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Evaluation

When designing this concept art I started with a plan in mind and liked to keep within the time constraints but where my health has declined this year and personal issues outside of my control it has been a toll on me to keep on the deadlines I set as below. I think I was two weeks out on the initial plans this has led me to changing designs to different ways to keep within my perimeters. As a whole I loved the design work for this concept and did achieve the list I set out to do but with some works not being fully finished. As a learning curve this has been a good experience as its helped me decide what is within my constraints and what's not in them and adapting them as follows. I would of liked to show off more of the attack based work after completing the initial designs. Having to also deal with juggling work and working part time while having chronic fatigue and brain fog has led me to art block a lot during the duration of the semester. How I coped to get past this was also a learning curve since even if I just jotted down the design I would like to do roughly would inspire me to continue more and elaborate. I'm proud of my work in the end even with the restraints caused in my personal life and it has taught me a lot about management. My social media was not as outputted as much as I hoped but I did post avidly on Instagram as much a I could and wish to continue to post out to art station and forum post in the future. I will be continuing in the future to develop these works more.

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Finished Project - Matsuyama curse of the mirror.

My artifact is presented in a concept art book form so I could evaluate and continue my practices in character design. For me this is showing a snippet of what I could achieve while designing an initial idea of a game concept to a company as a presentation or to the public as a concept book. This would either be backed by working in the gaming industry or getting support from the public to fund the idea.

As this was an ambitious project, I set out to include:

3 landscapes, 5-character designs and 4 prop designs as the standard layout to keep to.

I researched and blogged what I would like my game to be designed like while using historical context associated with the Edo period in Japan. I also researched artists I admired and would look at and be influenced by their styles while pursuing this project.

I choose to look at legends in Japan and came across the Matsuyama mirror. A traditional Japanese story associated with mirrors. This legend is a coming-of-age story which features a young woman who copes with the loss of her mother by finding comfort looking into her mother’s mirror. I used this story and adapted this with the Japanese belief that souls could be trapped in mirrors.

I set out to use a horror game concept with a linear game style much like BioShock infinite. I named this game concept Matsyama: The curse of the mirror.

Synopsis:

Aya our main protagonist has just lost her mother, as tries to cope with the loss of her mother, she’s haunted by a voice. One day the mirror gifted to her breaks, and she finds herself being dragged into the mirror world. The voice now her only source of navigation turns out to be her mother trapped soul. She sets her on a journey to find the missing weapons needed to escape this world and release herself and her mother’s spirit but is all what it seems? As you set out on this journey, she slowly finds that its not her mother but a yokai that has processed her mother’s spirit and been trapping souls in this world. Aya being a descendant of spirit users was a perfect candidate to unlock the prison world of the haunted Yokai but all it needed was a spirit user to unlock it by defeating certain spirits which the yokai could only control but not defeat.

Aya design: 16 year old girl, Edo period traditional kimono / tattered kimono / Japanese /long dark hair matching the mother design

Three weapons - dragon water ghost, fan knifes.

Cursed mirror guiding the way to the cracked parts of each dimension.

As you journey through this world you find yourself against many ghost spirits which have been possessed by the yokai. They were spirits collected around the world due to how much the mirror has travelled in the past. Here are a few examples which are associated with the weapons that you need to collect in the game which the yokai leads the protagonist to.

Sea ghost

Research Japanese monsters for inspiration -

The mizuchi – dragon associated to water. / the umibozu – sea giants that destroyed ships and sailors

Crystal water dragon that uses other spirits to gain more spirit power hence why it attacks boats full of trapped spirits (men who drowned at sea)

Spirit blast / mass waves

Diving movements

Crystal heart that can break to be defeated. / crystal Sakura where the Yokai is influencing it

More drawings showing how it can change forms to be used by the protag

2.Fire priest

This ghost was originally a priest in the temple as this soul has been trapped for so long it has now been corrupted by the villain in the story. Aya goes against to enemy to collect the fire fans. This monster can throw firebombs and do spin-fire attacks. It also can-do incantations which will make the fan gloworange and release an attack. The surrounding area is constantly on fire and this is a eternal flame that continuesto glow.

3.Samurai ghost

This samurai ghost has four weapons it can use interchangeably its slow-moving to grab them up again. They can release soul energy and create a blast wave in their attack. As they are situated in a ghost town the more souls it consumes the bigger it gets and create stronger attacks. It stalks the streets waiting for its victims. The ghost town is full of souls lost to war as this town was destroyed while in amidst a war. The buildings are charred and broken but still have residents.  originally i wanted a child to a company this design as my original concept. This village  can change colour depending on when the ghost appears.

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Elden ring

reflecting on what in the current market elden ring and its polished game with no dlc or pay to win has been a triumphed in the industry. it doesn't offer any more new content and is a complete finished game and doesnt have to drip feed any more new content to keep players playing. Its build it identity from its precedecesters of the bloodborne franchise which is not a inclusive franchise due to the difficulty of the games in the past. The game always ensures there's enough thing to experience that it doesn't get boring the more it ages unlike the online battle pass based games which fizzle out with the less interest. Due to its multiple plays you could do might be different due to the class and build of the character you make custom. Much like the older games like fable, and even new games like baulders gate which again is more customable. is this something to reflect on when deciding to design newer games.

https://gamerant.com/elden-ring-first-anniversary-fromsoftware-game-design-open-world-genre-dlc/

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-secret-to-elden-rings-open-world-success-is-uncopyable/

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God of war

God of war was one of the most anticipated games of the year and had a incredible depth and love to its story. The director even acknowledges that story-based worlds are mostly film influences from such scenes from Indiana jones and others. The rise of this story telling has still been just as impactful as when the last of us came out. This has in turn actually influenced the cinematic industry just as a vice versa and becomes much more mainstream because of the in depth story’s the gaming industry creates. Gamers really want to feel depth when it come to investing their time as much as programme that that has a gripping story. As much as god of war has been a long influenced game this took it to a new level by being the biggest launch in the franchises history. Which in turn can influence the return of remakes and remasters since theres been more in depth continuation of a single character.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/god-of-war-unexpected-influence-indiana-jones/

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/god-of-war-ragnarok-is-already-the-biggest-launch-in-the-franchises-history-uk-time-tunnel

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Reboots

Reboots in industry are they plus or benefit?

They help new fans find old games which reinvent the whole franchise to continue plots and gain even more a fan base. They however might also be counter productive as they are essentially rehashing old gaming formats which might of died already in the industry and effectively going back to more nostalgic ways and making the industry lazier. The opinion of this is double sided as the percentage rate of the flow of games continuing has risen so gaining a profit. An example of this is final fantasy remasters and dark souls. Does this make the gaming industry less inventive though due to relying on old techniques and not thinking out the box. They generally are a safe bet and you know will make a profit this in turn could help inspire new creators you can see examples of that with developers already in the past creating new franchises by being inspired by nostalgic games such as Mario and Zelda. This in turn could even help train a generation in the gaming industry to create the next big thing.

https://n4g.com/articles/remakes-are-good-for-the-gaming-industry/

https://magicmedia.studio/news_insights/remasters-remakes-reboots/

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The male gaze and its effect on female character design

Videogames design has always had issues when it came down to the variation to male to female ratio in the workplace. Due to the fact that the videogame industry is a male-dominated space and has been for many years. In the last couple of years, they have been trying to level out this due to an increase in issues of discrimination based on gender. A term that has been increasingly used is the male gaze originally theorized by Laura Mulvey. When you investigate the analytics of how female representation has been objectified and it comes down to female characters. What is the male gaze? The male gaze is a derivative of the way men objectify women. Masculine vision in this sense could be characterized as patriarchal, ideological fetishism. It's the issue of female spectatorship and seeing them as an object rather than a person. In this, I will be looking into how this could have affected the way female characters may have been designed. And how they've made sure this is not an issue in future design concepts in most recent games. (1)

Issue of sexism is not new female professionals in male dominated industry like the film industry has also been mirrored in the gaming industry it is linked that less female input on female characters can create a negative portrayal of them. when thinking of female character designs what are the most iconic ones you can identify. one I could name to be the most iconic female protagonist of its era is Laura croft. the 1996 character has been an on-going joke about her ample bust for years. Encouraged like a office joke and remained to be one of her most recognisable aspects until the remake was encouraged to focus on her story due to sexualisation of this character. In most recent years they have tried to use female characters as a main protagonist showing positive aspects of the gender, they may also have what is to be perceived to have male characteristics which could be argued is now in this centuries both genders aspects. Using a mutually moral thing in this case. However, they might have betrayed women as needing to be saved or being objectified.

Ece Canlı, Nicoletta Mandolini. (2022) Aesthetics in Distress: Gender-Based Violence and Visual Culture. Introductory Note. Vista:10, pages 2

www.proquest.com. (n.d.). Female video game characters and the male gaze - ProQuest. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/openview/535ae54f162387d6fa144115d27df884/1/index

Lynch, T., Tompkins, J.E., van Driel, I.I. and Fritz, N. (2016). Sexy, Strong, and Secondary: A Content Analysis of Female Characters in Video Games across 31 Years. Journal of Communication, 66(4), pp.564–584. doi:10.1111/jcom.12237.

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Ai art and how this will affect the industry and my profession.

Ai has been a hot topic of discussion in the concept artist industry as of late. People believe that Ai is effectively taking jobs away from real people and copyrights have been put into question. The generators in cases have been using already made work to create new pieces and a lot of industry creatives have been on the lookout to see if their work has been plagiarised by the ai generated machine.  Art station boycotted the ai with a stand against no to ai generated images on the platform. As someone who is looking to go into this profession it has worried me immensely. The fact that they can be generated so quickly compared to someone who spends 5-8 hours on one piece is somewhat terrifying. However, in this project I look to see what the ai generator can help with rather than take away. A lot of artists now have been using it as a source of initial inspiration and then adding personal spins to a design it initially designed and making it into something new with elements of the base.

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Mirror

Using a Png for a base of the mirror I adapted it to a circle and painted over the top using a textured pattern and continuing a paint over to complete the rest I then had a look at traditional ribbons got a png and also painted over the top and transformed it so it was thinner.

katana

Katana 3d model base and with a paint over the top putting a new inlay at the hilt of the sword by drawing over the blade.

Fan

Used a fan base but painted over darked to a browner colour faked drew some Japanese letters that glowed orange I also laid out blades but did a paint over all over to make it black and did orange overlay of designs to match the writing.

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-print-models/art/sculptures/katana-01

https://pngtree.com/freepng/hand-mirror_1027859.html

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/gold-folding-fan-with-japanese-calligraphy-celebrating-new-year-text-translation-happy-new-year_43008748.htm#query=fan&position=29&from_view=search&track=sph

https://pngtree.com/freepng/cartoon-japanese-knot-illustration_4692194.html?share=3

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Used 3d base model to make sure the positioning was correct for the piece I then looked ar kimono references to gage how to lay the fabrics on the shoulders mostly. Using some png for the fabric fall I then painted over and created my own patterns on the kimonos. I png face features and painted over again while adding painted features for the hair and hair clips etc. the messy look for the hair was painted in too with shade. I added cherry blossom elements to the monster side with a png reference to start changed the tone and colour to darker red tones and a darker look and then painted over and used ghost lighting in the back ground. This was one of the first  pieces I finished which showed the theme for the whole concept book.

https://pngtree.com/freepng/the-illustrations-of-japanese-cherry-blossoms_3710010.html

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/realistic-white-male-and-female-low-poly

https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/geisha-front-red-background_40256552.htm#page=2&query=kimono&position=24&from_view=search&track=sph

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/asian-woman-wearing-japanese-traditional-kimono-autumn-park-kyoto-japan_10695562.htm#page=2&query=kimono&position=14&from_view=search&track=sph

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/gold-folding-fan-with-japanese-calligraphy-celebrating-new-year-text-translation-happy-new-year_43008748.htm#query=fan&position=29&from_view=search&track=sph

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I came back to the water painting and used elements from the first painting I scraped this included the waves but I took the bodies out and recoloured the ocean and did many paint overs. I used a png at the back and painted over the whole thing as I hated the clouds and the sky was not dark enough I darkened the whole thing to fit the background element and used a blur too. I used a snake 3d format for the initial base as I loved the scales which I used to texture the top half too and then painted over with a light blue. Initially I was going to do a textured rubble like dragon that came from the sea and had clams and inlayed in the skin but I wanted to stick with the ghost theme and put some more glowing elements such as crystal shapes and used the villain vines of the Sakura as crystal blue versions. I wanted a damaged boats and the protagonist getting away so used the 3d boat as a initial base and used photo bashing again for the debris with paint overs to adapt them darkened all the pictures too and used wooden texture on some of the paint overs.

Took my paint over from the original dragon drawing and adapted using more paint over with textures experimenting how the soul of the dragon can transform and move about while the protag uses it.

https://www.cleanpng.com/png-sea-download-google-images-computer-file-sea-159975/

https://www.cleanpng.com/png-blue-sky-and-white-clouds-2947/

https://pngtree.com/freepng/the-illustrations-of-japanese-cherry-blossoms_3710010.html

https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/24069515-stormy-ocean-waves-a-painting-of-dramatic-waves-in-a-storm-ai-generated

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/vehicle/other/l-9ed222d2-f97f-4445-9a54-ac441756db1e

https://www.freepik.com/premium-vector/blue-waves-collection_980858.htm#query=ocean%20wave&position=10&from_view=search&track=ais

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/realistic-white-male-and-female-low-poly

https://www.cleanpng.com/png-ice-png-image-13210/

https://www.cleanpng.com/png-wood-flooring-varnish-wooden-floor-border-texture-154927/

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/animals/reptile/snake--8

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Started off with a white circle which I colour dodged on a blacked background and spread out like a portal coming from the wall use a png of a broken mirror which I blurred and put the opacity down for put the contrast up and painted over the top. I grabbed the paint over from the mother spirit piece and adapted the lines to come out of the mirror shards. Using a woman screaming base I adapted a Japanese girl face with paint overs and drew out where the legs and arms would be using references off of thriller movies where the main person was getting dragged off like the hedge scene in harry potter with Cedric and the vines. The other was paranormal activity. I would of liked more time to adapt everything more details with a full room of furnish but because of time constraints this was not possible.

https://pngtree.com/freepng/the-illustrations-of-japanese-cherry-blossoms_3710010.html

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/black-background-with-shattered-glass-texture_17838799.htm#query=broken%20mirror&position=2&from_view=search&track=ais

screaming face -https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/portrait-young-woman-with-shocked-facial-expression_8923922.htm#page=2&query=screming%20face&position=7&from_view=search&track=ais

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/young-family-spending-time-with-their-toddler_22377831.htm#query=japanese%20kid&position=12&from_view=search&track=ais

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I started with 3d base models outstretched them all took off some window parts just to have the base and road lit up so there was light coming off them in blender and laid them out like a street scene. I then went over to photoshop and laid them out with a path in between I wanted to create a more ghost town look with overgrown paths etc I did some paint over for the roof etc but unfortunately due to time constraints couldn’t complete the full photo. I tried to create this smoky and light scene in essence, but I would have liked to complete this piece more.

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/exterior/historic-exterior/buddhist-shrine-japanese-build-house

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/asian-woman-wearing-japanese-traditional-kimono-autumn-park-kyoto-japan_10695562.htm#page=2&query=kimono&position=14&from_view=search&track=sph

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Drew out a rough sketch on how I liked the protag to look. Started off with the 3d model to position the models’ hands and how I liked the word to be hold and the fan. Made sure the hands were correct. I added the weapons I made before the start of the drawing as they were in other pieces which contributed to the whole look for this one. I then added paint overs of the dragon moving and being used by the protag. Drew in the kimono shapes and roughed up the edging with the loop tool. I used previous kimono shapes from dresses and then rechanged the coloured and painted over adding embellishes here and there making sure I roughed the dress up while going. I got a base of the face and painted over too and hand drew the hair pieces and then shaded everything over the top of the layers.  

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-print-models/art/sculptures/katana-01

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/gold-folding-fan-with-japanese-calligraphy-celebrating-new-year-text-translation-happy-new-year_43008748.htm#query=fan&position=29&from_view=search&track=sph

https://pngtree.com/freepng/hand-mirror_1027859.html

https://pngtree.com/freepng/the-illustrations-of-japanese-cherry-blossoms_3710010.html

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/realistic-white-male-and-female-low-poly

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/asian-woman-wearing-japanese-traditional-kimono-autumn-park-kyoto-japan_10695562.htm#page=2&query=kimono&position=14&from_view=search&track=sph

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Protaganist research

Researching Superstitions with mirrors

Many Japanese people cover their mirrors at night to prevent spirits from crossing or conjuring evil spirits. superstition says that if you don't you can trap your soul in the mirror. Ancient superstitions even believed that the spirits of humans and also they connect our world and the spiritual world.

https://www.iromegane.com/post/japanese-supersutition-what-you-shouldn-t-do-in-the-night

The protagonist is gifted a mirror from her mother after her death. One night as she accidently looks into it she gets dragged into a mirror world by her mother's spirit who has been trapped. She has been tasked to complete the cleansing of the mirror which will help her mother from her prison and move on to the afterlife. Little does she know that she's been deceived the whole time by a Yokai demon..

The protagonist is dragged into the mirror world by the lure of her mother's spirit which is the yokai in disguise of her mother's appearance. They will talk along the way to help guide the protaginst. They will need to cleanse different parts of the world to get there first and collect weapons along the way. Little does she know this yokai wants to collect the spirits she clenses and use her body to escape their prison.

I was looking for a companion for the protagonist I didn't want to use a fox as that was cliche and a tanuki looked out of place. The other option was a kappa but they didn't suit what I wanted to go with. So I will opt for the mother's spirit guiding her in the beginning but being a twist at the end of a yokai who trapped the spirits. The protagonist would cleanse the spirits and give the yokai enough power to possess the protagonist to leave the world. I will incorporate the mirror into the design of the protagonist.

https://www.thecollector.com/japanese-mythical-creatures-mythology/

The protagonist would start in a traditional style kimono and then adapt it more for more fight situations like ripping off the skirt trimming the arms and making this look older and worn out as the game goes along.

I researched the period and looked into what the traditional kimono wear was and will incorporate this into the first design.

I then looked for warrior women in the Edo period and found some inspiration from forgotten Sumarai women of the eras.

https://href.li/?https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/female-samurai-old-photos/?fbclid=IwAR38-NDZ-KGgwqkmrZEkwx9qghscCP9Yeg_WzPDAFq_5MLpd-QvcBgHuSn8

Looking at character design as female-fronted protaginst in the market

hell blade, horizon zero dawn, Dishonoured 3, Tomb Raider, Alice madness returns, Horizon Zero Dawn, last of us 2, Assassin's creed Valhalla and Bayonetta.

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I liked the four arm idea but it was challenging when designing I had to redesign at least 6 times until I came up with the pose in the end. I used a 3d body to start so I could find where the head would stay. And then grey based the main body and arms in the end I drew out where I wanted the swords to lie and went from there as I needed to know the shape of the composition. I then photo bashed some armour pieces and and the head piece and painted over while adding glowing ghost effects to the whole piece. I would of like more time to polish this however due to time constraints I didn't get to go over a time again.

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/realistic-white-male-and-female-low-poly

https://www.freepik.com/premium-ai-image/close-up-statue-man-armor-generative-ai_54904678.htm#query=samurai%20armour&position=16&from_view=search&track=ais

https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-print-models/art/sculptures/katana-01

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/young-family-spending-time-with-their-toddler_22377831.htm#query=japanese%20kid&position=12&from_view=search&track=ais

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I created this idea in mind of the big daddy concept where a child would control the bigger more dangerous character, I initially made this in mind and to have a demonic little child he was looking after in my first sketches and first outliner. I dint like the idea in the end because it didn’t fit the landscape I wanted to pair with the monster. This is in a spirit town that has been destroyed by fire and war however as the idea was too close to the fire temple, I changed to a ghost town. They would stalk the town finding souls to consume instead. Inspiration of this piece came from zoro as I needed to look at how three or 4 swords would move and how they would be posed in comparison. The child comparison came from the ring as it was quite creepy for a horror. I also looked at characters with four arms  like general grievous to see how they moved. Lastly looked at samurai art from the historic era and sekiro.

https://halcyonrealms.com/illustration/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-official-artworks-book-review/

https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/global-arts-cultures-and-design/discovering-japan/discovering-japan/samurai-armour/

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Temple fan character part 2

Using a 3d model as a base I turned it to the side so I could get the arms correct after I looked at photos, I photo bashed over the top a fan and bed sheets to see if I can get that draped look like a priest, I then copied it and transformed on the other side match. Blocked out the bottom with black and painted over.  With grey details. I added another layer on top of the drapes and painted over with grey and black shading. Painted over the hand in red, the face was filled in with opacity low with the paint bucket to get an even tone. then shaded over. I textured the face and any visible skin with photo changed the colour tones to redder and turned the opacity down. Then went over again with a paint over to refine the details in the eyes and skull parts. Dragged fire effects onto the body with pngs and then another paint over with smudging here and there.

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/fire-flame-realistic-set-small-big-bright-elements-black-background-isolated_7379992.htm#query=fire&position=9&from_view=search&track=sph

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/close-up-two-people-hanging-white-sheet-line_5068544.htm#query=bed%20sheet%20hanging%20online&position=13&from_view=search&track=ais

https://www.freepik.com/premium-ai-image/wakizashi-with-white-background-high-quality-ultra_61857463.htm#page=2&query=long%20dagger%20japanese&position=20&from_view=search&track=ais

https://www.pngall.com/rib-cage-png/download/15107

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=burned+wood+texture&asset_id=135235679