Monday 23 January 2012

Fountain Clash!!

Below is a picture of the 'fountain clash', in the level map the players can take alternate but equal routes around the maze and they meet up again by the broken fountain. This was designed on purpose because any players that are neck and neck or close together will split and meet back up at the same time causing a 'commotion' as it were. After this they would then be met with the Glass House for the final sprint on the course.

close up of level map on the fountain section

this sets the scene for how the drivers
would meet again after splitting up

Sunday 22 January 2012

Market Jump!!

Below is a picture of the market jump concept, in the picture you can see a bottle neck for players on the blue path with a water pump spraying in the path and also a jump that crosses the bottle neck for the players on the green path.  The blockade will be made up of general market delivery items such as boxes and carts and also the water pump and the cart on the other side.

close up of level map focusing on the market place


colours arrows represent paths that the player can take
in accordance with the level map as seen above

Level Design 3rd draft

This is the 3rd draft of my level design, yes I know previously I said that I'd try to make the design in the Glass House gardens look less symmetrical but it cant be helped, I prefer it this way :) 
In this image however I have circled 3 areas, these are essentially the areas that will include either some form of jump or some kind of clash. 
Starting from left to right is the market jump, then the clash where the players will meet back up in the garden and finally possibly a jump where the player can jump out of the glass house towards the finish line. There will obviously be a risk reward for the jumps, either that they are hard to do or just plain out of the way but will shave seconds off the final time.
3rd draft

Miserable Board #4

The water pumps look pretty lonely so I can up with a story about how some local thugs are trying to sell the free water to people during the race, and they've set up stalls using old fashioned (or rather 'modern' for their time) carts. The irony is during setting up their stalls they've broken the water pumps so the water is gushing out and essentially free anyway!!
compilation of  carts

Miserable Board #3

Just a quick compilation of water pumps, I though I'd do one of these because they're what I'll be focusing the water source in the level, so my designs need to be pretty accurate.
water pumps

Saturday 21 January 2012

ios sizes

iPhone3:- 
Screen resolution: 72 ppi
Screen size: 320 x 480 px
Icon size: 57 x 57 px
File format: PNG-24


iPhone4:-
Screen resolution: 72 ppi
Canvas size: 640 x 960 px
Icon size: 114 x 114 px
File format: PNG-24



iPad:-
Screen resolution: 72 ppi
Canvas size: 768 x 1024 px
Icon size: 72 x 72 px
File format: PNG-24


Reference:
http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mobile-design-tutorials/iphone-design-templates/

Garden Filler from Cardiff Research Day!!

14/1/12 on 'Cardiff Research Day' as it will be called from now on, I not only took a stroll around the older looking architecture but also took some snapshots in the Museum Garden, all very relevant.  There are many different aspects that I can use to fill out the garden of the glass house in my level, some of the more notable images include the railing (that could be used to keep players on track) and also the brickwork for the paths, (it will be a different alignment but I could use similar bricks as I use for the houses?! maybe??!!?!).  Other interesting aspects include hedges, statues, the use of different heights and also flower beds and shapes. From this research I could probably be a bit more elaborate with the track design in the Garden and maybe step back from the symmetry I've been so focused on.

Tree and stones surrounded by railing

Benches are a nice touch

Example of height in the garden





Signs




Some of the Statues were really cool

Potential to use assets to obscure vision and frame level?








This is only the better half of the photos I took, I could use all of the above and more to inform and construct a well designed garden, it will be part of the focus of the level after all and if it was bland in design would maybe lead to players forgetting about said level *unhappy face*

Le Poosh Hooses

Below is some research on the type of generic mid/upper class houses that I would like to put within my level.  I took these photos in Cardiff on 14/1/12 and took many different shots to get the feel for the outside and shapes on the house.  I found many different types of rail ornaments but going into that much detail would be a waste of time and polys, they're still valuable because it's a reminder that although the houses all look the same every one is slightly unique.

Several houses together with variations

Chimneys

One house close up *ruined by driving car

Close up of architecture on window sills and bricks

Close up of Door

Railing




Steps leading to door
Side view of steps to give sense of length and height
Next step is concepts for houses, I think I have more than enough here to get started on designs for the houses that I want to model.

Friday 13 January 2012

Below is a revised image of my first level layout concept, as you can see I have kept a lot the same from the previous concept but increased the scale of the glass house to fit with what the actual scale would look like in real life. There would be a lot going on in this level, lots of contrasting areas and it may be a bit much to do for one level, if this is the case I would focus on fitting the glass house into the level and leaving out some of the buildings in the lower left corner.



this is my proposed level layout
 The green paths in this image represent optional paths that the player could undertake, these decisions however do not add shortcuts but are both equal paths that just add variety. However the glass house would include a jump because the players have to cross paths at one point but both paths are still equal in length. For scale reference image see blog update from December.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Water Pumps!

Just had a brainwave in the last five seconds as you can tell by this travesty of an image. Water pumps being used for water (hurr durrrr) and being sold at the race by local miscreants, only the pumps are broken due to incompetence, gosh darn them gangsters!!

free water ...being sold!! 

Also you'll have to excuse this image, it was drawn in 3 seconds with no references. As soon as I find some references though...BETTER PICTURE!!

The pictures looked prettier in my head.

This idea seemed impossibly flawless until I took it to photoshop, now it doesn't look as impressive. Basically the idea I had about wanting posh houses but only in a small part of town, I now want everywhere, or mostly everywhere. And I also want it to look like in this sort of design, think Lady and the Tramp and also Aristocats both Disney films ...but instead of detached they would be terraced houses.

This image shows the symmetry I hope to achieve.
This image shows that it's not just one tree on the street.

Aristocats still

Lady and the Tramp animation stitched together