Game Design Document Progress

A few days ago I mentioned that I'm working on a game design document that will detail each aspect of my game. I've drafted out a lot of the content for the document now and it is something I can now add on to as I work on art and paper design. The next thing I will be working on is character designs for the antagonist and 'damsel in distress' character.

Changing Work Flow / Plan of Action

I've been in a rut for the last few weeks, I kept wanting to tackle environment art (which is something I have no experience in what-so-ever). Because I was so adamant about diving into something so complex my work flow came to a complete halt.

On reflection I have decided that this was the wrong approach, like I was working backwards - attempting to paint the walls before I'd laid the foundations - so to speak. With this in mind, I'm now working on a game design document. 

This document will cover everything from a summary, character art, mechanics, level ideas and so on. It will be primarily text-based and I won't be putting pressure on myself to add much art until it is completed. Once that is written out I'll be focusing on character art since that is something I feel more confident in; having complimentary designs is really important to the mascot character. 

From there I will move on to illustrating things that may be a little unclear without visual aid (like mechanics, for example). 

Artist Study: Ashley Wood

I felt that, before painting environment concepts, I needed to refine my skills in drawing loosely and to gain some experience in painting (both in general, and of environments specifically). To reach these outcomes I decided that I would perform a quickfire art study. 

I've chosen to look into the art of Ashley Wood, an Australian comic book artist, born in 1971, who was initially known for his work on the British 'Judge Dredd' comics. In 2006, Wood ended up collaborating with Hideo Kojima on the Metal Gear Solid franchise. He created a digital comic - 'Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel' - for the PSP and also produced cutscenes for Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. 

Concept Art: Super Mario Odyssey

I happened to notice that the Japanese Twitter account for Super Mario Odyssey has begun sharing concept art of the game. Odyssey is a big inspiration for me as both a consumer and a designer, because of its charming cast of characters; colourful and diverse environments; satisfying, enjoyable platforming movement and a soundtrack that balances catchy music with atmospheric ambience. 

Environment Thumbnails

I used a list randomiser to shuffle the environment themes I talked about in my last post, from this I chose pairs of words to come up with some different environment themes. I created some quick mood boards based on these word concepts - these were my basis for thumbnails.