Platforms and Background

Bellow are a few examples of the background;

 

Bellow is the platform base that i experimented with;

Flash animations;

The video above is for the idle animation, the animation is on loop, and creates a flashing effect similar to lighting.
 

 The video above is for the jump animation

 

The video above is for the running animation it will appear on loop, thus creating the running effect, the wolf moves gracefully, and the lighting continues to flicker throughout the animation, helping enhance the lighting effect.

the video above is an example of a power loss that occurs during the game, this power loss demonstrates how power is not renewable, and does have a limit, this can be activated through the consumption of too much power (using the attack to defeat enemy's throughout the game, or taking too long to complete the level.) The low power form in this example is demonstrated through the loss of colour, size and electric characteristics (the sharp bolt like shape of the wolfs coat). All this symbolises a loss of power, thus enforcing the effects through the charators design.

Final Character progression

the electric wolf is my chosen design, bellow is an insight into the design process

At the begining of my assingment i made the decision to hand draw all the images to produce my animation, however, after a clumzy moment, resulting in the ruining of most of my hand drawings combined with my dislocated thumb i decided to continue by producing my animations in flash. Therefore the deisgn of my electric wolf was again altered, in order to produce the best results within flash.

Bellow is the image of the flash produced wolf.
When converting my wolf into flash i decided to simplfy, focusing on a clean bold lines for the coat. The sharp jagged edges help create electric connotations with the clean finish helping highlight the key aspects of an electric nature. These aspects are again higlighted within the animations that i have created.

Sketches

bellow are some sketches that i did in order to explore the original ideas;

Bellow are the sketches done for the endangered animal themed games, where the gamer is trying to save the endangered animals from the pouches. the animals have been given a cute, cartoon appearance, with human characteristics as well, thus making it easier for the gamer to relate.

For the whale drawn bellow i was going for a cartoony feel again, appealing to children. Thus making the characters seem cuter, thus providing more motivation to save them in the "litter game" (which is where the individuals have to pick up the surrounding litter to provide a safe path for the whales/dolphins)

Bellow are some ideas surrounding the electricity theme. These characters focus around re creating an electric life form in which the gamer can relate to, and can also perhaps morph to display the negative effects of energy consumption.
 

Brainstorm

Conservation - Species extinction • Iinvasive species • Poaching • Endangered species 

// little man collecting / protecting the endangered animals

Environmental degradation - Habitat destruction • Invasive species

//An endangered animal, with human characteristics helping protect the endangered species from poachers and deforestation 

Nuclear issues - Nuclear meltdown • Nuclear power • Nuclear weapons • Nuclear and radiation accidents • Nuclear safety • High-level radioactive waste management.

//creature of some sort preventing a nuclear meltdown, with time limits and a limit of resources - robot or alien 

Resource depletion — Exploitation of natural resources 

Consumerism — Consumer capitalism • Planned obsolescence • Over-consumption

Fishing — Blast fishing • Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing • Overfishing • Shark fining • Whaling

Logging — Deforestation • Illegal logging

Mining — Acid mine drainage • Hydraulic fracturing • Mountaintop removal mining 

// A fishing game, where you destroy whaling ships, and prevent shark fining

Energy Consumption - using less energy, causing a decrease in demand, thus less emissions from the power plant.

// an electric powered creature trying to reach the power plant while conserving energy.

Game designer research

Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto's designs are inspired on recreating his childhood, with his most famous works including Mario, Donkey Kong and the legend of Zelda. 

Miyamoto grew up in the Japanese town of Sonobe, Kyoto, where the, peaceful surroundings of wooded mountains. and this is where most of the inspiration has come from. the main location, that inspired Miyamoto's creation's was a small cave he discovered. not far from his childhood home. I believe Miyamoto's goal was to recreate the sensations, he experienced throughout his childhood, sadly which many children do not experience today.

Mario, most certainly Miyamoto's most famous design serves as Nintendo's mascot, is an extremely well known character within today's society, and has evolved enormously over the years

The simple structure of the game is one of its most appealing features, with the adventure quality, and a damsel in distress mario does prove that sometimes simple is best. The simple controls and layout of the game make it highly appealing on the eyes, and appealing to a larger age group, as people of all ages today still play mario. Miyamoto has produced many highly addictive, and enjoyable games to play capturing many audiences over the years.  

Project 1: Variations

Games now have the opportunity to move beyond entertainment towards addressing wider concerns with their persuasive capabilities. Consider the environmental issues that are currently facing us, and the daily decisions we make, for example regarding energy conservation methods or responsibly farmed food. How can gaming, or more specifically, character design be used to encourage environmental behaviour? Your challenge is to design a character that can serve as communication tool to persuade an audience to make smarter choices about energy conservation. This character should be more than an educational tool – it should be a provocative design piece that incites us to ask questions about our habits and ourselves.