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Escape from Tombstone - Promo Video

Hey to anyone new to my Blog,

this video was part of my final submission for my Masters in Concept Art. It features my luscious voice, a lot of the work I put in for my final project AND absolutely atrocious audio balancing. ENJOY!

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Escape from Tombstone - Forefront Summary

STORYWORLD. [Online] Available at: https://www.storyworld.nl/en/storyworld-spotlight/the-art-of-loish

Loish (Lois Van Baarle)-

At the forefront of digital art I particularly see Lois Van Baarle. I made a concentrated effort in this project to modernise my art by giving it the levels of colour and warmth (especially in the skin-tones) that Loish portrays. I'm not quite there yet but it's added a lot to my characters.

PINTEREST. [Online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/568649890452410168/

Streets of Rage 4-

At the forefront of the Beat 'em up genre is Strets of Rage 4. It looks and plays beautifully and the animations are buttery smooth. Mine of course aren't on that level but emulating their level of quality has lead to a huge leap in the quality of my own animation. Shoot for the stars as they say.

PINTEREST. [Online] Available at: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/sifu-vengeance-edition-playstation-4--854346991827558773/

Target Audience-

While my project resonates particularly with Millenials, especially the ones who grew up in Arcades, with some Gen X-ers have likely also been won over by the recent resurgence of the genre's popularity. So what do people expect at the forefront of the genre? Well SoR4 is definitely up there, as well as the recent surge of Capcom Arcade Beat 'em up re-releases, while in the 3D realm we also have Sifu. This leads me to surmise that Arcade nostalgia is making a comeback but modern audiences need more visual stimulation. A more modern, cinematic eye. Lighting, Colours, Camera angles, framing, etc. I applied these principles in my environments and lighting. I wanted to create memorable, cinematic set-pieces. Additionally the level of violence is no-longer a limiting factor as the recent Deadpool films have shown that R-rated is back in fashion. Another undeniable part of my Target Audience are potential employers I wanted to make sure I represent all skills expected at the forefront of Concept Art, which brings me to my next and probably most controversial part of the forefront:

AI-

AI and it's application was really pushed on us in this module. Of course as an Artist I was extremely sceptical and while I still despise it's impact on the art-world, I have found a way to apply it ethically. Essentially using it as concept-art for my concept art. The ability to create custom reference material is actually extremely useful. I tried Midjourney in particular and while it of course struggles with the typical pitfalls inherent to the technology, that's not really a problem when you treat it as a piece of reference material rather than the finished piece. It has most definitely made my work more efficient as any time I have a deadlock and can't find the right reference material I will throw a few prompts out and see if something kickstarts my creativity. Additionally this technology is not going anywhere. As much as photobashing was frowned upon and became part of the concept art process, so likely will AI. I'm certainly not pro-AI, but every technology has it's place of application and I believe if AI is used ethically it has a place. And as I said before, my target audience includes potential employers and at the very least an understanding of AI is expected in this day and age.

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Escape from Tombstone - Learning Outcome Matrix (pt.3)

Skills learned/Knowledge advanced:

Photoshop- I spent a lot of time polishing my Photoshop skills and I feel like I'm starting to catch up on the skill-gap (still only switched over from traditional art 4 years ago). So I incorporated more things like subtle gradient, editing saturation, lightness and contrast, utilising the lasso and magic wand as well as Layer styles and modes to enhance my art. This manifested in ways such as more warmth to skin-tones and more effective shadows and colour co-ordination.

Animation- I learned to apply Animation concepts such as squash and stretch without breaking the semi-realistic feel of the game. Animating for games in general requires specific understanding such as attack timing (a jab wants to be snappy and efficient, long, detailed animations can slow down combat dramatically and make the game difficult to enjoy) I also tried very hard to keep consistent anatomy while adding some stylistic motion and bounce.

Maya- I learned to utilise Maya for quick Greyboxing of ideas in the service of Environmental Concepting and consistent perspective.

Unity- I dove into Sprite scaling and filtering, generally learned the full ins and outs of the Sprite Editor and slice tool, was forced to edit Pivot points to make my animation work, learned 2D Rigging and utilised Layer order for sprite rendering distance correctly.

Programming- I learned some new Character controller programming patterns from the tutorial I was following. Making sprite flipping simpler.

Character Art- I pushed my Character designs hard this module, particularly Portraiting, focusing on expressing personality and creating intriguing, memorable faces. This carried through into Posing, which I used even outside of animating to get character personality across, such as the Goon aggressively preparing to swing his pipe at the viewer. I also pushed my understanding of Anatomy, especially hips and legs, which was always a problem area for me artistically. I also really pumped out those Clothing variations as my portfolio was missing them.

Environmental Art- Environmental concepting does not come naturally to me. Imagining the places and putting them to paper still took a lot of time, trial and error, but I am very proud of the results and believe I have made major and irreversible advancements that make me confident in approaching Environments.

Light & Colour- I explored Colour and Light even further this module as it's always been a low-key problem area for me. learned about colour emotions and 60-30-10 rule as well as exploring expressing character through colours and tones.

Props- Weapons and Environmental Set-dressing. Another area my portfolio was lacking in, so I was happy to rectify this during this project.

Presentation- Another problem area (can you tell I had lots of them). I would often abandon images before they were fully complete, in an inherent effort to 'catch up' and broaden my skillbase but this developed into an inability to get a "finished" look out of my images. So I really doubled down on the process from sketch to final picture and the final graphic design and polishing that gave it that extra oomph. Still a lot to learn here, but we're making strides.

Efficiency- Incorporating AI into the idea-generation phase has been helpful in breaking deadlocks and creating an influx of unique concepts. I also pushed my Thumbnailing by re-using good anatomy as mannequins to provide a lot of variety in concepts efficiently. Greyboxing in Maya has also been a huge time saver for environments and consistent perspective combining this with my new understanding of the Shapes tool for filling makes it much quicker to design geometric areas in perspective.

Project Management- Through the process from concept to final product I learned valuable skills in Time management, adapting to change, finishing, finding solutions and not shying away from a challenge, maintaining productivity without burnout and was forced to adopt a self-promotion mindset.

Video Editing- Something I've been meaning to get around to for ages, being forced to make a self-promotion video finally got me to engage with my editing software. Forcing me to adapt and learn. However I never did manage to figure out the audio balancing which gives it an amateur feel.

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Escape from Tombstone - Learning Outcome Matrix (pt.2)

... next I worked on some Bosses as well as Senator Conello.

I also continued to work on the Environmental concepts, although this was taking me longer to complete as I am not as experienced with Environments and I didn't take many progress pictures.

Next I integrated the assets into the Unity project.

Finally we move into August. I cleaned up, fixed and finalised all animations.

As art was becoming more and more finalised I started to do research on and work out my Art Book layouts.

I spent the rest of the month working on this and finalising the Unity build (sadly I can only post one video per Blog).

In summary I did fail to complete certain tasks on my Gantt chart due to deviations and departures. However these are common occurances in Game Development and I think I've done a good job rolling with the punches and experimenting with solutions as well as prioritising in the best interest of the game and project. I am very proud of myself and feel like I have never been more prepared to work in the Game Industry or even see this project to it's conclusion and release as a solo-developer. I have gained confidence from the understanding of my limitations and skills. I will further examine what I have learned in the following Blog.

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Escape from Tombstone - Learning Outcome Matrix (pt.1)

So now we cast a reflective eye at my work and see if I achieved what I set out to and in what ways I managed to develop my practice and skills.

First we reflect on the GANTT-chart and see how we stacked up to our own expectations.

In May we did rough out our character's animations and FX.

However the shift towards a more realistic anatomical style meant I had to focus on fewer animations and higher quality as well as pushing my own understanding of anatomy in motion. I looked towards the animations that left an impression on me and applied them to a satisfying degree although I believe I should work on not making shadows too complex as that makes them difficult to read in motion. Animation is about the motion over the individual images and this was a good way to learn that.

We also completed the concept art for the Weapons, Greyboxed the Environments for Arrivals and concepted our first Enemies.

I also managed to program the Basic Prototype faster than I thought, all in all it took around 2 weeks.

In June we continued our Animation roughs, but didn't do anymore FX work.

I did rough out some Enemy animations, but sadly lost them in a stupid use of 'crop' and then close the document. Sadly besides having showed them once in class no evidence remains of them. We did however design more Enemies.

We also finished modelling A-Block.

Additionally this signified the start of the 2D part. So I started to lay out the Intake area like a Blue-print.

Most of the mechanics had already been added to the prototype so I explored rigging a character in Unity.

Meanwhile I have been further exploring the character's silhouette and anatomy (which we've already covered extensively).

In July we start finalising the Animations. However no additional FX work was done on the project, however I did look into emissive sprites in Unity to create light shafts, etc. But didn't manage to implement this. Neither did I ever manage to make up the time lost on Enemy animations and instead spent time working out how to animate the Main Character correctly (which was more time consuming than anticipated because of the amount of experimentation). Enemies will have to come later. Which is a shame since they add so much personality.

to be continued...

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Escape from Tombstone - Art Book Application

So now I set to exacting my Structure:

Introduction Content Characters Enemies Environments Weapons Props Key Art

Introduction:

Characters:

Enemies:

Bosses:

Environments:

Weapons/Props:

Key Art/Acknowledgements:

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Escape from Tombstone - Art Book Structure

Now that pretty much all of the art was finished it was time to start assembling the art-book to collect all of my hard work. I'm actually quite an avid collector of Art Books so this was a great opportunity for me to leaf through them again. The following books are the ones I focused on (I started with structure so the notes will be pertaining to this):

Resident Evil 6 - Artworks Content Key Visuals Humans/Gadgets Creatures Environments

The Art of Doom (2016) Intro Content Demons Environments Characters Weapons Props and Graphics

The Art of Doom Eternal Of Earth (Characters/Humans) From Hell (Demons/Enemies) Cursed Worlds (Environments) Hurt ‘Em Plenty (Weapons) Demon vs. Slayer (Multiplayer/Props)

The Art of the Last of Us Introduction Joel and Ellie (Main Characters) The Journey (Environments/Side-Characters) The Infected (Enemies) The World (Weapons & Props) Marketing (Splash Art) American Dreams (Tie-in Comic concept art)

The Art of The Last of Us Part II (Follows the structure of the plot, revealing concepts as they are appropriate to the story) Foreword Prologue Jackson, Wyoming Seattle, Washington The Farm Santa Barbara, California Epilogue Graphic Design

The Art of Borderlands 3 Introduction Characters Environments Creatures and Enemies Weapons Vehicles Credits

The Art of Castlevania Lords of Shadows Contents Introduction Gabriel Belmont Dracula The Belmont Family Allies & Antagonists Whips & Chains Supernatural Bestiary Locations & Environments The Modern Age Acknowledgments

The Art of Darksiders Illustrations Characters Creatures Bosses Environments Weapons Artifacts Icons CG Gallery Key Visuals

The Art of Darksiders II Key Visuals (Illustrations) Characters & Enemies Weapons Locations CG Models Storyboards The Art of Death & Darksiders 2 Key Visuals (CG)

The Art of Darksiders III Prelude Key Art Characters Bosses World Weapons Icons Storyboards CG Models

The Art of Darksiders Genesis Characters Bosses Enemies Environment Gameplay Objects Cinematics Icons Key Art

Devil May Cry Graphic Arts Introduction Devil May Cry 3 (Playback, Art, Graphics, Drafts) Devil May Cry (Playback, Art, Graphics, Drafts) Devil May Cry 4 (Playback, Art, Graphics, Drafts) Devil May Cry 2 (Playback, Art, Graphics, Drafts) Extra

The Art of Diablo Foreword Introduction Embrace the Darkness Characters Loot Creatures Environments A Return to Darkness Acknowledgments

The Art of Overwatch Volume 2 Introduction Heroes Environments Seasonal Events Challenges Skins Animated Shorts Beyond the Game A Glimpse of things to come

My research helped me immensely and I narrowed down my structure to the following:

Structure: Introduction Content Characters Enemies Environments Weapons Props Key Art

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Escape from Tombstone - Environments (Intake)

Environmental concept art was another avenue my portfolio was lacking in so I was determined to rectify that. I started designing 'Arrivals' one of the first areas in the game. Since Environments are somewhat new to me I definitely was not as efficient as I would be illustrating characters. My process started well.

I created a "floorplan" for the area (Intake is the area at the start highlighted by the blue glow). I then used this plan and 3D modelled Arrivals and A-Block and then used my model of the Intake area to start my illustration.

I had a strong image of what I wanted the space to look like so I just worked on expressing my idea.

Luckily perspective was easy enough to work out due to the reference from the 3D models and I really started to work more efficiently by using the Objects and Paths in Photoshop to create individual bespoke 'fill' areas which really helped.

I also placed a little Colton in the room for scale and then just slowly built up the environment.

I then cleaned up the lines and added some set-dressing.

I was quite satisfied with the final product, it was pretty close to what I imagined. But there was just one more thing I wanted to try. The environments in Escape from Tombstone are designed to be encountered multiple times throughout the story. With new enemy types, gimmicks and atmosphere and I really wanted to highlight this with this illustration. The first time you move through Intake it will be your first experience inside the prison. Sterile, oppressive and controlled. But when you return it is as the SWAT teams have cut to emergency power and prepare to breach the prison. Here in Intake you will face them bathed in red light.

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Escape from Tombstone - Prototype 0.03

I did some final additions to the build. Replacing the placeholder boxes with some (although still unshaded props), added enemy sprites (without functionality), added the awesome Theme I hired my friend Colin Brain at Stix Studio's to compose, through a test background together and even tried to add some fog (although I'm not super keen on the effect). The issues with sprite allignment and pivot points in relation to the player component still persist but if you squint your eyes real right you might even mistake this for a video game at first glance.

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Escape from Tombstone - Prototype 0.02

I added the animations and integrated them into the game. I experimented with the psd importer feature Unity has now.

You can read about it in the Unity Manual, here:

https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.2d.psdimporter@9.0/manual/PSD-importer-properties.html

You simply separate your sprites into layers and copy the psb straight into your projects folder. However it did mean I spent a lot of time messing with the pivots as it defaulted to central for every sprite, which severely messed with the animations.

However as you can see in-engine the animations still look a bit rough even after the pivots were fixed. This is largely due to the coding, which I didn't have as much time to focus on as I would have liked. You can see that the walking animation only triggers when moving on the x axis, the kick can be 'flipped' if an opposite direction is pressed during the attack, etc. All stuff that will need fixing down the line, but since I'm not being graded on my coding I decided to leave these fixes for much later.

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Escape from Tombstone - Animation (pt. 5)

I finally returned to finish off the kick. On the left we can see a proto-version and the finalised, shaded version on the right. I focused on getting a real nice pop from the hair, the kick and the belt and I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. Things were starting to near completion.

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Escape from Tombstone - Enemy Glossary (Guards)

So this brings us to the final faction of Escape from Tombstone. The Guards. The most heavily armoured and heavily armed. However they are vastly outnumbered and you will encounter them throughout the game. Often in-fighting with prisoners, but when they are encountered as a cohesive unit they can be difficult to fight. In particular during the end of B-Block when they make a focused effort to get the prison back under control you will witness their military superiority. They are lead by Konrad Henker, head-guard and former private contractor. He runs his prison like a military operation including ranks and regalia. This was at least partially inspired by 'Heart of Darkness' one of my favourite books (probably more well-known by it's adaptation 'Apocalypse Now'), one of it's major themes is the corrupting power of absolute control and how it turns people into monsters who create exploitative systems and divides.

Guards operate mostly out of the Tower. But are obviously stationed all over the prison.

Main-Block encompasses all your average guards. You will see these guys a lot.

Specialists are often guards tasked with special jobs, such as communication (left) security (mid) or prisoner-transport (right).

High-Rank encompasses Guards of high-ranks wearing their dress-outfits. These are encountered in the higher-echelons of the Tower, once you start to make your way to the Warden's Office.

Heavies are heavily armed and armoured troops deployed during riots and executions. Once these guys are deployed the tide tends to shift.

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Escape from Tombstone - Enemy Glossary (X-Block)

So finally, after crashing through the rooftop of B-Block into the Workshops and climbing along to the Helipad, making our way through A-Block's isolation cells and then back into Maintainance we make our way through X-Block proper.

X-Block is an asylum for the criminally insane. But really it's just Senator Conello's testing lab. There is no interest in aiding or curing, merely learning. Patients' delusions and aggressions are encouraged and through sinister experiments valuable research is gathered and sold.

Initially when you take a shortcut through X-Block and the Infirmary you will meet the Psychos. Who's fear-campaign of creepy noises, hit and run tactics and wild madness is quite the shocking jump from the relative normality of A-Block. However before you know it you'd moved onto more important problems.

When you return you make your way through the Psych-Ward where you will face the Sadists who are just all around unpleasant and wield particularly unsavoury weapons.

Once you advance further through the creepy asylum you will encounter the Masochists. These guys don't react to being hurt like you'd expect.

A small squad of Hunters starts to attempt to ambush and capture you on your way to the Boiler room, but Colton is a trained Green Beret and he turns the tables on them. However this leads to the release of famous serial killer Jedediah Sawyer (Boss).

You encounter the horrifying Cannibals and the aftermath of their running wild in X-Block as you enter the Bio-Ward. This is the epicenter of testing and you see the true horror of X-Block. Eventually culminating with your fight against the Cultists who have turned the Dungeon into their own personal place of worship.

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Escape from Tombstone - Enemy Glossary (C-Block)

Now at this point you actually briefly make your way through X-Block to access the Sewers and take a tunnel through to C-Block as the rest of the prison is in lockdown. However since X-Block is an area we properly explore later we'll cover them after C-Block.

C-Block is "on Record" the worst Block in the prison (however X and Z Block aren't even on the record...). However the truth is that this Block is almost entirely autonomous, it is run by former Nigerian Warlord 'Kakosi' and houses only the most affluent of prisoners. It's Fight Pits, Gamebling Halls and Drug Lab profit the prison and in turn they have more luxury and freedom. Although the Block is in a sorry state of repair.

Unfortunately for Colton the tunnel breaks through into the Fight Pit and after taking down all comers he is forced to fight Volgin (Boss) the champion of the arena and a tough fight.

After succeeding in the arena by the rules of the pit Colton is allowed to proceed. He fights his way through the Dojo, facing some of C-Block's most skilled martial artists.

Next we fight through the main block where we face the Distribution wing of C-Block's drug-trade. After smashing that Colton is forced to move through Lockup, fighting the drug-maddened ex-fighters too mad to be of service to C-Block to advance to the Betting Halls where we find heavily armed enemies under Kakosi's command.

With the way clear Colton fights his way through Manufacture, facing weak but resourceful enemies in possession of dangerous chemicals, eventually fighting his way to Toc-Syn (Boss), Kakosi's drug cook.

After this fight Colton faces off with Kakosi's personal command the 'War Party'. heavily armed, heavily armoured and very capable fighters. Eventually confronting Kakosi (Boss) on the B-Block rooftop.

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Escape from Tombstone - Enemy Glossary (B-Block)

There is a war between gangs in A-Block and B-Block. And while you have encountered a little in-fighting between these groups of enemies, once you break through into B-Block you really see the full scale of it. You start off by passing through A-Yard to B-Yard.

You will encounter the Workers (some already in the Mess-Hall) and fight them pretty much all the way through the majority of B-Yard and the Laundry.

Here you will start encountering the Main-Block crew and fight them through the Kitchens and B-Block proper. The layout and atmosphere will be quite different to A-Block. Much more metal and chains. It has an industrial work-camp feel.

Eventually making your way up to the Workshops where your progress will be halted by the Cruz Brothers (Boss) once defeated you move through the Workshops facing the Welders, Factory crew, Molten Metal and even fight the 3 Foremen. This section will be lots of throwing people into industrial machinery, molten steel vats and using a lot of industrial tools as weapons.

Eventually you fight your way out to the previously locked second area of the B-Yard and fight Barbosa (Boss), eventually defeating him to advance to a new area of the Maintainance tunnels.

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Escape from Tombstone - Enemy Glossary (A-Block)

Now that I'd completed the concepting for most of the enemies I started to prepare for the creation of the Art-Book. I started to assemble the enemies in a Block-by-Block layout and I thought this'd be the perfect opportunity to dive back into the enemies and use some old notes and fresh ideas to really nail down the gameplay theory. Revisiting the layout of Tombstone Island:

We can see A-Block's main areas consist of the Main-Block, Showers, Mess-Hall, A-Yard (and you later return to visit the Helipad and Isolation Cells).

So here are the enemies in the rough order you will encounter them. Enemy types have been grouped into little "gangs" which will correspond to little gameplay chunks (although I did also look at them as social groups).

First you'll fight your way through the Main-Block where you'll fight mostly basic enemies as you get used to the game's systems.

Once the riot starts you'll start encountering the Riot-Squad enemies (as well as some basic Guards), more aggressive and violent and introducing more Weapons. Eventually this leads to a boss-fight with Donder (Boss) and his squad of helpers. After your progress to the Mess-Hall is blocked you make your way through the maintainance tunnels.

As you break through the floor-grate in the shower you will face the Fighters who will challenge you by being much more capable fighters than you've come across so far. They will block some strikes and deliver their own block-breaking attacks (and the whole thing crescendos in a brutal shiv-centric fight against a mob of weak enemies).

After the showers you come out on the other side of the gates and ascend to the Mess-Hall which is now completely under prisoner control. They have stripped the Guards of their weaponry and are in the middle of a war with B-Block prisoners. After the tight confines of the Showers, the large open Mess-Hall with in-fighting will feel a different kind of chaotic. Eventually the whole thing culminates in a fight against the Wulon Brothers (Boss).

Eventually you acquire the key to the Yard where you will face the Work Detail. Hardy open-air workers with tools such as Spades and Sledgehammers that will make for a very different sense of engagement.

Much later you encounter the A-Block Isolation Cells, which feature the most dangerous inhabitants of A-Block.

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Escape from Tombstone - Animation (pt.4)

Netx it was time to tackle the walk-cycle. Which honestly I was kind of dreading. I used Axel's walk in Streets of Rage 4 as a basis and just tried to sort of do my own version of that. Similarly to the Kim Kaphwan pants for the idle.

I couldn't find a reference anywhere online so I captured my own footage and screenshotted it frame by frame.