My first brief of the semester was a group project, which involved making a prototype for a 2D platform game. I took up the role of character designer and character animator, while my group mates took up backgrounds and audio. I began to start churning out concepts to achieve a balance of the character style I liked and the character style my group mates liked. I experimented with body shapes and sizes, these are some of the sketches.
Initially our character was going to be an alien or a robot of some kind, however the idea fell through. After generating a new idea for the game, the group decided that the character could channel the four elements, so I went back and came up with more concepts, which would share the same body shape to give a sense that it was the same character.
In the end these were the final designs chosen, plus an extra nuetral stage that the character could begin as.
Then it came to animating, the characters all needed a walk cycle, jump cycle and some form of an attack cycle. I also had plans for transformation cycles but do to time constraints I had to prioritise and complete the most important animations that would be used.
After all the components were finished, I went and composited it all in After Effects and then adding some audio. It all came together really nicely, the characters and backgrounds merged really well. These are the two final prototypes for the groups 2D platform game; The Elle of Gaia
