environments

Zulu

Working with masks

Starting Skecthes

Sin City

Once again Sin City has a very iconic image and style, and of the three movies the one I like most, the whole film is hot in black and white with certain characters retaining a main feature of their character through the addition of colour, whether this be the colour of their eyes of a certain object they always use. I really want to try and create this style within my game as I think it could work really well on the iPad.

300

300 is another graphic novel adaptation that has a really iconic style that creates the atmosphere and tension that I am looking for in my game. The use of very dark colours with a very vibrant red standing out from everything else creates a sense of danger and thrill that will be very important in my game.

Watchmen

Watchmen was completely different from most superhero movies, shot in a much darker style with a much more ominous atmosphere, watchmen depicts the story of a group of masked vigilantes trying to defend their form of justice whilst stopping a nuclear war. The style of watchmen is something that really appeals to me. The mood and atmosphere created sends a shiver down the spine, which is something I want to try and move towards in my game.

Marvel

Dating back to 1939, Marvel comics are one of the best-known comic publishers in the world. With famous characters such as Spider Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Daredevil in their collection it is easy to see why they continue to reach a wide audience and inspire so many people every year.

The recent influx in superhero movies has also introduced a whole new audience to the comic scene creating new interest in the area. This can also be seen in many games today also, with games such as street fighter adopting a much more comic style especially in the artwork. As well as this the re-designing of Capcom vs. Marvel is proof comic books are coming back as a mainstream media.

The comic book style is a big influence on me, this is mainly due to the fact that the images are drawn in a such a detailed and impressive way each cell seems to be its own individual piece of artwork, and when combined with a story create a frilling ride equal to that of any novel of film.

Interactive Storytelling

Interactive story telling is the concept that games could be designed so that every player that plays it has their own unique experience as they decide how the story unfolds and eventually ends through the actions they make in the game. Early examples of this often fall under the title of interactive fiction such as Façade, due to the fact that the only player input is text based. Recent examples of interactive story telling include Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins, however the idea is still very much in its infancy and there is still a long way for the genre to, as many games often have only a few possible outcomes, no matter how many different decisions you make through the game.

Comix Zone

Comix Zone is a Sega game produced at the dawn of the 32-bit era. Designed by Peter Morawiec, it tells the story of a comic book artist that gets sucked into his latest piece of work. This then forces him to become the hero of his own story in an effort to defeat the evil villain and return to the real world. The story see’s Sketch Turner, the games main protagonist, have to work his way through the comic book, traversing from one cell to the other defeating his own creations as he goes. 

Ergonomics

The aesthetically pleasing design of both the iPad and iPod fits neatly into the palm of your hand, the curve of the corners and the width of the device match the size of the average hand perfectly, allowing for a good grip whilst surfing the net, texting or playing games. The grip also comes in very handy with the accelerometer, one of the iPods unique features.

I also really want to use the iPod and iPads accelerometer in my game as it adds a new dimension to the experience. The accelerometer can tell when the iPod is being tilted forward and at what angle. This can then be used in the game to either move forward or increase your speed in game.

Street Fighter

Street fighter is one of a number of console games including: Need for speed and Call of Duty that have made appearances on the Apple handhelds. These big titles from consoles show that obviously the industry feels that the iPad and iPhone could be the way forward for handheld gaming. Street fighter certainly doesn’t disappoint when it comes to games on the Apple handhelds. The graphics are almost identical to that of the 360 versions and uses the exact same control layout as the 360 controllers. The only real problem I can see with the game is being able to control it, the analogue control on screen works well when doing a few simple punches and the odd combo, but when trying to keep up with the usual fast paced action we’ve come to expect from street fighter it finds it hard to keep up.

Another good part of the game at least is that Capcom continue to release downloadable content for the game, such as characters, costumes and arenas. This constant releasing of new material keeps players interested and keeps the popularity of the app high.

GTA: China Town Wars

My favorite part of this game is the controls, the use of a virtual analogue stick and the three action buttons makes it feel as if your using an old SNES or N64 controller which really adds to the apps overall feel as a gaming experience. Another part that really adds to the game experience of the app is the cut scenes, which are really well drawn in an almost cartoon style. Nearly all the cut scenes are interactive in some way, whether this is you smashing a window or hot wiring a car.

This idea of interactive story telling is something that I really want to look into and try to include within my design concept, as its been an important part of game design since Chris Crawford’s famous Dragon Speech.

Android Market

Android market facts:

·     - December 2009, there were over 20,000 applications available for download in the Android Market.

·     - August 2010, there are over 80,000 applications available for download in the Android Market, with over 1 billion application downloads.

·     - July 2010 the Android Market features the highest percentage of free apps, with over 57% being free to download, double the amount of Apple Inc.'s App Store, in which only 28% of apps are free. Other competitors, such as Nokia's Ovi Store and Blackberry's App World had 26%, with Windows Marketplace only having 22%.

Games Tm

This article in Games Tm put forward the idea that the Apple iPad could be the next big leader in the handheld market. They suggest that this is mainly due to Apples ‘relatively open attitude to publishing’ which allows any programmer to create games and therefore games that would never normally get made or get to market can now get there. ‘Such low entry barriers have seen the app store become a huge market for indie developers’, this coupled with the ‘iPads unconventional inputs of touch screen and accelerometer make a unique recipe for technological videogame innovation’.

However, later on in the article Aaron Yeung, associate producer of Geometry Wars Touch, goes on to state that ‘the iPad is not different enough to warrant a significant number of exclusive games’ and so will not become a handheld leader unlike its veteran counterparts of the DS and PSP.

Overall, I feel that the iPad may well be the next big thing in the handheld gaming market but I still think it’s a few generations away from being top of the charts. I think with the recent release of Sony’s PSP go and Nintendo’s 3DS not far away Apple are going to have to fight hard for their part of the market.

iPad

 To look at the iPad it is very aesthetically pleasing and to work with it is even better. The simplicity of the touch system allows for a personal free flowing work experience much the same to using a Mac book. This comes in very useful when playing games on the iPad and the larger screen makes the experience much similar to that of a console game. 

The iPad like the iPod and iPhone also have an accelerometer but I think the iPad lets this idea down a bit. In the Ipod and iPhone the accelerometer works really well but the iPad is too big to be flipping back and forward especially for a handheld device, which is meant to be used when on the move. That’s another big problem with the iPad, as a handheld device, it’s too big. The size of it means people don’t want to carry it around and so the games wont get played because when at home players are more likely to play on their home consoles with bigger screens, surround sound and HD available to them.

My iPod

I have a range of different gaming Apps on my iPod and most can fit into select categories. I think the category that stands out most are the retro games that have been updated and re-released as Apps for example; Copter, Pac man, Pong and Snake. The games all have the same charm that they have when played on their original consoles but the new controls add a new and intriguing dimension to the game play. This is shown mostly in Pong, where both players have a paddle and by swiping with your fingers across the touch screen can move the paddle from left to right, however the accelerometer in the iPod adds a new dimension that your able to control the curve of the ball. This new input adds a new dimension to the gaming experience, which couldn’t be achieved before.