Game Blog Week 6
We have a hero! After a couple weeks of talking and throwing around ideas, we have a good idea of what our hero looks like. For me, it was a lot of art this week. I worked with our concept artist Josh and Niko on getting some cool concepts done, as well as spent a good deal of time looking for artists for the game.
Morgan was in game engine-land, doing all the behind the scenes crap that no one wants to hear about, but is the most important stuff. He was getting all the saving, checkpoint systems, tracking stats, loading levels, etc etc. Essentially the stuff that actually lets the game work. Anyways, lets get a bit into the art and UI.
Streamlining Weapon Select U.I.
The other thing Morgan was working on was the first pass at the UI. I won’t go into boring detail about the menu system as it is straight forward, and streamlined as best as much as possible. I will show it when Sam Gorski (from corridor digital) does the art for it, which I am sure will look awesome.
What I am proud about is our weapon select. I really didn’t want people to ever have to go into an inventory, especially on the mobile market where quick game sessions are a norm. I wanted people to be able to quickly select their gadgets on the fly. It is not too rough with only 4 weapons, but I also wanted the system to be expandable if needs be. I tried to see if there was a way for no weapon select at all – essentially come up with different swipes and commands for all abilities. There simply isn’t a way to do that, or at least one I could find. Also, there is game reasons to only have one weapon selectable at a time.
So above you see the first pass at the menu. ITS UGLY! Yeah – there is no art or feedback right now, it is just functionality testing. Again, will look rad when Sam gets his hands on it. The idea is simple, the button on the bottom left of the screen (or bottom right if you are left handed) shows which item you have equipped. Zero will also look different depending on what you are using. You hold it down, and an array will appear of the 4 weapons. Simply drag to the desired weapon and release. Takes half a second at most, and you can still be rolling around as you select. Hopefully it takes some of the hassle out of switching weapons.
A quick note on functionality testing. One of the most important parts of UI is the feedback. For this system you would want the button to highlight when you hold it down, and the array will slide out. I will probably add 4 lines going from button to the 4 weapons. As you slide your finger up it would highlight the line that your finger is on. This is to simply clarify what weapon you are moving towards, and will limit the likelihood of a false selection. When you reach a weapon, it will highlight, letting you know you can release. Right now, we simply have functional text to let us know the system is working. As you see the ball goes from “no button” to “bomb button”. You definitely cant wait for all the art assets to test to make sure the system works smoothly. Even at this very initial implementation, it works very smoothly.
World of Marbles
For me, creating a world and story that was interesting and unique to marbles was very important – otherwise what is the point? This was a chance to have a very fun environment to explore with characters that are usually nothing more than metal marbles. World building is just fun as hell, and luckily everyone I live with does things like play dungeons and dragons, RPGs, are writers or artists. So it has been a blast to discuss this stuff with people I know.
Josh, as gone above and beyond, coming up with really read stuff. He and I had a long talk after his first batch of concept art, and he came up with some fun ideas for environmental enemies.
I wanted stuff beyond the normal rolling dudes who attack you. So some enemies more akin to piranha plants was a good idea, and the one above is my favorite so far.
What the houses will look like is also important. There are two towns in the game, one is the main town of the hero, which is a quite beach side dwelling. The other is upon a mountain full of miners is more industrial in nature. However, what would ball houses look like? Frankly, sphere creatures can’t exist, so you can’t try to get too realistic. What I wanted was something that fit in the style of classic RPGs, but had a ball twist. Josh sent his first concept, and I like it a great deal.
Meet our Hero
Last week we had our first character concepts. We went through a few discussions about Zero after it, and Josh just sent me the latest concept, and I am very excited. We have a unique look to every one of Zero’s items. I wanted a likable character, heroic, but not a warrior, that was a throwback to Zelda, while being something completely unique. Here he is.
There will be some tweaks of course. Also, once he is placed in 3D there will definitely be changes to get aspects to look right on the screen. However, I like him a great deal. The feather particularly gives him a bit of an Errol Flynn feel. Also, I like idea of their clothes essentially being a whole marble bag. All the expression will be in the eyes. I wasn’t sure about no mouth at first, but besides not having to worry about the animation, I think it simplifies the look appropriately for the small screen. I wish I could show more, but all the other art is him using some of his other gear that I don’t want to reveal just yet, however I wanted some feedback from you guys on his look.
Please place any thoughts you have on the concepts below. Last week you guys had some great suggestions and comments!
ARTISTS: I am also still looking for 3D artists. I am currently trying to find people who want to model or texture of the game. Niko is doing most of the character modeling and texturing, and I am currently working with another modeler. However, extra help is definitely needed. If you are interested, shoot us an email at jobs[at]facerocker[dot]com. Use the subject line “Art for Zero!”
If you want to hear more about the game through out the week, follow me on twitter: mattlarnold
Simply Awesome!
Only one freakin comment?! Dude this is awesome, you’re gonna make a game?! So cool
I would happily help you out with any modeling and texturing (for free of course), I’ll send you an email later with a portfolio link if you need an extra 3D guy as you mentioned. I know Niko from CorridorDigital will be showing us some nice work when you bring that out since his VFX stuff looked so awesome.
Also do you have The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell? It’s this really cool book all about the many aspects of game design, it’s a pretty fascinating read
Wow. I can’t wait for the rest of the art. I’m glad you’re progressing well! My best wishes and luck
Wow, I know nothing about game design but I’ve been reading these from the beginning and I’m super excited about this, it looks awesome. One question I have- Will the character actually roll head over heels, hat and all? Or will he sort of glide along, his clothes and feather staying in place? I think it’d be kind of weird if he was tumbling all over the place- side to side, upside down- but then again, he IS a marble :p Great work, Matt!
whats the proposed price right now?? it looks pretty awesome.
It will depend on how long and how good the game ends up being
My original thought is the $3 price point, as it should be a full 7 hour single player experience, and it will be supported post release with a variety of free DLC. This is all in a perfect world of course, and could change. But it is unlikely to go any higher than that.
Designing the interface must have been fun. What other drafts did you have in mind for it? You guys have some pretty creative ideas, notably the bird on the coconut tree. Were you planning on having the coconuts respawn to roll down the sides repeatedly? I like the item shop but what caught my eye was that the marble was rolling in a dugout path. Are there going to be “directed” paths like that every so often? Would be interesting.
So when you decided to make this game, was it necessary to sign up for the ios dev program? Is owning a mac required? Still need a modeler?
I willl answer all your questions one by one:
1. Originally it was click the button and the items would appear around Zero, and then you tap to select. That was the only one I actually drafted out. I had thought and sketched a few other basic menus while brain storming.
2. Probably a single blast. Would have to find away to get the bird from afar, or attack him fast enough. Bird would probably drop down and respawn. But that will be tested and what ever is the most fun is what goes.
3. I hadn’t planned on the cities having grooves you are stuck on. That was Josh’s concept art. I like the idea of the grooves as road, but I don’t think the marbles will be stuck in it.
4. It is not necessary to become an ios dev to start the game, but in order to test it on the iphone and of course, put it on the app store, you need to sign up for the ios dev. But it is only $100 per year.
5. Yes, I still need a modeler and texturer. matt[at]facerocker[dot]com
Reminds me a lot of Fury of the Furries, which is definitely a good thing!
Great, now I have to buy an iphone.
this sounds like an awesome game.
If you don’t have a name yet, I suggest alliteration, it works for blackberry, coca cola, palm pilot, etc.
Concept art is tasty. Amazing talent behind this proj!