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Photoshop process

When I trace a base image within Photoshop I paste the image into a blank background, lower the opacity to around 30 so I can clearly differentiate between my drawing and the base image, (especially if the base image is of a dark object) I then create a new layer on top of this, select the brush tool and adjust it's size accordingly so it fits the line I'm tracing and then use this feature to carefully go over the perimeter of the image and then once that's done I do the same for the details and inner parts, once that's all done I finally use the paint bucket tool to add color and if I feel it's missing something, shading.

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Chosen software

my chosen software for this project is Photoshop because I have immediate access to it due to college and my previous course being digital arts where I primarily used it for my work so I more or less know my way around it, the other design software I have used in the past is Illustrator, I don't really use it so I'm not as familiar with the mechanics and workings of the application as I am with Photoshop.

Though GIMP may be free unlike Photoshop, it is less developed and as stated in the table above " less intuitive", it's basic and standard, whereas Photoshop is a lot more customization options and an advanced way of working with "superior control", overall Photoshop is the best option for anyone looking to work professionally and at a higher standard, the only downside being you have to pay a subscription fee to utilize it and to it's full potential.

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Visual language

For this project I decided to go down the route of concept with which I was trying to build a strong visual style that conveyed to the person observing my work the theme I was going for.

"codes and conventions The familiar tools used by media texts to communicate ideas through technical, visual and audio techniques"

With my project I tried to imitate and encapsulate the environment and atmosphere of which you see in actual garages/ workshops and on shows such as Orange County Choppers, where it's basic but also custom at the same time, like you have made it your own by adding in personal affects or posters.

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Proof of concept

"Essentially, PoC is a small exercise or experiment generally used in the early stages of product development to test whether the concept can be turned into reality. " A PoC doesn’t try to tackle the whole pie in one go. Instead, it zeroes in on a particular aspect or feature of the product."

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Practitioners

José Cabrera- concept artist for God Of War

This piece of Skyrim artwork is cool and gives off a "frozen in time" look like that of the Gallifrey Falls/No More painting in Doctor Who special Day Of The Doctor, especially with the motion-blur and bits of debris flying everywhere, It captures a piece of time, allowing it to be viewed for all eternity, those within are trapped within a single moment, like a slice of time suspended in motion.

Eytan Zana- He is a concept artist behind the Uncharted series, specializing in environment design

This piece of artwork from Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is an awesome and spectacular piece that encapsulates the intensity and ferocity of a duel in a raging fire, where options for survival and escape are limited and the need to do whatever is necessary to survive arises.

Levi Hopkins- He did concept art for Infamous Second Son and Guild Wars 2

This piece of concept for Infamous Second Son encapsulates a dark, dingy and dangerous dystopian city half destroyed, this conveys the mood of intensity, danger and hopeless survival, it gives a bit of feeling to a still frame.

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Roles in industry

What is your dream role in the Games Industry? My preferred role is concept art.

What is this role about? This role is about creating designs for characters, map/environment that compliment and convey the mood of the game's premise.

What is it about this role that you are excited by? I prefer this line of work because I like doing art as that was my first course, I like creating new things from different parts of pre-existing images of items.

What skills are required? (Soft and hard skills) The ability to draw/trace with a mouse/ drawing tablet, creativity to add new parts in or combine others together to make one image, depth perception/ being able to differentiate between and put things in the foreground and background of the art/image.

What software will you need to master? I will need to use Photoshop for my art as that is my usual software for them, I can also use Illustrator for it but not as well as Photoshop.

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Concept

I didn't know where to start with developing so I opted for concept instead.

I have added a slightly lighter red accent to the outline of the decal.

I have now added posters and a wall decal, a cabinet, lockers, a shelving rack and a ceiling light.

I have moved the fuel tank into the background and added a hood from a 67' Impala into the foreground.

I have now added in a little bit of shading to the lockers by using a darker shade of grey around the edges and interior.

I added in details such as the posters to make it seem more lively and homely to give the feel that these projects are personal, a passion and a hobby rather than just work, I feel I achieved this atmospheric effect and I am happy with how the final outcome turned out.

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Traditional Pinstriping

Traditional Pinstriping is done by dipping a brush in paint and bringing it relatively slowly across the area you want to paint adding in little flourishes such as curls and loops or a range of colors to make the design more unique.

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Games with similar mechanics

These two games have the same mechanic of tracing a line to get points and complete a design.

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Idea Generation

Idea One - you work in a garage owned by a motorcycle club and you have to detail their bikes with a set of stenciled designs, you have to use a controller like a spray can, like in Infamous Second Son, you can choose between different sized nozzles for fine detail or full re-color, you can also use a drawing pad for free-hand for minute details, you gain points depending on how accurate the design was, they start off relatively simple and gradually get more difficult with each design you do.

Idea 2- You are Earl of a Viking Civilization in Norway and you have to send out raiding parties to different locations on a map, such as England or France, you have to send out scouts first to scope it out and if there is danger (either high or medium) you then have to send out a few ships to clear that danger to make it safe for the raiding party, you have to manage each ship, repair when they return if they get damaged and tend to wounded, kind of like in Assassins' Creed: Black Flag, if you suffer any casualties you will also have to send out a funeral longship and send your slain Drengrs to Valhalla.

Idea 3- You ride a Harley Davidson through traffic dodging vehicles and obstacles in the road kind of like in Highway Moto Rider 2, you will have a selection of Harleys to use such as Dynas, Panheads, Choppers and bobbers, you will only need a mouse to play this game as the movement will be tracking the path of the mouse cursor just how with riding a motorcycle to move and manoeuvre.

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Grids In Video Games

Standard Square Grid-

Tetris uses a square grid for the shapes

The Sims

Minecraft

Isometric-

Cult Of The Lamb

Minecraft Dungeons

Rollercoaster Tycoon

Hex Based-

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Grid Movement

Chess- The advantage of using a Square grid for this game is that it makes it easier to see each available space, the grid is typically laid out in a 8 x 8 formation, the grid allows the player to make a range of different moves such as diagonally for Bishops, and an "L" shape for Knights, the game could work with a different grid but it would require a strategy different to that of a square grid.

Monopoly- This game uses an 11 X 11 grid made up of squares and rectangles which allows players to differentiate between the individual spaces, this layout also allows the player to move their pieces the correct amount of spaces as they are separated which makes them easier to see and count.

Dungeons And Dragons- D&D uses a standard square grid for a map to easily see where the player's character is and their precise position so they have a clear line of sight and able to tell if their attacks will work and reach their target, the square grid is probably the best one they could've used as it is easy to see each individual space.

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Pause Menu and Key Mapping

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Home Console

Guitar Hero controller - The main objective is to finish playing a song with as many notes hit as you can, the controller was unique because it used color-coded buttons on the fret-board which corresponded with notes in the game and a strum switch that you strum/flick to hit the notes and a whammy bar that you use to add a "whammy" effect to long notes within the songs, this is the best control system for this game.

Drum Kit controller - The main objective is to finish playing a song with as many notes hit as you can, you get an electronic drum kit with corresponding with the different drums and symbols and a peddle for the base drum, these make you more immersed as you yourself are playing the song, this is the best control system for this game.

Wii Remote (Wii Sports) - The objective of Wii Sports is to play different sports such as bowling, golf, tennis, baseball and boxing, to play this game you need to use a Wii remote and its motion sensor function, for instance for golf, boxing, baseball and tennis you need to actually swing the remote like you're either throwing a bowling ball or hitting golf ball, for boxing you will need to use the nunchuck as well as the Wii remote to punch with whatever hand you're holding it in.

Power Glove - Bad Street Brawler is a game released for the NES that utilizes the power glove's motion sensor function, the main goal is to fight enemies and save the city by using basic attacks such as punch or kick and a few special moves used with the power glove, the power glove was a unique design as not many games used a motion sensor glove, it was notorious for being bad because of it's incredibly poor control accuracy, because of this the creators probably should've stuck with the NES controller as it works a lot better than the infamous power glove.

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Arcade Games

Daytona USA - The main objective is to outrun your opponents and beat them to the finish line, the game uses a steering wheel, a gear-stick, gas, brakes and clutch pedals from a car to control the in-game vehicle you drive, these controls add a level of immerse and realism to the game so it feels like you yourself are in the car and driving it, if you're playing it on PC you can use a controller as well if you do not have this set-up.

Road Rash - The main objective of Road Rash is to compete in motorcycle races, battling your opponents for the win and avoiding cops, this game uses handlebars and pedals for controls, or if you're playing it on PC or Gameboy a controller is used, these handlebars controls are pretty unique because not many arcade games use just handlebars and pedals but whole motorcycles to immerse you.

Pong - The objective of Pong is for each player to try and get to eleven points via the other failing to hit the ball back over, if you miss the ball your opponent gets a point and vice versa if they miss the ball, the controls for this game are simple, each player gets a knob/dial to turn which depending on the direction you turn it can move your paddle either up or down, this is kind of unique there aren't many arcade games that just use the turning of a knob/dial to control a mechanic, I think these are probably the best controls for it as they are so simple to use that anyone can play it and understand what to do.

Duck Hunt - Duck Hunt is a game where you have to shoot a sequence of targets in a set time limit, for this game you use a "Nintendo Light Gun" to aim at the screen and shoot, these controls are probably the best for this type of game as you need to physically aim the gun at the targets on the screen to shoot them which can make the player feel a bit more immersed and actually there shooting them himself.

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Fairground Games

Hook-A-Duck - Hook-a-Duck is a game where you use a hook to try and catch rubber ducks, if you catch a winning one you will be going home with a prize, it is a game of skill and luck combined, you need the skills to cast the hook at the right moment to catch one and the luck of it being a winning duck, all you need to play this little game is rubber ducks, a rod with a hook at the end, a pool of water and various prizes.

Ring Toss - the main objective is to throw rings onto a pole to gain points, whoever has the most points by the end of the game wins, it is a game of skill as you need to get the right amount of momentum and distance to get it on the pole, all you need for it to work is a pole, wooden/metal or plastic rings and a scoreboard.

Test Your Strength - The objective of this game is to hit a button on the base of the machine hard enough that it rises and hits the bell at the summit, the reward for hitting the bell can range from various different prizes, it can also give you satisfaction, all you need to do for this game is swing a hammer at a button, this game is mostly luck as all you need to do is swing it as hard as you can.

Target Shooting - The main goal is to shoot down as many targets as you can in a set amount of time, the reward for shooting them all can vary between prizes, all you need for this game is a toy gun (and the ammunition for it), targets and a power supply for moving ones, this game mostly takes skill as you need to have good aim, timing and trigger discipline so as not to fire too early, all the player needs to do is point, aim and shoot.

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Board Games

Risk - Risk is a game where the main objective is to take over the world by holding all available territories and eliminating all opponents from the game, the main reward for winning is rank points, you get more for defeating enemies with a higher rank than your own, the gamer has many actions such as attacking, placing armies and fortifying, it is a half skill and half chance, the requirements for the game are : Gameboard, armies(infantry, cavalry, artillery), deck of Risk cards, dice, cardboard war crates and game guide.

Snakes & Ladders - Snakes & Ladders is a game where the main objective is to reach the top of the gameboard before your opponents, the reward for winning is glory and happiness, the game involves using different colored counters for different players which you move along the path of the numbers/spaces on the board, if you land on the space at the bottom of a ladder you get to go up said ladder thus giving you an advantage as you would be quite a few spaces above where you previously were, on the other hand, if you land on the top of a snake you have to travel down it to the space below where you will be faced with the disadvantage of being setback, it is a game if pure chance, although you need to have the skills of counting and good observation if you hope to prevail and be the victor of the match, to be able to play the game you need to have in your possession : a board, dice and counters.

Naughts & Crosses - In this game you play against one other person to try and get three of your chosen symbols (X or O) in a row to win, it is simple and straight forwards, it is a game of observation, planning and a bit of chance as you don't know where your opponent will choose to place their symbol, if the grid fills without a player getting three in a row it will be a draw, all you need for this game is paper and a pen ( and the ability to draw to some extent).

Battleship - The main objective of this game is to try and sink your opponent's ships before they do the same to yours, the reward for winning would be glory, it is a game of strategy and patience but also luck depending on whether yours or your opponent's strategies worked, for this game you need a board with two grids, ships(carrier, battleship, cruiser, submarine and destroyer).