Games Development - Task 2: Art Asset Development
21.05.2024 - 12.06.2024 / Week 5 - Week 8
Lim Rui Ying / 0358986
Games Development / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 2: Art Asset Development
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK 2: Art Asset Development
We were to produce the art assets for our game, including the characters,
environment, items, props, obstacles, power-ups and HUD design.
Assets List
A) Characters
- Main character: Oliver
- Enemy 01: Grim
- Enemy 02: Flicker
- The Boss: Grimlord
B) Environment
- Tilesets
- Background
- Obstacles: Spikes, Acid pool, Asteroids
C) Collectibles
- Energy pieces
- Health pack
- Double bullet
In this task, I only managed to complete parts of the asset list and some of the animations. Below are the assets that have not been completed.
Things yet to be done:
- Character's animations
- Collectibles: Double bullet power-up
- Traps: Falling asteroids
- Buttons, HUD design: Health bar, Power bar
- Scenes: Start scene, Story cutscenes, Pause scene, Game over scene, Victory scene
Design Process
My game features pixel art style, so I decided to use Photoshop to create
the game assets and animations. For the characters, I used canvas sizes of
32x32 and 64x64 pixels. Smaller canvas sizes were used for the items and
power-ups.
I started with my main character, Oliver, using the sketches I did in
Illustrator, as well as other characters.
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| Fig. 1.0 Character sketches |
A) Characters
Main character: Oliver
Oliver's animations:
Enemy 01: Grim
Grim's animations:
Enemy 02: Flicker
The Boss: Grimlord
Oliver is a brave, adventurous, experienced space explorer under the ASTRA
company. He dressed up in a space suit with a jetpack at the back, holding
a gun.
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Fig. 1.1 Illustrating Oliver in Photoshop |
I made two attempts at trying light and dark outlines for Oliver. Since my
game features a dark background, I decided to use the lighter outline.
Moving on, I created animations for Oliver instead of just creating static
poses for him. I realised that Oliver's legs were too close together, making
it difficult for me to animate. Thus, I adjusted his legs to be more
separated.
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| Fig. 1.2 Oliver attempts |
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| Fig. 1.3 Oliver final design |
Next, I created animations for Oliver by using frames in Photoshop. Prior to that, I researched references for each animation pose to ensure smooth transitions.
- Idle
- Move
- Jump
- Fly (jetpack)
- Attack
- Hurt
- Die
- Respawn
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Fig. 1.4 Oliver idle |
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Fig. 1.5 Oliver walking |
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| Fig. 1.6 Oliver jumping |
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| Fig. 1.7 Oliver flying with a jetpack |
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| Fig. 1.8 Oliver attack |
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| Fig. 1.9 Oliver hurt |
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| Fig. 1.10 Oliver died |
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| Fig. 1.11 Oliver respawn |
Enemy 01: Grim
Grims are small minions on Lumina. They can attack from close range by
shooting at the player, causing minor damage. They are about half human
height, so I used Oliver as the reference.
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| Fig. 2.1 Illustrating Grim in Photoshop |
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| Fig. 2.2 Grim final design |
Grim's animations:
- Move
- Attack
- Hurt
- Die
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| Fig. 2.3 Grim walking |
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| Fig. 2.4 Grim moving from left to right |
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| Fig. 2.6 Grim attack |
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Fig. 2.7 Grim hurt |
Flickers are the leaders of the Grim minions, known for their high damage output and long-range attacks. They are slightly taller than a human.
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| Fig. 3.1 Illustrating Flicker in Photoshop |
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| Fig. 3.2 Flicker final design |
The Boss: Grimlord
Grimlord is the Grimey boss. Every Grimey alien should pay respect to
him and obey his rules. He travels in an advanced spaceship equipped
with rapid and high-damage laser blasters and a plasma cannon.
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| Fig. 4.1 Illustrating Grimlord in Photoshop |
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| Fig. 4.2 Grimlord final design |
B) Environment
Tilesets
The tiles are designed to resemble a rocky terrain, representing the rugged landscape of the Lumina planet.
Before creating the tilesets, I searched for online tutorials to
learn about the concept of tilesets and how they are combined
together.
Tutorial video: How to Make Pixel Art Tilesets by Apox
Fox
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| Fig. 5.1 Tileset final design |
Background [Online resources]
Since my game’s setting involves the player travelling to outer space, I searched online for a suitable space background to use in my game.
Space backgrounds https://piiixl.itch.io/space
Fig. 6.0 Space backgrounds by PiiiXL (Source: Itch.io)
Traps
Spikes
The traps serve as challenges for the player throughout the game, including spikes, acid pools, and falling asteroids. The falling asteroid trap is still in progress.
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| Fig. 7.1 Illustrating spikes in Photoshop |
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| Fig. 7.2 Spikes attempts |
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| Fig. 7.3 Spikes final design |
Acid Pool
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| Fig. 7.4 Acid pool |
C) Collectibles
The energy pieces are a newly discovered energy source on Lumina. Oliver’s mission is to gather these pieces throughout the planet.
Health packs function as power-up items that restore the player’s health during the game.
Fig. 8.1 Illustrating health pack and energy pieces in
Photoshop
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Fig. 8.2 Energy pieces final design |
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| Fig. 8.3 Health pack final design |
Game Level Mockup
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| Fig. 9.0 Level 1 Mockup |
REFLECTION
When I started illustrating the characters in pixel style, I had no idea how to begin. I struggled with the canvas sizes and character animations, not knowing how to illustrate them effectively. Fortunately, with the help of some online tutorials, I got the basic concepts of pixel art and created my own. While the outcomes aren’t perfect, I’m satisfied with them and appreciate the effort I put into the work.
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