Character research continued

Low poly models

The next area I wanted to do some research on is low poly models, because we have to create a low poly model and a high poly model for this assignment. I wanted to look at some of the limitations and what can actually be achieved with the low poly model, obviously because of the tri limit characters cannot have hundreds of arms it just wouldn’t be possible. With the research I have gathered, the step I’ve found that makes the models look the most impressive is the texturing and the silhouette of the character, making it easily recognizable with a high detailed finish of texturing.

Character presentation





Here I have also researched how character concepts and models have been presented. With our lecture on character design in class today it is good to show sketches to final concepts with the 2d character design to show your process and development even if things went wrong and the character changed a lot. One thing I really like about showing a 3d character model is with a display base, something that is themed to the character or possibly even a little background to show how the character would be in a game or show the setting of the character.





Character research, mood boards

 I first started to research into different religions and interesting people around the world that devote themselves to their religion. I looked monks and others but the one i found the most interesting are the Sadhu who worship Hinduism. Sadhu means good man, holy man, they devote their life to their religion travelling around India living anywhere they can, caves, forests and temples. These travelling monks are seen smoking marijuana on a regular basis as they believe it helps them to achieve their journey to a higher plane. More than anything i found their appearance very interesting, very slim lean characters often covered in ash with brightly coloured face paint, barely wearing any clothing apart from pieces of material and their hair dread locked. I think this type of character clearly looks religious although again the struggle is to show the afterlife within a character, so i wanted to do some more research. I thought about characters that are clearly recognisable and linked with the afterlife such as angels and demons, and even the grim reaper.

Here is another mood board i created. The only problem with looking at angels, demons, and the grim reaper is that they aren't 'real' so i am only able to gather images of other artists interpretation of them. Still there are lots of different images and ideas to take away from this mood board to come up with something new and creative. If anyone looked at this mood board they would know its to do with the afterlife, so somehow i need to combine religion and the afterlife to come up with something that's easily recognisable but new and unique.

Character research start

Now the Concept document is completed and handed in we are now moving onto professional character design and conception then eventually modeling. Because my theme is religion and the afterlife I have to use this for the different projects throughout the year, so I need to design characters that show this theme clearly. Religion isn’t too difficult to show in a character design but the afterlife will be a lot more challenging, I need to somehow design a character that when looked at people can clearly see what my theme is. For a starting point I researched into different religions, their clothing, what they do. I also need to research into the afterlife beliefs for each of these religions and hopefully collect ideas, information and images onto mood boards before I can actually start any designs and concepts. So my next blog post will show lots of images and any information that will help me in this process.

Finished concept document

Finally finished the concept document for the game idea i create called 'Necropolis' which means city of the dead which ties in with my theme of the afterlife. I'm fairly happy with the outcome, it was quite a task to get all of the illustrations done, much more time consuming than i first thought. Just need to print it off now.

Concept Document progress update!

Its been quite a while since the last blog post, so incredibly busy but its about time i update it with the work I've been doing. So I've finalised my game idea! its a 1st person adventure game, because my chosen theme was religion and the afterlife i took to researching into various religions and their beliefs to see what inspiration i can get. I also looked at other cultures to see their beliefs, one i found the most interesting was the Egyptians, mainly for some of their beliefs and i like the visual style of the Egyptians. So for my idea i came up with an idea where the player wakes up alone with no memories in an ancient kingdom where there is no one else around, the player soon finds out that they can gather special potions which enable them to shift into the afterlife where they then can speak to spirits and ask questions, or the environment will change in the afterlife so the player can access new areas of the game. I next began compiling this information into a word document and began fleshing out the game ideas. For next week i need to create a visually appealing document so i have started to put all the information into Photoshop where i will draw and paint relevant images to get my ideas across. Here is my progress so far.....

Design ideas!

After researching into different religions and the afterlife i have brainstormed a few basic game ideas from these themes.

1.Player can go back and forth from reality to the afterlife; the player can use the afterlife to overcome a puzzle as they can access new powers in the afterlife and the environment changes around them in real-time. Once in the afterlife spirit version leaves the player enabling them to see and overcome puzzles they couldn’t in reality.  

2.Player stuck in limbo, can do good to earn your way back to life. Player walking away from the light to return to normality and away from the afterlife. 

3. The player can see and speak to the spirits in the afterlife to discover new areas and find secret solutions to puzzles. The player can only have a certain amount of attempts to shift into the afterlife before they have to find more pick ups so they can go back into the afterlife and find more solutions to puzzles and overcome obstacles. Main character could be a prophet or a shaman of some sort who has the ability to see into the afterlife from his world.

4. RTS type of game where the player can control races on different planets, and do things to get followers or worshippers, give certain armies powers etc. or rewards for sacrifices.

I need to wait until the group crit before i more forward with any of these ideas, at the moment they are very basic and just an initial starting point but hopefully with feedback and ideas i can solidify and idea and begin the creation on the concept document for the game. Next update should be about my chosen game idea and the progress i have so far.

Research into religion and the afterlife!

Egyptain beliefs on the afterlife: 

Once a person died there sould would enter the underworld where each individual would have to pass certain tests and then reach thier judgement day. This step would take place in the Hall of two truths. Anubis was considered the god of the dead, he was shown as a jackal headed deity. He would judge each personal soul using a scale and a feather. If the sould weighed more than the feather then that sould was bad and would be cast down to the devourer of the dead. If thier sould was lighter than the feather then they would enter a new dimension full of bliss and eternal happiness where they would start there new life. They also believed that once they were buried that they would take any belongings that were also buried along with them into the afterlife. So oftem mummies would be buried with gold, food or personal belongings that would help them in the afterlife.

Australian Aborigines beliefs on the afterlife:

For traditional aborigines, the spirit world was closely interwoven with the physical world, so the transition between one and the other was explained in terms of traditional relationships with the land. Death marked the end of the physical life only, with the spirit then released to rejoin the spirits of ancestors, and of the features of the land itself. The "dreamtime" was the world of creation, of the earliest tribal memories, but also of the continuing abode of all those who could not be immediately seen in the physical world. Some tribes believed that the spirit remained to inhabit the place where the person had died, while others believed that it was carried across the sea to the land of the dead. In some tribes, the spirit was believed to have a chance to be reborn at some future time and live another earthly existence

Judaism beliefs on the afterlife:
Jews still hope for the coming of the Messiah, who will hand out eternal judgment and reward to all. This hope is largely communal; the entire Jewish race and the whole of creation is in view more than individual men. In the end the moral life of man here on earth is considered the most proper concern of man; final judgments are best left to God.

Buddhist beliefs on the afterlife:
The Buddha said of death:

Life is a journey.
Death is a return to earth.
The universe is like an inn.
The passing years are like dust.

Regard this phantom world
As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp - a phantom - and a dream. 

According to Buddhism, after death one is either reborn into another body (reincarnated) or enters nirvana. Only Buddhas - those who have attained enlightenment - will achieve the latter destination.
Nirvana is the state of final liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. It is also therefore the end of suffering. The literal meaning of the word is "to extinguish," in the way that a fire goes out when it runs out of fuel.