Real Worlds - Part 2 Environment development

 Main building design

Initial Building Designs:

For my main building, I would like to design something based on real world quarry buildings and mineshafts as I feel like my game idea would be mainly taking place in a more subterranean environment with a lot of mining equipment and buildings around the world that the player is fighting in. In order to get enough ideas for my building design, I have compiled a moodboard of different real world examples of mining related buildings showing off the different kinds of systems that are a part of buildings found in quarries and mineshafts.

Using the images of mineshafts and quarries, I'll start to sketch some initial ideas, starting off with sihloettes to get a general idea of the shapes that I will be using in the building design, which I will then move onto creating some more detailed designs before finishing off the design.

For the initial design process, I started off with a series of different sihloettes using two building bases which I then added a variety of different details to based on the buildings in my moodboard. My main idea for the building is themeing it around some form of mineral refinery, so I want to building design to be equipped for minerals to come in and out of the building easily. The building would also be serving as the focal point of the area where the player is fighting the Veer Myn enemy, so I want the building to have different sections where players could have a vantage point or perhaps some places to hide behind.

Once I finished my sihloettes, I asked for feedback on which designs fit the idea I'm going for best. I will be using the feedback to inform the further development of my building design.

From my first lot of feedback, I have a good idea of which designs I will be taking forward to the development process. Based on this feedback, I will start working on the development sketches for my final design. 

Using the specified sihloette designs, I have come up with 4 different more developed sketches of the building, this time focusing on the how the different details of the building might appear on the building and what function it has in the building's role. I will now ask for feedback on these developed ideas to inform the final design sketch.

Based on the feedback I got for my development sketches, I will combine the first two development sketches that I came up with. From these two sketches, I will take the sections that I prefer from both of them and combine them into a single building, this way I'll be getting the best of both the designs.

For my final design sketch, I took the main body of the first development sketch and added on the back section from the second design, giving me a building that fits my desired theme quite well. I will now start working on the final coloured design of the building before starting on the final environment piece including all of the factors that I have designed over the course of the project.

Final design:

For the final design of my building, I used a variety of different greys with and undertone of green keeping in theme with my Forge Fathers character design as the building will be a former building owned by the Forge Fathers. As the building will have been abandoned for a while, I have coloured the metal sections in with rusty colours, giving an idea that the building hasn't had any real up keep for a very long time.

I also designed three pieces of street furnature that would serve as functional points in the environment for the player to interact with. The crates serving as some form of storage where players can restock on used supplies like healing items or switching equipment. The communication towers would serve as some form of fast travel around maps allowing players to get to the target Veer Myn more quickly, allowing more time to fight the monster, and finally, the blast shields would serve as protective barriers from the Veer Myn attacks.

With the building and street furnature now designed, I will start to work on my final piece, showcasing the environment and characters fighting each other. I will also be modelling a 3d blockout of the building to better show my building design in a 3d form.

3D Blockout:

Using Maya, I modelled a 3d blockout of my building design showing off what it would look like in a 3d space. I also used the model as a way to show different areas that light would be coming from, the main focuses being the warning lights on either side of the door and also the warm light coming from the inside of the building, showing the building could be hot on the inside, which could serve as some form of environmental hazard, if the veer myn was to enter the building, then the players might have to prepare properly in order to protect themselves from the heat.

Final piece:

In my final piece, I wanted to properly get across the idea of how the game would play, and the different functions of parts of the environment, such as the building being able to serve as a way for the players to get a proper vantage point over the veer myn. I also included two different weapons different from the original character design to give the idea of different weapon types that could be available in the game allowing for more variety in gameplay rather than there just being a single weapon type.

Project review:

Overall, I am pretty happy with the final outcome of my project, I feel like I have shown off the idea of my game pretty well, however there are a few things that I would change if I were to go through the project again. The main thing that I would spend more time on would be to consider more variation of character and creature designs, adding in potential variants to the veer myn that the players are fighting in the game, and also different types of armour that the Forge Fathers characters would be able to equip depending on the different kind of playstyle that the player wants to go for, e.g  a more bulky tank oriented design, or perhaps something a little more lightweight allowing for more movement.

In terms of the environment, I'm very pleased with how it turned out, I feel like it really fits the idea I originally had in mind with some form of abandoned subterranean environment that the two factions would be fighting for control over.