Week 1:

06/03/17: I was generating ideas about our game that we will be creating and had the thought about a 2 dimensional fighter as I haven’t seen many of these types of game in this current time and thought we were very able to complete this game within the time of this project. I discussed which tasks Nial and I wanted to do and I am focusing on the art side of the game and Nial is focusing on the programming side. The rest of the tasks required will be shared evenly.

08/03/2017: We discussed the narrative and the finalised what the game will be a 2 dimensional hack and slash. We also discussed different ideas such as a fantasy style. We settled on a competition of all the best fighters or warriors from around the globe battling to be rewarded with eternal glory and riches beyond their imagination.

09/03/2017: We talked about the different fighters and if we wanted the game to be historically accurate by keeping them in the same era but decided against it. So we decided to do all the famous warriors like Gladiators, Spartans, Vikings and Native Americans. The college also got a programmer from Code masters in Birmingham. She talked about all the job roles briefly and talked in more detail with job roles that she works with within the industry.

10/03/2017: We discussed how many different fighters or warriors we wanted within the game and we decided on 6 giving the player a good selection.

12/03/2017: We texted to each other brain storming different game names such as: Champions of Time, Chivalrous Champions and Honour bound. We are still discussing a game name as we haven’t both agreed on a name.

Week 2:

14/03/2017: We were thinking of more names and thought of names like Glory or Death and Champions of Glory. I also created 6 mood boards for each of the characters to decide on what they will look like. I also kept a Bibliography of where I collected the images from. I did this to help me to generate ideas for what the characters could look like. I also did the same for the environments and wrote about some of the history of the environments and the characters.

15/03/17: The college had organised a talk with a lead audio from Code masters from Birmingham. He talked about his job role and other job roles he has done. He told us about what he did in each job role and how he managed to progress to get his dream job.

16/03/17: I started to design the different visuals for the character and have completed the concept artwork for the Gladiator character. I did 5 designs for each item that is known with a character such as the helmet and the armour.

17/03/17: I continued to create concept art for the other characters I completed the artwork for the knight and for the Spartan. This has helped me to finalize what the characters will look like.

Week 3:

20/03/17: I started creating a basic sprite sheet for the demo of the game so I could put in more detail to it and edit it where need be for the final sprite sheets as I would have to make 6 sprite sheets for each of the select able fighters.

21/03/17: I finished off the remaining sprites from the day before. I then started creating my environment and added in a vanishing point to make the map have more realism to it and help me create the final environments quickly and more efficiently. I then created the basic map for the demo so we could have a demo of the game ready.

23/03/17: I continued doing the concept art for the game characters I am currently working on the Viking game character and I am currently halfway through completing the concept art for the characters.

25/03/17: I started to think of what I wanted the environment to be and I also spoke to Nial and decided to an environment for each fighter in the game.

Week 4:

28/03/17: I created a vanishing point to speed up the process of creating environments for the game. During some research of fighter environments I discovered that they all used a vanishing point to help develop the environment. So I created one to help the development of my environments. Next I am going to start to create the environments for the final.

29/03/17: I started to create the environment for the final game I have currently started to create the map Colosseum. Each environment is themed to one fighter meaning it has a historical link the area they lived in or stuff that they used.

30/03/17: I completed the first environment of final game of the Colosseum. The Colosseum environment is the arena for the Roman Gladiator fighter. I am going to start creating the second environment tomorrow. I used the paint brush tool to draw the basic shapes of the environment with the help of the vanishing point that I created before and used the paint bucket tool to fill in the colour. I think the creating of this environment is efficient as the vanishing point really sped up the production of the environment.

31/03/17: I completed the second environment of the game of the Canyon. The Canyon environment is the arena for the Native American fighter. Tomorrow I will start creating the Japanese Temple environment. The canyon environment is the arena for the Native American fighter. i used the paint brush tool to create the basic outline of the environment and filled it in with the paint bucket tool. I then used the paint brush tool to create shadows and give the environment more depth. I then used the filters to create a clouds effect to make it look like a realistic sky. I also used the lens flare filter to make it look like the sun in the sky.

01/04/17: I completed the Japanese Temple environment. I will start on the Greek Market environment tomorrow and hopefully. The Japanese Temple environment is the arena for the Samurai fighter. I used the rectangle tool to create the basic shape of the temple and used the paint brush tool to do the rest of the basic shape. I then used the paint bucket tool to fill in the basic colours of the environment. I then used the paint brush tool to add in the shading details.

02/04/17: I completed the Greek market environment for the final game. The Greek environment is the arena for the Spartan fighter. I am planning to get the rest of the environments finished by the end of next week. I am going to start and hopefully finish the Dungeon environment. I used the rectangle tool to create the basic shapes of the stalls and used the eraser tool to edit the roof to make it look like it was made out of fabric. I used the paint brush tool to put in all the shading detail and draw in the food that were in the stalls. I used the cloud filter to create the effect of the sky and also used the lens flare effect to create the sun.

Week 5:

02/04/17: I have completed the Dungeon environment. The Dungeon environment is the arena for the Knights fighter. I am going to start creating the last of the final game environment of the Port or the Docks. I used the vanishing point to help to create the stone slabbed floor using the paint brush tool to draw the lines. I used the shape tools to create the shape of the cell door and used the paint brush tool to add in the shading and the detail to the environment. I then drew the basic shape of the torch and used the outer glow effect to create the effect of the burning flame.

03/04/17: I am currently still creating the final environment of the Docks for the Viking fighter. I think that it is achievable to complete the final environment by the end of tomorrow.

04/04/17: I have completed the last environment of the viking docks. Now that it is complete it can be put in the final game. I used the paint brush tool to create the outlines of the floor, boat and shore line. I then used the paint bucket tool to block in the colour and adding in the detail and shading effects with the paint brush tool. I then used the cloud filter to create the sky and used the lens flare effect to create the sky.

Week 6:

15/04/17: I started to create the final version of the basic animations for the game so I could just change the weapon and add in the detail of the each character. I should be able to finish them by the end of next week.

19/04/17: I am still creating the final version of the basic animations. So far I have done the block animation, the jump animation, the death animation and the hit animations from each angle. I am using the paint brush tool to draw the basic outline and using the eraser tool to remove any mistakes. I am also using the paint bucket tool to fill in the character. I am using the lasso tool to select the previous created animations to increase efficiency of producing the animations.

21/04/17: I am still developing the final game basic animations. I have completed the jump attack, low attack, mid attack and high attack. The final things that I need to do is the walking animations backwards and forwards. This is the longest animations that I need to do I should get it done by next week. I am using the rectangle marquee tool to extract the draft animations so they can be edited to increase efficiency.

Week 7:

25/04/17: I am currently working on finishing the concept art for the characters so when I finish the basic animations then I can start straight away on adding in the detail of each character and the red and blue versions of each one.

26/04/17: I did a self review of my project and had to talk about what I have done so far and what I need to improve on. I discovered that I needed to improve my reviewing as I felt it wasn't as detailed as it should be.

28/04/17: I have completed the rest of the concept art for the characters or fighters within the game. In each concept art I have multiple designs for each section of the character like armour helmet and clothing.I think that I could improve the concept art by doing a full body drawing of each character. If I have time I will create those extra concept art pieces as i am not sure if i will be able to finish every thing within the time scale.

Week 8:

02/05/17: I have completed the basic sprite sheet. I have done a basic sprite sheet so that I just need to draw detail onto the animations rather than redrawing each one for each character so I am more efficient when creating the sprites. I will now start to create the final animations for each character with two different colours one in a blue colour scheme and one with a red colour scheme so the player will be able to tell which character they are even if they pick the same fighter.

03/05/17: I have started to create the final animations for the Spartan fighter. I have used the paint brush to draw the basic outline and used the paint bucket tool to block in the colour for the character. Then I used the paint brush tool to add in the shading and the highlights.

04/05/17 I am still creating the final Spartan sprites animations. I have currently done the blocking animations and KO animations. I am using the rectangle marquee tool to select parts that I have already done and add them onto other sprites which need to be re-drawn. Next I will need to change all the colour of red to blue so the player two can pick the same fighter and be able to tell the difference between each other.

05/05/17: I am still currently editing the final Spartan sprites sheet. I am saving parts of each sprites which I needed again on a different layer. I am using the lasso tool and the rectangular marquee tool to select the different for example I will save the helmet as a different layer so that it speeds up the efficiency of creating the sprites.

06/05/17: I have completed the Spartan sprites and now I am copy the sprites and changing all the colour Red to Blue. I will be using the paint brush tool to change the colour as it is accurate. Next I will start on the Knights sprite sheet. I did try to speed up the production of the of making each part once then copying it and using warp to edit it to fit each sprite but it made the wrapped part go blurry and this made it look like terrible quality up close which makes the game look less professional.

07/05/17: I have started the Knights sprites sheet. I have used the paint brush to draw the basic outline of the clothing and armour and used the paint bucket tool to block in the colour. Then I used the paint brush tool to add in the shading and the highlights to the character. When I have completed the the knight sprite sheet I will need to change all the colour red to blue for the second player if they pick the same character.

08/05/17: I am still currently editing the Knight sprite sheet. I am copying the sprites that I have done before with the lasso tool or the rectangular marquee tool and then editing them to be more efficient with the creation of the sprites. After I have completed this I will start to create the Samurai Sprite sheet.

Week 9:

10/05/17: I have completed the Knight sprites sheet. I have started the Final Samurai sprite sheet and used the concept art to help me to give the final look of the Samurai Fighter.

11/05/17: I have complete the blue player two version of the knight. The only problem with this fighter is that I don't think there is enough of the blue/red on the sprite making it easier to distinguish between the first and second player.

12/05/17: I am going to continue to create the Samurai sprite sheet. I am using the paint brush to draw the basic outline of the coloured areas and then filling it with the paint bucket. I am then using the paint brush tool to add in the shading detail and using the eye dropper to use the same colour as used before on the previous sprite so the colour of the character doesn't change.

14/05/17: I am still currently creating the animations for the Samurai sprites. I have looked at all possible ways of creating the sprites faster but because it is drawn in pixels when it is warped or rotated it blurs and takes longer to remove the blur than just drawing it with the paint brush tool.

Week 10:

15/05/17: I had some feedback from some peers and they identified that the characters had not got proportional backs so to improve the overall quality of my work I will make the backs proportional on the character sprites.

16/05/17: I have completed the editing of the of the character sprites and I agree that it improves the over all look of the sprites and makes the game look more professional.

17/05/17: I put my sprites into the timeline on Adobe Photoshop to see what it would look like in the game and found that the animations look good but could be improved by adding in more sprites to the animation. So after I have completed all of the basic sprite sheets for the characters I will improve them and this will make the animations look smoother and more professional.

18/05/17: I am have finished creating the character sprites for the Samurai Fighter. Now i need to change all the colour Red on the Samurai sprite sheet to Blue for the second player.

19/05/17: I have finished the player 2 version of the Samurai Fighter it took along time to do as the majority of the character was Red and that all needed to be changed to blue this shows me that I need to limit the amount of Red that I put on the character as I am running out of time and i am unsure if I will be able to finish in time.

20/05/15: I have started to create the Sprite sheet for the Roman Gladiator Fighter and i will be using a previous sprite sheet of the Spartan Fighter as it has parts similar to the Gladiator Fighter and will save time and be more time efficient.

21/05/17: I have completed the Sprite sheet for the Roman Gladiator fighter and now i will need to edit this sprite sheet for the second player version of this fighter. Then I will need to create the next fighter sprite sheet.

Week 11:

22/05/17: I have completed the second player version of the Roman Gladiator sprite sheet. I have changed all the colour of red on the 1st player Roman Gladiator sprite sheet to Blue so the player can tell the difference between each other if they pick the same character.

23/05/17: I have started to create the Viking sprite sheet and i am using the Roman Gladiator to speed up the process of creating the Viking sprite sheet as it has similar parts that are the same and means that it will be more time efficient.

26/05/17: I have completed the Viking sprite sheet and using the Roman gladiator meant that it was faster to create it as some of the parts of the sprites was the same so it speed up the creation as I didn't need to re draw the same part of the sprites.

27/05/17: I have started to create the final sprites sheet of the Native American. I am using the Viking sprites sheet to be more time efficient of the creation of the Native American sprite sheet. This means that I will have more time to improve the animations by adding in more sprites to each character animations.

Week 12:

29/05/17: I have completed the Native American sprite sheet. It took longer than I expected as I took a while to create the head as I couldn't create the right look with the pixels. Now I will start to create the additional basic sprites sheet and should get that done by the end of the month.

31/05/17: I have completed the Additional basic sprite sheet and I did it within the time that I wanted to do it in. Now I need to draw over the basic sprites for each character player 1 version and player 2 version. So in total I will need to create 12 versions of the Additional sprites.

01/06/17: I have completed the player one version and player two version for the Spartan fighter and the Knight fighter. I have 4 more fighters to do the two different versions for. I want to try to finish them before the end of the weekend.

02/06/17: I have completed the Gladiator additional sprite sheet and the Samurai additional sprite sheet. I have done both versions of the additional sprite sheet of the red version and the blue version. I have 2 more fighters to do before the end of the weekend.

03/06/17: I have completed the additional sprites for the Viking and the Native American. I have completed both of the versions the player one version and the player two version. Next I need to add the additional sprites added on to the sprite sheet into the correct position in the animation to help show Nial where each sprite goes in the timeline of each animation.

04/06/17: I have finished organizing the sprite sheet for the Spartan fighter and the Knight fighter for both of the player one version and the player two version. I am hoping to finish this by Tuesday before the deadline so Nial can put the animations into the game. I am using the lasso tool to select the groups of animations and separate them into different layers so it helps Nial to select each animation easily.

Week 13:

05/06/17: I have organized the sprite sheet of the Samurai fighter and the Gladiator fighter. I have organized both versions of each fighter the player one version (red version) and the player two version (blue version). I have four more sprite sheets to organize before Wednesday.

06/06/17: I have finished organizing the rest of the sprite sheets. Which consisted of the player one and two versions of the Viking fighter and the Native American fighter sprite sheets. Now all I need to do is to give Nial the Sprite sheets.

Review:

I started this project to create the art work for a fighting game. I wanted to create 6 different fighters so that the player had a large option on what fighter they wanted to play as. I also wanted to create 6 different environments which each had a theme of the fighters to each one.

I researched into the tropes of fighting games to understand what the main theme of the game would be so I would know what the general narrative is so I could find out what I will base my characters off which will then dictate what the them of the environment will be. I found that the main them is a battle for a title or a prize or the fate of the world this inspired me as well as a recent game 'For Honour'. I took inspiration of the best of the best medieval fighters as I decided that it would be better to do best of time fighters without developed weapons like guns and explosives. I have achieved that and also exceeded what I expected to do. I have created 6 different fighters and a fighting arena or environment for each character and also created an alternate player two version so the players can distinguish which fighter they are. The player two version is just where all the colour red which is on the fighter is changed to blue. The amount of colour red on the fighter depends on what the historical fighter looked like and the amount that i could get away with without being to over whelming to the player. For each fighter I created animations for Idle, walking, jumping, dying, flinching, jump attack, low, middle and high attack.

In the project I researched about each fighter and their historical background so I understood their environment they lived in so I could create an accurate environment for each fighter. I also researched each fighter so that I understood what weaponry they used and the clothing or armour they wore. After I researched what weaponry they used I had to decide which weapons each fighter would use as it would take longer to create a different animations for each character. So I decided that it would be better to use all swords and just change the length, width and colour to each of the fighters style so that I didn't need to create a different basic sprite sheet for each character because each weapon would attack differently. I had a difficult decision to decide how detailed I would do the sprites as the more detailed it was the longer it would take to create and would mean that I could run out of time but if I drew it with not enough detail then it would look unprofessional as I am trying to achieve a professional looking artwork. I created mood boards containing images about each fighter and what they wore and what weapons they used. I tried to collect images that were replicas or inspired artwork or props of the fighters clothing and armour. I also created mood boards for each environment so I could understand the environment each fighter used to live in and the possible places they would battle. I also researched into the general backgrounds of each fighter so I could understand the body type and fitness of each fighter.

I researched into the existing two dimensional fighters and looked at the environments and how they drew the environment and found that the fighter was above the bottom of the screen to make the fake depth effect to the environment. This made the environment look more realistic as I gave the same depth as real life and 3 dimensional games. I found this implemented in most 2 dimensional fighting games so I decided to flow the theme and do it with my environment. I have also done some sketches or concept art of each characters armour, clothing, helmet and weaponry and shield. I was looking at the mood boards at the time of drawing the concept art as it would help inspire me to create different designs while still keeping to the theme of the fighters armour and clothing because I had researched about each fighters background it meant that I knew what materials they had access to and what sort of conditions they were going to be in. I used an sprite image of a fighter from a game that I had researched for the basis of the basic sprite sheet so I knew the size would be right as it had the right amount of pixels to be able to do the amount of detail I wanted. I created a basic sprite sheet as it helped me to produce the fighter sprites faster as I knew the proportions were correct and just needed to draw in the detail of the skin and the armour. I created a a vanishing point for the creation of the environments to create the fake depth effect and to be more time efficient.

I used a variety of tools and filters within Adobe Photoshop. I used the paint brush tool to draw the outlines and add in the detail to the environments. I used the paint bucket tool to fill in the required areas to save time as it would take a lot longer to draw in with the pencil. I used the lasso tool to duplicate things that were the same on the fighter sprites to be more time efficient. I also used the lens flare filter on the environments to make it look like the sun and gives it a realistic effect. I learned to use the cloud filter which generates cloud and makes a realistic looking sky. I if was to do this project again I would have done less fighters so I had more time and I would have done a larger variety of artwork like the User interface Main menu background, game logo and full body character concept art.