Group Game Jam

 Following up on the advice of our course leaders, we decided to set aside two days this week to sit down and produce a playable prototype, to check that we work well as a group and wish to take the project further. Their concerns were understandable, as apparently group project dynamics tend to be problematic in their experience with the course over the years. However, we did work very well as a group over those two days in the end, and managed to produce something that I think we are all proud of given the timeframe we set ourselves. 

Screenshot displaying the playable bot during development of the level.

Lead-up To The Jam

In the lead-up to our 'jam', which took place from Wednesday to Thursday (really more like Friday morning though), I was mainly playing around with ideas for what we could try to produce over that two day period. It was clear from discussions that our aim was to build one playable level that would most likely take place in a confined, indoor space, to keep scope in check.

From chatting with Jordan, who is doing blueprinting on this project, the idea of a puzzle using an elevator came up as this would be one of the easier mechanics to implement quickly. I made a quick sketch exploring a potential puzzle scenario for our jam that involved the elevator mechanic:

Scenario sketch for a demo level

The idea I had was for a level taking place in some sort of industrial facility (maybe a warehouse or factory), where the room was split in two by a toxic stream cutting through the middle. The player would have to find a way to get an elevator running so that they could go up and over to whatever it was that they needed on the other side.

Research of potential aesthetic influences for a facility based level

I also had another plant idea in the lead-up to our jam, so I quickly put it to paper: 

A rafflesia that purifies the area surrounding it, allowing for other plants to grow

The idea for this was actually inspired by a recent episode of David Attenborough's current documentary series, Green Planet, which explores a wide range of plant-life around the world. I've always loved Attenborough documentaries, and the timing of this new series couldn't have been better in terms of its relation to my coursework.

One idea we had was for a puzzle where the player would have to use a rafflesia in conjunction with an elevator to purify the air/ground on multiple floors of a facility. We didn't use this for the jam in the end, but I could see the idea returning at a later point.

Beginning The Jam

We started the two days with a discussion of aims. We agreed on the goal of building a confined tutorial stage that would be the opening of our game. I had previously had the idea of the game starting with a garden shed containing the playable robot being struck by lightning, which is what would power him back up and set him off on his adventure. This idea was well received and through our discussions the idea of the shed was expanded into a mad scientist's workshop, where he evidently spent much of his time building gardener robots. We decided that our game jam level would be this workshop, with the central goal being to activate the main, mechanised door so that the robot could exit into the world outside, not knowing the state he would find it in. This allows for a cinematic reveal at the end of the tutorial level, which I'll discuss further down.

Level Layout

Along with another of my course-mates, my first task for the jam was to come up with a level design mockup following a set of puzzle steps established beforehand:

Layout sketch for the level

This was a fun exercise because it made me realise how much thought goes into level design in terms of leading the player etc, even for something as simple as a tutorial with just a few simple steps. I can only imagine the work that goes into level design on larger, more intricate projects.

Model Concepts

Tristan and I then got onto making concepts for the key elements of the level first, so that they could be modelled as soon as possible. These were: 

• The charging dock the robot starts in
• The energy source plant
• The plant bud receptacles 
• A water tank

I took charge of the first two while Tristan handled the other two.

Plant concept involving an energising bud/seed

Docking capsule concept for the bot

Once the key props were done, I started working on other elements of the scene, starting with the main door. In hindsight this was probably overlooked as one of the important props to get done early but it didn't really matter because it was the final element of the puzzle anyway, and one of the last mechanics to be implemented.

Main Door Concept

Alongside the door, which opens vertically like a garage door, you can see the energy bud receptacles holding the energy buds at its sides. I was working off of Tristan's receptacle concepts when adding them into this scene to show the mechanism. I also included ideas for the floor and wall textures in this sketch, which were useful later on, as I'll explain further down.

Cluttered desk concept

This piece above depicts the scientist's workspace in the corner of the room. It was a really fun sketch to do as I was just adding mess and clutter until it looked suitably chaotic. For the blueprints that are pinned up in the scene I used a blueprint texture drawn by my course-mate, Seth, distorting them to fit the scene. When we were discussing ideas at the start of the jam, we came up with the funny image of having the scientist's skeleton in the scene, with tufts of 'mad scientist hair' inexplicably lingering on as a stylistic choice. You can see that idea visualised in this sketch.

Intro/Outro Blockouts

On the second day of our jam I also explored Procreate's animation feature for the first time, to provide rough visualisations of short intro/outro scenes for our tutorial level. Blockouts such as these are useful in much the same way as concept art, as they act as a reference point or guideline once it comes to production. We didn't actually get around to implementing cutscenes during the jam, but we aim to add them to the level soon as the scenes are quite simple and shouldn't prove difficult.

This first video is a blockout of the intro scene. We see power come online due to a lightning strike, after which the bot wakes up and exits his capsule as the camera pans around to the third person gameplay perspective.

This second video maps out the outro scene. This takes place after the player has placed energy buds in both of the door's receptacles, and stands on the pressure tile in front of it to activate it. The idea is to build tension with a slow reveal, as the camera focuses on the bot as the door slowly lifts, allowing the outside light and smog to seep into the room. The camera then pans around to his back as we are shown for the first time what awaits in the world outside of our little safe-haven workshop. 

Coordinating with Adam, who is making the music/sound for this project, to come up with a music cue that adds to this reveal was really exciting. To be clear, I'm not musically skilled and the music was all his work (which sounds great by the way). What I mean is that we were having discussions about the tone we wanted to convey, which in this case was a buildup of anticipation and excitement followed by a harsh tailing off that coincides with the moment we first see the desolation all around.

Closing frame of the outro blockout above

Texture Work

Rounding out my work during this two day period, I was asked to make a tileable texture for the floor of the workshop, while Tristan worked on one for the walls. I've never tried my hand at texturing before but thankfully this was about the easiest type of texture I could be asked to have a go at, and I received really helpful advice from those in the group with more experience in this area. 

Tileable floor texture

Tiled Example

It's by no means a perfect texture, but it works for our prototype and can always be touched up down the line. For now though, it's fine. As a first attempt with little time spent on it, I'd say I'm reasonably happy with the result, although it inadvertently creates a lined pattern when tiled, as you can see from the example above. This is because half of the texture is overall slightly brighter on average than the other half, which is only really particularly noticeable once tiled. For a two day prototype though, it wasn't worth correcting at that stage.

Texture work is something I'm likely to be doing a lot more of for this group project as it means I can continue to provide usefulness to the group whenever there isn't much concept work to be done. This is a skill I'm looking forward to improving as from what I understand, it is quite an employable trait for concept artists in the industry to have, for the same reason I just pointed out.

Wrap-Up

Working on this project has so far been extremely rewarding, as it has given me the opportunity to expand my practice/learning into new areas of the production process such as mechanics, level design, cutscene blocking and texturing, alongside my usual concept work. It also feels really gratifying to see my concept work being put to use by the 3D modellers. The personal touches and alterations they make in combination with my initial vision are really cool to see, and ultimately lead to something better. Working as a group has also just been very refreshing from a social perspective, and I can't wait to continue.