Let's Build an Environment: Layout

Hey all,

I wanted to do do a series of blog posts focusing on the construction of the interior of our level and my process in creating it. Since I work as Designer/Environment Artists I'll be focusing on both, but this first post will be design heavy, and the rest will probably be much more art heavy. That out of the way, let's dive in.

Here are the things I know when I start designing this level: This level will act as the demo for our game, it will be based on gun battery Mishler, located at Fort Steven's State Park in Oregon, and the player's goal is to open a set of blast doors on the ceiling to reveal the weakness of the monster they'll be fighting later in the game. Because it's our demo, I want to make sure that we showcase all of our mechanics, with an emphasis on co-operation. With that in mind I start by creating two puzzle rooms that require both of our characters to work together.

Original Puzzle rooms

Now I have two areas (made up of a couple of rooms), that I need to link together with the rest of the battery. I move into 3D since that's where I'm most comfortable and quick. Here I can go crazy, slowly discovering what the space will be as I go. I know I want a main hub, which will double as the location the player's reveal the monster's weakness, so I create that first. When creating the hallways I know I want the area to feel a bit like a labyrinth, with a lot of strange turns and corners, to make the player feel even lost when spooky things happen. I also make sure that I have multiple elevations and a dug out cave for flavor.

First pass battery interior geometry.

I'm now left with a big messy piece of geometry that I need to turn into a old gun battery.

Value Thumbs

Line work on the poster is done! The next step is defining the values before the coloring phase.

Line Quality

Today's post will be on line quality. One of the key pieces to the art style for Shove Aside is the thick, graphic lines. As we are going for a gritty comic style, it helps breathe life into the world. In the poster, we wanted as much variety as we could get to differentiate the different materials in the world. The texture of dry patchy grass is different from a thick leather jacket or tree bark. Each part is simulated with different splotches and strokes to best evoke the feeling of that material as well as provide some artistic flair. In the examples above, you can see the different types of line quality used for the base of a tree, Dani's hair, patches of grass, tree bark, Dani's jacket, bushes, and Gabe's pants. Stay tuned for more updates!

Color for the color god.

We've been spending a lot of time thinking about color and shadow recently. Getting the right color to make the environments feel like the northwest is key, so we're using a lot of cold greens and blues. Here are some color comps of our environment.

Poster Creation

The next task for conception is the poster design. It will be a challenge to capture the essence of the game in one picture. The first part of the design process is figuring out what will be highlighted. As a narrative-driven game, we felt that the characters and and iconic location in the town should be prominently featured. The next step is looking for inspiring movie posters that provoke the same idea as the game. A few examples:

With the reference images and our own ideas of what the design should be, we created many thumbnails to see where the composition could go. Once a thumbnail was agreed upon to have the strongest impression, work on the final design has begun! We'll keep you posted as things come together.

State of the Environment 1

Going to be posting the updates on the state of the first shot of our environment over the next couple weeks. Here is the concept piece and a screenshot of the current 3D and Textures.

Gun Battery: First Shot  - Concept

3DS Max Screenshot

Biweekly Games Proudly Presents

Hello all,

We’re Biweekly Games, a burgeoning independent studio, and we’re happy to announce the first game in our series:

Shove Aside is an co-operative episodic adventure series following brother-sister duo Gabe and Dani Kassa as they adventure throughout the pacific northwest, facing off against all variety of supernatural creatures. Think a mixture of the show Supernatural and the game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Shove aside offers great characters who will grow and change based on your choices; choices that have a lasting, meaningful effect on not only the characters but all of the world; co-operative gameplay including puzzles, conversations, and exploration; a pacific northwest setting, and elements of horror directly relating to the evils you’ll be facing. The evil's you'll be facing each episode are based on a different emotion, the first installment is Grief.

Characters

Players will take control of Gabe (Gabriel Kassa) and Dani (Danielle Kassa) a brother and sister from Arizona. After a litany of mistakes over the past few years, the two have been recently reunited. Together they’ve taken on a strange responsibility, putting their faith in each other to overcome the trials that lie ahead.

Dani is the muscle. She’s playful, headstrong, forward, and instinctive. Always the outgoing life of the party, shes acquaintance to many, friend to few. She keeps her guard up, never wanting anyone to close. She’s always looking to solve problems blunt and quick, often great short term, but with big consequences in the long run. Working as mechanic since she dropped out of college she’s been yearning to get out and see more. Shes excited to tackle the world with her dork of a brother, one of the few shes close to.

Gabe is the brains. He’s snarky, charismatic, thoughtful, and philanthropic. A studious orator Gabe has a way with people, but a problem with authority. Gabe will often get in trouble bending the law, and stepping on the fortunate. Often to prove a point, or help out the vulnerable. Gabe tends to think patiently things through, but can easily lose his focus in the face of injustice. On the run for white collar crime, Gabe found his way home looking for direction. He’s eager to put a smile on his sisters face, as they face the trials ahead.

Gameplay

At it’s core Shove Aside is a narrative adventure game, with the gameplay focusing on investigation. You’ll have to solve the mysteries behind the supernatural entities you’re trying to defeat. You’ll accomplish this through exploration, dialogue with townsfolk, and the the occasional puzzle.

We want your experiences with NPCs to be rich and open, encompassing more aspects of a conversation than just the dialogue itself. You will be able to approach the dialogue in different ways.  If a hobo asks you for money you can be aggressive or caring. If a cop asks for your information you can be open or guarded. Whatever choice you make will set the groundwork for the conversation. You can also make actions during conversation. Pacing could make someone feel nervous, or sitting down next to someone could make them comfortable. Along with all this Gabe and Dani will have some different options in conversation, reflecting their unique personalities and experiences. All this will give the player a wide range of tools to run a conversation however they please.

Choices

While you are investigating the world still moves forward, changing and reacting depending on the choices you make. As you explore a church the tide may come in a cove you we’re interested in investigating. Breaking an entering may have the police waiting for you on your return. Threatening a pastor may result in a run in with his crazed followers down the road.

Your choices are determined by your actions, big and small, and not just a cut and dry dialogue choice. Choices also affect more than just the flow of the plot, they can affect the relationship between Gabe and Dani, bringing them closer or driving them apart.

We don’t want these choices to be an obvious fork in the game, you won’t be shown a dialogue box and have to choose between left or right. Rather you are shown left and right, each hallway silently implying what lies beyond. Some may be as subtle as this, while others are more obvious, the outcome relying on what action you take, if any at all.

Setting

The Pacific Northwest has a rich history, legends, and locations untapped by most television and video games today. Many of us have grown up here, while others have moved here, but at the end of the day we all have a strange love for the drab beauty of this place, and we want to display  that love to everyone!

We will be using real world locations, but taking some creative agency where it better suits our needs. This first episode will take place at Cape Disappointment near Illwaco, WA. We urge you to take a trip yourself to check out some of the rich naval and native american history.   

Horror

Gabe and Dani will be facing off against the unknown, the frightening, the supernatural. We want the powers of these creatures to be beyond the physical, you won’t be able to just shoot at them to win. Because of this we want our horror to be creeping, and tonal.

We feel horror isn’t about bombast, or making a player jump, it’s about setting a tone and building tension. We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from games like Eternal Darkness and slow building horror movies like Alien and The Thing. There will be no visual indicator that scary things are about to happen (like a horror meter, or screen effects), but places and situations. Dark corners, being alone.

We of course can’t tell you everything now, but we hope this is enough to catch your interest as we move forward. We’re updating every week and always happy to answer your questions. So keep an eye out however you like as more news comes your way.

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Email: biweeklygames@gmail.com