brand Type-logo, the functionality of the game and the target audience that could be aimed at. Research (Teaser Trailer & Reference Material) A teaser trailer most of the time is released long in advance of the product, for the action of teasing he the audience. As teasing the audience we mean, to clarify the ideas of what the audience want. With a teaser the developers will know if the product will have an interest for the game. Makes the audience to want the product. They give the teaser but then they take the product away from the costumer so they develop the interest for it.
As we can see in the trailer for The Last Guardian, the cinematic/gameplay doesn't show us much but it shows enough to develop an interest. Another example could be World Of Warcraft cinematic. In this case we only see a Teaser cinematic for the next expansion of WOW.
Reference Materials
This reference materials will give inspiration to the modelers and creators of the assets for Module Dock.
Storyboard
1 - The space has nothing, empty with nothingness. Humans decide to make a colony
2 - Rocket comes from the Earth with a Module. Finds the right spot and leaves the first people to live there. In a future ill get bigger and bigger.
3 - Rocket leaves the place leaving the module.
4 - Rocket repeats actions and slowly but constantly makes a bigger and bigger colony.
This Rocket leaving the module will appear at the end of my Teaser Trailer.
Animation Techniques Traditional Animation Traditional Animation is a type of animation in which frame is hand-drawn, before Computer Animation it was the dominant form in Animation Films. The process of Traditional Animations starts with oral or literal source materials that are converted into animation scripts. Storyboards derive from those scripts. The storyboard has an appearance somewhat similar to a comic book, and it shows the sequence of shots as consecutive sketches that also indicate transitions, camera angles and framing. The images allow the animation team to plan the flow of the plot and the composition of the imagery. The storyboard artists will have regular meetings with the director, and may have to redraw or "re-board" a sequence many times before it meets final approval.
This is an example that shows a piece of Story Board for the film Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi which was made Hand-drawn, and the following example is a Gif that shows the scene for the film, the actual and final scene that this storyboard was planned for.
3D Animation 3D Animation is a type of animation made by computer. It is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator, The animator usually starts by creating a 3Dpolygon meshto manipulate. A mesh typically includes many vertices that are connected by edges and faces, which give the visual appearance of form to a 3D object or 3D environment.Sometimes, the mesh is given an internal digital skeletal structure called anarmaturethat can be used to control the mesh by weighting the vertices. This process is called rigging and can be used in conjunction with keyframes to create movement.
Other techniques can be applied, mathematical functions (e.g., gravity, particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, and effects, fire and water simulations.[91] These techniques fall under the category of 3D dynamics.
3D Animation uses different methods to create, methods are:
Cel-shaded animation
It is used to mimic traditional animation using computer software.
Machinima
Films created by using screen capturing in video games and virtual words.
Motion Capture
This method is used when actors in live-action films wear special suits that allows computers to copy their movements into CG Characters.
Photo-realistic animation
Is used primarily for animation that attempts to resemble real life, using advanced rendering that mimics in detail skin, plants, water, fire, clouds, etc.
The following examples are a simple 3D Animatio Gif and another Gif which shows Motion Capture.
Disney: The Walt Disney Company, known as Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate founded in October 16, 1923, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Headquarters of Disney are settled in Burbank, California, United States Walt Disney Studios is one of the largest and best-known studios in American cinema.
Co-founders Roy & Walt Disney started off creating short hand-drawn animations which led to movie-length animations with actors which would change the world of animation and also will become one of he biggest mass media contributions of history. He didn't have any type of influence from other animators rather than him or his imagination. The following video sows the Animation process that Walt Disney used in his early animation.
The animation was made hand-drawn, They will also involve tracing paper in the animations, they will be used to sketch over and over to ensure that the proportions are correct. Also whats its known as "Test Camera Department" will be used after the sketching. They would sort out each sketch frame by frame and also take pictures during the process, these would be printed out into a "film", A machine called Moviola will be used to ensure the frames are correct. Studio Ghibli: Outside Hollwood, Studio Ghibli is one of the world's most famous production companies. It was founded i Tokyo, Japan, June 15, 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. The Headquarters are in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan The intention of Studio Ghibli was to produces only films based on original work, although the studio has produced a TV Film, numerous short films and TV Commercials as well as its 20 feature films.
Studio Ghibli was already known but their biggest success and what gave them their fame was the Film: Hepburn: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away).
In August 2014 Studio Ghibli announced that they were temporarily halting production following the retirement of founding member Hayao Miyazaki in 2013, the company claim to be re-structuring and re-evaluating in the wake of Miyazaki’s retirement. Miyazaki continues to work within Studio Ghibli, working on the Ghibli Museum, set up in 2001, as well as working on his own Manga projects. This has lead to rumours that Studio Ghibli will never produce another feature film, although Miyazaki maintains that his intention was not for Studio Ghibli to end production, instead he wanted to retire, making room for other anime writers and directors to emerge. How they produced their films and animations: Studio Ghibli has used hand-drawing methods since their first film, examples of CGI in within their productions are: Princess Mononoke, it was a hand-drawn film but it used digital paint to speed up the process and finish he film on time, My Neighbors the Yamadas was the only Studio Ghibli film to be entirely made using computer animation.
Princess Mononoke.
My Neighbors the Yamadas.
Like other films, all Studio Ghibli creations start off as an idea. This idea is then developed into a script outlining the story – including all scenes and dialogue – so that all members of the team are (quite literally) on the same page.
Next, the characters and their costumes need to be worked out. The way the characters dress is used to reveal their personality and place in society, as well as the time period the film is set in.
A storyboard is created from the script. It is to be used as a foundation for all the drawings, illustrating the key frames and basic movements of the film.
Each scene must be sketched out, frame by frame, so that when put together the pictures will move. After this, the drawings are put on carbon sheets before being burnt onto transparent cells.
It’s time to add some colour! After the colour scheme is determined, colours are hand painted onto the cells using watercolours. By using different tones for objects in front of and behind the characters, the image is given extra depth.
Let’s not forget the backgrounds! They are drawn separately from the characters.
The cells are now placed onto their corresponding background and each frame is shot individually. Yes, all this is for just ONE FRAME of the film! But the hard work isn’t over just yet.
The film now needs some dialogue, which can be recorded either before or after the drawings. In this case, the voices were pre-recorded. Animators then watched the video recording of the actors and focused on their facial muscle movements so that they could replicate them in their drawings.
The director has the very time-consuming task of making sure that the images and dialogue are perfectly in sync. The timing is very precise, particularly the dialogue which needs to match the characters’ faces. No one likes a badly-dubbed movie!
There’s still more audio to be recorded. As well as sound effects and background noises, the theme music needs to be created. In this case, there are 28 live musicians in the studio.
The developed film is edited with the cinematic film which contains the audio recordings. These days of course everything is digital!
The film is now ready to be screened to all of the crew members! Months of hard work have led up to this moment. The animators anxiously wait for their cut to appear on screen whilst the director watches their vision finally come to life.
And there you have it! The film is now ready to be distributed to the general public, who, like you and me, can’t wait to discover the latest Ghibli masterpiece.
I feel like I could have added a lot more detail to the background to show more of the context that the player is within but, I wanted to keep it simple as possible due to its 8 bit looking nature that it gave off to players and myself.
