CAGD 495 - Spring 2020

Deadeye - Sprints 5, 6, and 7

Well howdy there! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....the semester is coming to a close. Which really is a bitter-sweet kind of a thing. Let 's jump right in shall we!

I am finally done with environment concepts....remember oh so long ago when I was super jazzed about them? Well, by the end of it, I just wanted to be done. Not because it was boring, just because it was monotonous. I am happy with all the final things, though, don't get me wrong and we finished off with a bang with the Void Room concepts!

I think that the hardest part about the Void Room was that it was not really a "room" per say. There was not a lot that I could go off of. The solution? Think of things like Pandora from James Cameron's Avatar. Why? My lead wanted a lot of floating platforms and a magic-y feel and the idea of Pandora felt magical and also had those floating platforms. Seemed like a good place to start.

So after all that was said and done, I got to do something super cool. I have been designing the poster for the game! It has definitely been an adventure. Posing my little dude was a lot of iterations. My lead initially liked the background that I had, but the issue that took a lot of tweaking....and I mean a lot was what the figure should look like, which I agree. He is the star of the show after all. 

So after iteration...

....on iteration.....

....on iteration.....

....on iteration.....

....on iteration.....

....on iteration.....

...we finally got this going, 🙂 (and that doesn't even include all the different color passes...)

Now it is all fine tuning and the swift slope downhill! Next I will be working on the banner, but that is mostly a continuation of this poster design. I am pretty happy with it and excited to be working on something new.

Until next time (and possibly this is the end??)! 🤠

Deadeye - Sprint 4

Well hello and welcome from my at-home office! COVID-19 really got me in a mood, but that's okay. I am here with more progress!

As I have now been doing for the past...6 weeks...I was working on more environmental concepts for each of the different rooms that you interact with as you collect more bullets throughout the game. As of this Sprint, I was able to finish two more rooms' concepts: the heal room and the shock area.

When I was working on the heal room, I ran into the most problems because I was trying to think about what was logical. I was mostly inspired by the idea of poisonous plants and potions, but putting that through my brain was a little bit hard. I really liked the first idea of having a waterfall of potions...but the reality of it was a little bit...not there. Therefore, I needed to rethink that, but I left it in the concept sheet just in case. ;)

When I was working on the shock room, it was a lot of mechanics and machinery that I just did not know what to do with. The other part of it was that my lead asked for a cyan, when in reality I was thinking that shock might be something like yellow. That was another challenge that I ended up needing to develop a creative solution for.

I have been trying to, when making these environment concepts, limit my use of outer glow because I know that a lot of the environment already includes a lot of glowing things. My goal is to not have a lot of added things on top that will distract the player with more glowing objects.

Next, I will be working on...wait for it...more environment concepts!

The next two rooms...and the final two rooms...will be the corrosive room and the void room. I am more excited for the void room as of this time right now, but we will see if that changes...maybe I just really like purple.

Until next time, that is all! "See" you soon! 

Wash your hands. 🦠🧼

Deadeye - Sprints 2 & 3

Welcome back! Haven't seen you in while...how have you been? Well, whatever you may be feeling, I am glad you have come back to see what we are doing for these sprints!

Continued from the last update, I made some more progress and ended up finishing the enemy concept, which I was generally pleased with. The biggest struggle that I had with it was that I wasn't super thrilled about the inside of the iris. The sketch that I had made I really liked but when I started getting into the refinement, I started to really dislike what I was doing...

After I had finished the concepts for that, I was super excited to start on environment assets!!

I started with the Freeze Room and was happy how those things turned out. I got a little bit extra and started adding puddles and reflections, but I felt that they were necessary in order to get the message across that we were in an ice-y environment. I think that the biggest challenge that I had when I was starting all of this was that when I think "environment", I think "plants"...then I realized we were in a cave...and there wouldn't be very many plants. Therefore, I stuck to the idea of rocks and magic and kept going from there.

After the Freeze Room, I just finished the Blast Room concepts! I was not super thrilled with the outcome of these (I was still sort of riding on a high from the Freeze Room), but I was glad that I got a lot of different things to make this room unique. I had started with the idea of fire and when that quickly didn't work and Cameron told me that it was more like dynamite rather than fire, I was a little stumped, but happy for a new challenge.

Currently, I am working on concepts for the Heal Room. I am a little stumped on where to go for this one, but I am diligently trying to be creative.

I am less happy than last time with the progress that I have made, but I am hoping for a miracle and the creativity in me to take flight!🦋 Until next time!

Deadeye - Sprints 1 & 2

Hello and welcome to the blog for 495! You thought I was done logging about all the work that I have done? Well, think again! Do enjoy the next few sections of me telling you all about my work this semester on Deadeye Desperado.

I was so fortunate to have been selected for the Gold Team this semester and I will be working for the 2D art "department".

In this first Sprint, I was first asked to mock up a character concept, mostly for the arms and the legs, but I chose to go for whole body for the cohesiveness of it. Upon going through this, I ran into some issues of just making sure that I was putting detail in where detail was due. The other issue that I was having, which I have sorted out at this point, was relaying the information to my lead/producer my workflow. The Trello cards that I received this sprint were to sketch, refine, and color, in that order. The way that I usually work, however, is that I sketch out a base model or a pose, not the entire work, and then I go to color and then, I suppose, "refining". That being said, it was really tricky for me to know what to attach to the Trello cards, even though I had already completed that work.

Initial Pass of Character

Colored Options

Eventually, when all that madness was sorted out in my brain, I was able to move on to one more thing this sprint: a gun concept. This proved especially difficult for me as I have never drawn weapons before. I have a very distinct style when it comes to art and that would be, in the words of others, "cute". Cute things don't usually hold weapons....well, I guess I could make that happen...but another day. Anyhow, sketching the gun was not a huge problem. I was able to quickly concept out my ideas and get them into the first sprint review. I had some troubles initially with the form of the weapon, but after referencing heavily, I was able to get that covered.

First Sketches

About the 5th Pass of Detail Added

Where the real problems came in was when I was then making it look...well...like a gun. I had done the shading and refining over and over and every time I was getting a result that I was not happy with. I ended up drawing over the same pieces about 5 times before I realized that it didn't need to be perfect, it just had to get the message across. Finally, as of yesterday, I was able to get something that I was okay with passing off.

Verified Final Concept

Besides finishing that up this sprint, I have two more tasks (which I am SUPER excited about). The first thing that I am doing is mocking up a new enemy concept. It's looking pretty cool right now, but hopefully it will remain looking cool when I get into color and refinement.

First Sketches of New Enemy

The next thing that I will be working on are environment concepts for each of the different areas where new bullets can be picked up. According to Cameron, my lead, he would like them to be themed off of the bullet that you find in the area...and I get some creative freedom on that. 🤩

I am pretty happy with the progress I have made so far and cannot wait to keep working this semester. I think I have a pretty good team behind me and a fun time waiting. Until next time!