I wanted to brand my game. In order to do that, I decided to create a logo for my game.
As I am not a graphic designer, I found using Canva much easier than Photoshop. The game being Gladiator themed, I wanted to have a red and black colour palette for my logo to denote gore and blood. Having a gladiator helmet silhouette in the middle of the logo also seemed to be a good idea to me. To clearly define that the logo signifies my game, I also added the name of the game “Virtus Dreockis” to it.
I took reviews from many of my friends before finalising my logo. Here are all the iterations and the final logo at the end.
This Gantt chart is what I have come up with after careful thought.
Before starting the production phase, I will have to do thorough testing for the project. The more I learn and practice in the testing time, the more I can be efficient in the production phase.
I have given myself a bit more than 3 weeks to create all the assets in the scene and 12 days to UV them. The texturing phase should not last more than 2 weeks but I have given myself 12 days to complete it. It is going to be packed but I need bonus time if something goes wrong. In my opinion, the time I have given myself should be enough. There is also 1 week reserve time at the end in case things go south.
I have wanted to learn Procedural Content Generation for some time now. When I first saw the bridges in the concept art I have selected, I decided to create them with the help of PCG.
I made 3 variants of the planks required for the bridge in maya. These were simple blockouts.
I imported these in Unreal 5.3 and started working on my PCG. I made a blueprint and added a Spline element to it. This spline will be used to determine the path of my bridge. This was the video I was referencing.
This was my initial try to get a simple bridge with one variant.
I played around with the transform settings and added differences between the copies, like scale, rotation and location. I also added the other two variants for the planks.
I also learnt making my bridge follow the landscape but later did not use it as in the concept, the bridge was in the air.
Born into slavery and trained as a gladiator in the state of Aetheria, Malik’s journey has been one of struggle and defiance. After a crucial battle in the arena, wounded and tired, Malik manages to escape from his masters during a festival in the city the same night. Second night of his fleeing he gets lost in the desert and wanders helplessly in the dark night. Sighting dim lighting coming from afar he decides to move towards it. On reaching the source, to his astonishment, he finds a huge settlement on the faces of two towering cliffs connected by bridges. The area is lit with lanterns and torches and provides a comforting feeling to him, resulting in him falling asleep under the nearest structure. Waking up he finds the place to be abandoned with no signs of life and most shocking of all, his wounds healed.
Seeking refuge in the abandoned settlement, Malik feels connected to his ancestors’ whispers within the weathered walls. Through cryptic clues and ancestral relics, he learns about his great grandfather and this cliff settlement called Dreock. His great grandfather was a respected chief who led the settlement with bravery and honor until an immortal evil chief ended his life, leading the settlement into darkness and despair. This resulted in Malik’s family and many others being enslaved.
Empowered by his ancestors’ spirits, Malik sets out on a journey that goes beyond seeking revenge, aiming to restore honor to his family and freedom to his people. Equipped with ancient weapons from his forebears, he embarks on a quest for justice and redemption. As he explores his lineage, Malik discovers hidden powers within his ancestors’ artifacts, which will help him overthrow the immortal evil chief and restore honor to his family.
However, Malik’s path is dangerous as he faces not only the immortal evil chief, but also his own inner demons. During his journey, he uncovers more hidden powers within himself and forms alliances with fellow outcasts and rebels, finding strength in unity and purpose in justice.
In a climactic showdown atop the cliffs, Malik confronts the immortal evil chief, each of his strikes fueled by the spirits of his ancestors. This battle tests not only Malik’s strength and skill, but also his determination to break the chains of oppression once and for all. Will he succeed? Does it really end with the Immortal Chief’s death?
The original concept seemed a bit faded so I managed to edit the render a bit to make the colours pop more. I was reading the book – “Vision : Colour and Composition for Film” ~ Hans P. Bacher ; and it gave me insight into why an image may be attractive. The reason I found this concept to be attractive would be similar to people finding my completed 3D environment based on this appealing. This was why I decided to break down the composition used in the scene. Hopefully, this would help me understand the scene better.
The thin lines in black denote the leading lines in the scene, all pointing to the cluster of buildings in the middle. The area within the shape in black should be the focus of the scene. This gives me the hint to maximise my attention given to that area and have better details there as compared to the rest of the scene. The placement of towers in the scene is deliberate repetition. This evokes depth in the environment. Since the shape in the middle is the focus, it also gives me the idea to have dramatic lighting focused in the middle(maybe more lanterns, torches, etc). The best feature of this concept is that, from whichever side the focus area is looked at, there will always be an interesting foreground and background. Having a vertical depth also helps create a dramatic background below the environment, covered with haze. Environment effects will play key role in this project. The colour palette, being not too diverse, still manages to interest the observer by manipulating shades of similar colours. This could be improved further in my environment and made more contrasty(especially the cliffs). The banners in the scene could do with a slight change in colour to help spark some more interest into the scene.
Finding references for the environment and figuring out how the wooden bridges connect to eachother and the buildings would be my next tasks.
The composition of this concept is highly intricate and detailed, depicting a complex multi-layered settlement built into a rocky canyon. The architecture has an ancient-medieval, weathered look, with ornate domes, spires and bridges spanning the gaps between cliff faces.
The colour palette is mainly comprised of warm, earthy tones. The rocks are sand coloured and the architecture seems to be made out of sandstone and wood. The architectural elements and the colour in the scene draw parallel to medieval Tunisia.
The lighting in this concept is not very detailed and accurate. It seems very flat but still gives an overview of feel wanted by the artist. The lanterns in the scene makes me wonder the look of the scene at night. It will be a fun challenge to combat lighting in the project.
Atmospheric haze, likely from dust or mist, softens the light and adds a unifying quality to the scene. It also enhances the sense of scale, as more distant structures become faded, reinforcing the vertical height and horizontal length of the settlement.
The artwork has an impressive level of fine detail, from the carvings and depictions on buildings to the many objects populating the bridges. The use of cloth is also magnificent in the scene. Banners and flags bring life to the scene, almost giving the sense of movement in a still render. This makes the settlement feel like a real, lived-in place with a rich history.
ColourCodedInsignia 