Concept: Insect Final Painting

Backgrounds and shadows are things that I need to work on in general.
I feel as though I have not utilised the colours fully in order to make the insect stand out among the background.

You can see from my painting stages and even brush strokes that I was very uncomfortable with digital painting although I was not completely new to the concept. I had no idea where to start this painting.

I chose these colours to show what type of environment I think my insect would thrive in. Instead of standing on a leaf or a branch, my insect is standing on a mossy rock, as it is what would camouflage it best.

I think the lighting is relatively okay due to my lack of experience, although it may be because of that that I could have been afraid to do anything more to it, so I need to practice and become more confident. In both the lighting and painting in general.

Concept: Insect Character Sheet

This sheet shows the ways the insect interacts in its life.
The wing movements show how far up and down the wings go for it to fly and the positioning on its body.

This insect doesn't have a mouth so the way it eats and survives is to 'absorb' smaller insects or flies which land on the body through the cracks. Due to the camouflaged design and mossy nature, smaller insects would land and be trapped in the coating before being consumed into the body.

Concept: Insect Simple Detail Iterations

These are coloured simply with slight texture and shading, mainly to gain a better idea of what a design would look like and be able to help in the decision making of which one to recreate in more detail and then to incorporate it into a final piece.

I preferred the ice and mossy rock creations over the two metal-esque ones. This is mainly due to those designs giving me more ability to be more creative over what I'm doing, whether it be the colouring or also the look and style of the insect. Of these two, I prefer the mossy rock one as I have more of an idea as to where the insect will live and its chances of obtaining food to survive, and I also like the idea of being able to create a proper mossy texture on the creature.

Important Characters Throughout the Decades

1970s
Before the 1970s, there weren't many characters in games. In the 1960s, most of the games had environments to do with space. In the 1970s, Highnoon, Pong and Space Invaders came out. Two of these games featured much more interaction between the player and something in the game; Highnoon features a showdown between the player and Black Bart, set in the Wild West. Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity, however Space Invaders was one of the earliest shooting games becoming one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helping expand the video game industry. It has been the inspiration for other video games, being re-released on many platforms and having several sequels.

1980s
The 1980s introduced many of the games we know and love today, for example. Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers, as well as having released Castle Wolfenstein which is considered to be the first game that had a World War 2 setting, popularising this setting across future games. Super Mario Bros. is a platform game which has had many sequels and remakes since then. The player controls Mario, or his brother Luigi, as he travels through Mushroom Kingdom. This game popularised the side-scrolling platform genre, selling tens of millions over 3 decade and has been released on practically every one of Nintendo's gaming consoles.

1990s
Since being released in 1992, Mortal Kombat has been released on nearly every video game platform. This arcade fighting game became a best selling game and is still one of the most popular fighting games in this genre's history, creating many sequels and spin-off games. When this game was released it caused a lot of controversy due to the inclusion of realistic violence and gore.
This game introduced age-specific content ratings for games.

2000s
The Sims is a life simulation video game series which has become the best-selling video game series of all time. In The Sims series, the player creates characters in a sandbox game mode which lacks defined goals and places them in houses and directs their moods and tries to satisfy their needs and desires, if the player chooses. Players can build houses as well as choose an already built home. There are many expansion packs released with every main Sims game, adding to what the player can do with their Sims. The Sims has been largely successful, having been released on many platforms and with numerous expansion packs and they are now on their forth "set" of The Sims franchise.

2010+
At the moment, it is difficult to see which games will have a significant impact in future games. The more popular games have been Minecraft, and things like Hotline Miami and other indie-esque games on platforms such as Steam. There are an abundance of games on platforms such as these, ranging from indie games such as To The Moon, and more detailed games such as Skyrim and Shadow of Mordor.


Ralphbaer.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.ralphbaer.com/video_game_history.htm [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015].

Caillois' Classification Grid

League of Legends
League of Legends is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game, which has gained popularity progressively since its release in 2009. It has been played competitively for a while and is currently on their 5th World Championship. Each side has 5 players, each relying on their skill, teamwork and organisation in order to destroy the enemy nexus and bring victory to their team. As well as the competitive championships outside of the everyday game play, there is an element of competition as there are specific 'ladders' you can play, win and rank up in. This isn't for everyone, so there are casual games too. 

Hearthstone
Although having a certain amount of skill and knowledge increases a player's likelihood to win, there is an element of chance in a game of Hearthstone. Each player creates a deck of 30 cards which they feel would help them win, putting in cards they would know would be good against certain things or other cards. This is where the knowledge is applied, knowing how and when to use the cards which are drawn depending on which class the opponent is and what has been used already and so to determine what else can be used in the future. The chance factor appears every turn in this game. All the cards are randomised and drawn separately, and there are cards which would do a set amount of damage to either the player or a minion on the board, as well as other events based on chance.

Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy as a whole is a media franchise which has grown into several different types of games on many platforms. I would like to use Final Fantasy XIII in this specific example. Final Fantasy XIII is the thirteenth installment of the series and is a role-playing video game. The game is set in a fictional universe with fictional places and people, however most of the mechanics and looks of the characters in the game are relevant to our ordinary views of the world. What is different and captivating about the game is that the player can relate to the characters, and the game is able to satisfy the want for them to be extraordinary but not necessarily unusual. This way, the player doesn't feel too out of place whilst playing the game and is able to immerse in it.

Damned

Even though the graphics in this game are not aesthetically pleasing, this game still engages the player. Damned is a first person survival game. With the dark atmosphere, it is up to the player whether or not they would like to surround themselves with the similar lighting. During this game, the player has to attempt to escape from an area, without being caught and killed by the monster, which cannot be killed. If you are around the monster for too long, the screen itself starts to distort and there would be static, both sound and visually, this has the potential to frighten the player and linger on in real life.

The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is an interactive storytelling video game. The player guides Stanley, the game's main protagonist, through a surreal environment with no combat or any action based sequences using the first person perspective. During this, the player's movements and decisions are constantly narrated. The narrator says what Stanley would do next but the player can choose whether or not to follow, or ignore what he is saying and choose a different path. The narrator then also comments on this decision. There are many different endings to the game, and the narrator decides when to restart the game. The office environment in which the player is placed looks like any office, but what makes it more surreal is having a voice narrate the things you choose to do, and also the things that may be discovered during the time in the game due to the decisions which are made.

Concept: Insect Base Colour Iterations

Base Colour Trials

I replicated each rough model and design but altered the colour to see which I thought would best suit the insect. This also helped me think about what type of environment each design would inhabit.
I narrowed the trials down to 4 possibilities of designs which I may want to work deeper into, colour-wise and with more detail, though I'm still undecided about whether or not I would like these 4 as I reckon the Volcanic Rock one would work well as well.