2008 and Prototypes WITH PICS
by Ian Roach · 06/12/2008 (9:20 pm) · 11 comments
Hi everyone with all the cool plans lately i thought i would post what my small team been doing the past few months.
For the last 4+ years my time has been consumed with everything Illumina. My team decided to shelve a tgea version of illumina for now until we can rework it abit and give it a unique flavor that isnt trying to compete with the likes of gears of war/halo e.t.c . We definetely plan on getting back into it very soon, most likely with a completely different look to what ive shown previously.
So with us shelving Illumina for now, my small team decided starting working on some other prototypes. With my daughter recently turning 1 , ive found a unique appreciation for simple cartoony styles and designs (Must be all that Sesame Street and Wiggles). Seeing games like Team Fortress 2 with there very unique cartoon style brings a smile to my face :)
So both prototypes are fairly cartoony in design. But like the Lego Series of games we hope to appeal to both adults and children alike.
Toons Of War
Toons of war is our first prototype idea. Its heavily influenced by an old 2d game called Soldat
Soldat is an old 2d game that utilised excellent physics, cool guns and just frantic fast paced action. Im hoping to recreate that in a 3d Setting with some new twists and ideas.
- Fast paced gameplay (quick spawn times, quick weapon selection, fairly quick movement)
- Use of jetpacks for vertical gameplay (Floating levels/platforms)
- Additional use of "Force" powers to enhance the fast paced action. Force powers are akin to the halflife 2 physics gun as 1 example. Being able to do a quick hand movement , grab a nearby barrel and toss it at your enemy.
We also want to expand on the theme in the future to create all sorts of Worms like wacky theme levels. Space/Underwater/Pirates you name it, however the first prototype will deal entirely with modern day war themes but still in a wacky/cute style.
Marine
Terrorist
Heres some movies
Prerendered movie showing off the art style and environments we want to achieve in TGEA
First Model ingame and running/firing
Otoko
Otoko is a VERY different prototype from Toons Of War. We wanted to get away from the shooting aspect for this project. With heavy influences from zelda/banjo/mario ,we want to create a cute platform game which appeals to adults and kids (who doesnt want to be a ninja)
The lead character is a small boy by the name of Otoko
The world is a simply redone dungeon pack at this stage though we hope to give it a more wacky feel soon. We want to mix both the platforming of mario with the swordfights/dungeon exploration of zelda.
Some early rendering attempts using my very basic texture editing skills :)
Ink
Patch
and finally the look we decided to settle on
The "Jigsaw" style is something not found in many games so we think its a cool style to explore. We hope to increase it more with puzzle shaped trees/platforms and enemies and incorporating lego style build mechanics into it (Walk up to a pile of jigsaw pieces and build a platform or bridge)
At this stage Otoko will be purely a singleplayer/coop prototype.
We are always looking for help , so if there are any programmers or artists who like our ideas and want to help out let me know :)
Our small team currently consists of Matt Vitelli,Sean Boyette and myself and we would love to get more people onboard. We arent aiming for complete games at this stage, just fun prototypes that will move onto more fleshed out games.
Sorry about the large screens, ill attempt to resize them later.
Regards
Ian Roach
For the last 4+ years my time has been consumed with everything Illumina. My team decided to shelve a tgea version of illumina for now until we can rework it abit and give it a unique flavor that isnt trying to compete with the likes of gears of war/halo e.t.c . We definetely plan on getting back into it very soon, most likely with a completely different look to what ive shown previously.
So with us shelving Illumina for now, my small team decided starting working on some other prototypes. With my daughter recently turning 1 , ive found a unique appreciation for simple cartoony styles and designs (Must be all that Sesame Street and Wiggles). Seeing games like Team Fortress 2 with there very unique cartoon style brings a smile to my face :)
So both prototypes are fairly cartoony in design. But like the Lego Series of games we hope to appeal to both adults and children alike.
Toons Of War
Toons of war is our first prototype idea. Its heavily influenced by an old 2d game called Soldat
Soldat is an old 2d game that utilised excellent physics, cool guns and just frantic fast paced action. Im hoping to recreate that in a 3d Setting with some new twists and ideas.
- Fast paced gameplay (quick spawn times, quick weapon selection, fairly quick movement)
- Use of jetpacks for vertical gameplay (Floating levels/platforms)
- Additional use of "Force" powers to enhance the fast paced action. Force powers are akin to the halflife 2 physics gun as 1 example. Being able to do a quick hand movement , grab a nearby barrel and toss it at your enemy.
We also want to expand on the theme in the future to create all sorts of Worms like wacky theme levels. Space/Underwater/Pirates you name it, however the first prototype will deal entirely with modern day war themes but still in a wacky/cute style.
Marine
Terrorist
Heres some movies
Prerendered movie showing off the art style and environments we want to achieve in TGEA
First Model ingame and running/firing
Otoko
Otoko is a VERY different prototype from Toons Of War. We wanted to get away from the shooting aspect for this project. With heavy influences from zelda/banjo/mario ,we want to create a cute platform game which appeals to adults and kids (who doesnt want to be a ninja)
The lead character is a small boy by the name of Otoko
The world is a simply redone dungeon pack at this stage though we hope to give it a more wacky feel soon. We want to mix both the platforming of mario with the swordfights/dungeon exploration of zelda.
Some early rendering attempts using my very basic texture editing skills :)
Ink
Patch
and finally the look we decided to settle on
The "Jigsaw" style is something not found in many games so we think its a cool style to explore. We hope to increase it more with puzzle shaped trees/platforms and enemies and incorporating lego style build mechanics into it (Walk up to a pile of jigsaw pieces and build a platform or bridge)
At this stage Otoko will be purely a singleplayer/coop prototype.
We are always looking for help , so if there are any programmers or artists who like our ideas and want to help out let me know :)
Our small team currently consists of Matt Vitelli,Sean Boyette and myself and we would love to get more people onboard. We arent aiming for complete games at this stage, just fun prototypes that will move onto more fleshed out games.
Sorry about the large screens, ill attempt to resize them later.
Regards
Ian Roach
About the author
#2
06/12/2008 (10:36 pm)
Looks really good. You're model style is great and the animations are very smooth. The only thing that bugs me is when an art style reveals an engine's limitations. Specifically, I'm talking about how the puzzle pieces warp on steep terain. Perhaps find an artistic work around or possibly go with DTS or DIF mtns that would allow you to skin them with your art style. I'm sure there are several other ways to solve it as well...
#3
I agree about the cliffside artstyle, we tend on fixing that by either having a standard flat colored texture on the sides to avoid stretching, or using dts/diff as a cliffface. But at this stage its just a prototype level (we dont have any mappers/2d artists onboard yet).
We hope to slowly expand the level features (jump pads/moving platforms e.t.c) and hopefulyl find someone creative to comeup with some cool and fun platform levels.
06/12/2008 (10:56 pm)
Hi Brian, thanks. THe models themselves are just turbosquid ones redone and imported for tgea, however the animations are done by sean.I agree about the cliffside artstyle, we tend on fixing that by either having a standard flat colored texture on the sides to avoid stretching, or using dts/diff as a cliffface. But at this stage its just a prototype level (we dont have any mappers/2d artists onboard yet).
We hope to slowly expand the level features (jump pads/moving platforms e.t.c) and hopefulyl find someone creative to comeup with some cool and fun platform levels.
#4
06/13/2008 (1:47 am)
Nice screenies there Ian, I've dropped you an email :)
#5
06/13/2008 (5:50 am)
wow very nice. Great idea with the puzzle pieces. Thats very original! :) 
#6
06/13/2008 (6:48 am)
That is the coolest skybox I have ever seen! 
#7
06/13/2008 (9:44 am)
The puzzle style is fantastic. I have to agree with Donald that it looks particularly cool as the skybox. 
#8
Very distinctive style.
I hope Epic Games, Inc. or Microsoft Game Studios doesn't decide that the ___ Of War is there trademark like MS did when Lindows came out or we are both in trouble.
06/13/2008 (11:36 am)
Nice looking game.Very distinctive style.
I hope Epic Games, Inc. or Microsoft Game Studios doesn't decide that the ___ Of War is there trademark like MS did when Lindows came out or we are both in trouble.
#9
06/13/2008 (5:02 pm)
This is a really cute idea for a game. It's funny how our children form some of our game ideas. :-D
#11
One quick thought though. I like the fact that you think out of the box, and that you're looking for a new art-style. Personally, i don't think gamers are ready for the jigsaw-look (IMHO). And with an engine as powerful as TGEA, you could do a lot more eye-candy. I've seen only the TGEA demo, and don't own the SDK, but I'm pretty certain that it would help you get a distinctive style without taking as big a risk as this.
I personally think trying to emulate the style seen in the video would be the best bet. The jigsaw style is a great idea, but I think that it might end up creating a prototype that "doesn't take itself seriously" which could be a dangerous thing. Just my opinion though.
06/16/2008 (8:30 am)
The rendered video looks really fantastic!One quick thought though. I like the fact that you think out of the box, and that you're looking for a new art-style. Personally, i don't think gamers are ready for the jigsaw-look (IMHO). And with an engine as powerful as TGEA, you could do a lot more eye-candy. I've seen only the TGEA demo, and don't own the SDK, but I'm pretty certain that it would help you get a distinctive style without taking as big a risk as this.
I personally think trying to emulate the style seen in the video would be the best bet. The jigsaw style is a great idea, but I think that it might end up creating a prototype that "doesn't take itself seriously" which could be a dangerous thing. Just my opinion though.
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