Tuesday 3 May 2011

Art style

In order to update you guys, I'll go into a bit of detail about the only thing I've decided this early on in the game's development - the art style.

I've been looking through a lot of art blogs for combinations of colours or styles that I really like, but it all comes down to a really bright, colourful and cartoony game.  With such small screens it becomes incredibly important to be able to easily distinguish what's on the screen, and the best way to do that will be to have things flashing with big bold colours.

Not to mention the bomberman franchise was really awesome until they decided to take a more serious twist (see Bomberman: Act Zero).  Even their newer games are pretty cool after they switched back to the classic cartoony style.

That leaves us with a few other questions:
  • What will the characters look like?
  • What will replace "bombs"?
  • What locations will the battles take place in?
  • Will the game be 3D?
I was thinking of having big headded characters because... well mostly because characters with big heads should make it easier to see which tile your character is taking up, because it looks cartoony and because you should be able to see your character's colour (the thing that identifies you best) clearly.

I was thinking that  a head shape similar to Katamari's might be useful - basically something similar to that.

For bombs, I have no idea what should replace them.  Willing to hear suggestions! Something large and that changes over time to show that it's "in play".

For locations, I'm thinking places that kids go for fun to keep up with the lively, happy theme.  Places like carnivals and movie theatres, though I was also thinking of taking some scenery that is reminiscent of some more popular videogames (maybe a map with a large ring in the centre for halo fans).

The game will not be in 3D.  There's no reason to change camera angles, it's harder on the phone and if you take a 3D isometric view, it would probably be a disadvantage the players who start on the far side of the board.

22 comments:

  1. instead of bombs maybe water balloons? to add to the appeal to children and younger crowd with the whole cartoony look but not to scare away older people because water balloons are just friendly...

    or fruit...

    or poop i suppose.

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  2. I prefer the classic style as well. Nothing really beat the SNES version imo.

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  3. Yes a real retro style could win the race

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  4. Going to follow the project. Got nothing to add for now - but when I do I'll post! Cheers :)

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  5. Retro, go with it, it's looking promising so far

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  6. I'd say classic top down feel of bomberman. Maybe a little isometric if you wanna get crazy with it.

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  7. Love retro style games! Keep us updated!

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  8. Maybe instead of a bomb you could use a cherry or apple?

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  9. Make it a bunch of scuba divers underwater and use Pufferfish as the bombs. The underwater theme would be very easy to create and would look really nice.

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  10. Bomberman was such a sweet game. Have it for the wii

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  11. You're making your own game? Intense.

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  12. You got some figuring out to do, but it's good you're not set on one particular idea. Looking forward to the finished deal man!

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  13. Im not the biggest fan of 3D

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  14. What will the characters look like? Something different unseen in any popular video but simple like: little Piggies! or kittens or bunnies

    What will replace "bombs"? pinatas! they should explode with colorful "candy" Different pinatas can have different effects

    What locations will the battles take place in? The final stage should be the farm for these piglets. maybe a school? clouds level? Chinese/Asian theme?

    Will the game be 3D? no keep it 2D bomberman-stye

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  15. I love the idea of big-headed characters. Go for it!

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  16. It would be really difficult in 3D

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  17. I agree. A simple, stylized cartoon of your character is the most effective. They have a lasting appeal. Take Angry Birds, Rolando and Doodle Jump for example.

    And yeah, keep it 2D. 3D takes up too much space, and the isometric view is annoying and not always better.

    Sonic in 2D was a lot better than in 3D.

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